From the makers of the widely acclaimed Cossacks comes a new real-time strategy

<a href="?section=View%20Competition&id=0000000012"><small><b><font color="#FF0000">For Information on how to win a copy of this game click here</font></b></small></a><br><br>From the makers of the widely acclaimed Cossacks comes a new real-time strategy, this time combining your wits and skills in an attempt to conquer the vast lands of America. <br><br>When Cossacks originally hit the shops in 2001, the publisher CDV was vaguely known. However thanks to this game CDV had become one of the most popular gaming publishers in the UK, with a series of hits tied to the Cossacks franchise all selling in huge quantities throughout Europe. Buoyed by the success of the original, three expansion packs were released and Cossacks 2 was confirmed with no official release date, what would fans play until then? <br><br>Stepping onto the scene is American Conquest, developed by the team responsible for Cossacks but with a completely new setting, a tweaked control system, more units on screen and even bigger maps. Set in the year 1492,starting with Christopher Columbus you must travel to America and begin the 300-year conquest of heated battles for land, riches and freedom. With eight campaigns combining 42 individual missions, you will play the role of great legends such as Pizarro and Washington, commanding epic real-time battlers containing up to 16,000 soldiers on 3D landscapes. <br><br>Just before Christmas we were sent a nice present from CDV, a huge treasure chest that contained vital parts you would need on a voyage set in 1492; a bottle of whiskey, some dice, some cards as well as other bits ‘n’ bobs (okay maybe not all authentic 1492 products). At the bottom of the chest was a huge poster that now sits proudly behind my desk, at first it just looked good, however after playing American Conquest you can see the main point of the poster was to show the sheer scale of the game which I may add is frightfully gigantic. Each map, which can span out to be a maximum of 30 by 20 screens wide is filled to the brim with soldiers, buildings, trees, animals etc that make this game come truly to life. One of the main highlights is the large amount of units you can fight in a battle at once, if you have the time and patience to develop your army you can fight with up to 16,000 units at once, it really is like watching a scene from Braveheart or The Patriot. Commanding the armies has also been addressed since the last Cossacks release. Those of you familiar with the Cossacks engine will know that the key to success is understanding and utilising the formation options. This time Unit Formations will need a Commander, a drummer and a standard bearer amongst the hundreds of soldiers. Using these you can easily assign groups into battles, and by controlling individuals you can control the entire group formation. <br><br>Before each mission you are briefed with a history outline of the battle you are about to begin; whilst most of us will simply skip past this, it’s quite interesting to learn America does actually have a history! Once the mission begins you are on your own – whilst the game develops as you progress, without the facility of a tutorial beginners may feel slightly frustrated as you get the feeling you are expected to know the Cossacks control system. The first time I played I started the British Campaigns, however within a matter of 10 minutes the screen flashed Failure. I was starting to think there was no chance, until I took a few steps back and realised that killing everyone on the screen even friendly inhabitants may not be a wise move. <br><br>The missions are well structured and contain enough variations to keep even the hardened RTS fans occupied. There is a total of twelve different nations and tribes, ranging from the Spanish, English and French to the Aztecs, Incas, Mayas, Sioux, Delaware, Pueblos, Huron, Iroquois League and of course the USA. With over 100 different units and 106 buildings, there is a whole book worth of information you will need to learn as you progress though the game, and like before each nation/tribe acts and plays differently, so experience is the key to completing this game.<br><br>A nice new addition is Fight Morale to your missions; every little aspect now affects your soldiers from victories, defeats, food supplies, equipment and mercenary pay. Each Solider has his own morale and experience, large formations tend to give the soldiers more confidence to march into battle thus giving you better results. However if an office falls, and the formations breaks, the morale will drop and you may find your soldiers wandering of or losing quickly. <br><br>In terms of Graphics, what more could you ask for in a real-time strategy game? Some may say that the 2D structure is dated and that the move to 3D is well overdue, however American Conquest like Cossacks does such a fine job with the detail of the environments and the armies, a change here could prove disastrous. Converting a game like this to 3D would certainly mean a reduction of the total units on screen, even with the latest processor and graphics card, I am certain we wouldn’t see 16,000 units battling it at once.