Imperial Glory – Hands On Preview

Itâ??s been a long time coming but this month sees the return of Pyro Studios, creators of the Commandos franchise and the 2003 RTS Praetorians. Set in the transitional decades between the 18th and 19th Centuries, Imperial Glory pits players up against some of the greatest Imperial powers of the age including France, Prussia, Russia, and of course Great Britain in a series of single-player campaigns and historical reconstructions.

The preview build that was sent to TVG Towers certainly seemed a very complete one with only the Multiplayer mode frozen out, meaning that a look at the gameâ??s online play will have to wait until the review build arrives shortly. Anyway, enough of the â??wait and seeâ??, letâ??s crack on with what could be played.

The game is split up into a variety of different options, with Campaign the most substantial being split into two further options: Total Victory and Score Victory. Whereas Total Victory gives the player the somewhat deceivingly simplistic task of just conquering the other territories, Score Victory actually gives the player some restrictions to play against including a time limit of fifty years and the task of just accumulating as many points possible during the game. Recommending the Score Victory option for newcomers of the game and advising against taking the Total Victory option until players are more use to the mechanics means that players are also helped into choosing the right mode for them.

After choosing the option of choice, players then have a very important decision to make, that of which country to lead into the battlefields of â??Old Europe.â?? Although the game includes over a dozen countries as far a field as Tunisia and Norway, players can only choose from one of five â??majorâ?? powers of the time: Great Britain, France, Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Each of the â??empiresâ?? are broken down and ranked according to various potential areas: Economic, Military, Naval, and Research. All of the countries are rated out of three stars for each area and all have their own strengths and weaknesses, with some of those actually two sides of the same coin, for instance, Great Britainâ??s key strength is that being an island itâ??s exceptionally difficult to invade, but the same measure it also means that any offensive British force has to build up a substantial navy in order to invade enemy territories. Beyond the four â??potentialâ?? areas, the five countries are broken down further into initial resource stocks of gold, population, raw materials, and food â?“ all of which are vital for a strong and successful campaign.

Once the choice of empire has been made, Imperial Glory then launches to the very solemn introductory speech that would leave Richard Burtonâ??s introduction to War of the Worlds for dust, informing the player of the â??â?¦difficult timesâ?¦We require a great leader toâ?¦save our Empire from being swept into the abyss of History. We await your orders.â? So no pressure then!

Taking place across Europe, Mediterranean Africa, and Western Russia, Imperial Glory is split up into two clearly defined sections, a strategic map view where the traditional RTS elements such as unit movement and basic resource management takes place, and the combat view where the actual business of battles and bloodshed take place. Each of the countries are split up into various sub-territories so that for example Great Britain is split up into England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, with some countries like Portugal having less than that.

Looking more like a European version of Risk, the map view is where gamers make some of the key RTS decisions that pave the path that their country will take â?“ for better or worse. Whilst micro-management is pretty much non-existent in the grand scheme of things, players still have to make range of decisions from researching new technologies to building foreign relationships and even, of course, declaring war on nations. All of the more bland decisions in RTS titles such as delegating tasks and resource management are largely taken care of, with many of the buildings built during the course of the game all contributing towards the growth of a playerâ??s empire.

One of the key gameplay elements in Imperial Glory is the Technology Tree, which really helps to develop the game is more than one-way. Traditionally used to develop and evolve the various units that a player can â??buildâ??, the tree in the game can also be used to unlock so-called â??Questsâ?? and then solved by completing several objectives. All of the Quests have benefits for the player whether it means that their armies wonâ??t need food for a dozen turns (1 year in the game) or the building of ports across every player held territory, and itâ??s in the playerâ??s interests to complete them as soon as possible. The Quests also provide a sense of structure and progress to the game, which is something that can be overlooked in other RTS titles.

As players progress through the game and complete more and more elements of the Technology Tree, theyâ??ll have the ability to progress through into other â??Erasâ?? that evolve the level of technology to discover such as the development of Trade Markets or Advanced Military Barracks. As well as this, the transition of one era to another is marked by the decision of the player to choose which form of government to instil on their empire. Whilst the transition of first to second era only allows the choice between an Autocratic and Democratic state, moving between the second and third enables the choice of one of several including Republic, Dictatorship, and the two forms of Monarchy â?“ Absolute or Constitutional. It would have been easy for Pyro to make the differences between one form of government and another quite subtle, and to some extent they have, but each of the forms have their own specific effects on the game and even their own technological fields of research.

For players who want that little bit more historical re-enactment, Imperial Glory will also include a Historical Campaigns option, which will allow gamers to participate in several of the decisive battles of the era including the Battle of Friedland, and of course, the Battle of Waterloo. These battles do feel different to the main campaign modes, as if they really are the â??bigâ?? set-pieces of the game â?“ the armies are quite large although perhaps not so that players are left feeling overwhelmed with the situation. Itâ??ll be quite interesting to see how some of the big conflicts of the Campaign modes will compare with these Historical Battles.

For gamers who like their 19th Century warfare fast and furious, Imperial Glory includes a Quick Game mode, which allows players to choose one from about twenty-four or so territories across Europe to do battle in. Whilst this may sound as if thereâ??s plenty of scope for a multitude of objective based conflicts, Pyro has limited them to a scant few with most of the territories requiring a so-called â??Total Victoryâ?? on both land and sea. Having said that there are some, such as the English territoryâ??s â??Storm the Castleâ??, that do throw some interesting situations into the mix. Itâ??s also worth pointing out that even the territories that have â??real objectivesâ?? give players the option to wage Total War in them so even the bloody thirsty of you can continue to wage a war of bloodshed whilst trying to secure a village in the Iles-de-France.

Since the RTS genre can be a little overwhelming at times itâ??s good to note that Imperial Glory has perhaps one of the most user-friendly tutorial sessions encountered. Taking place across three areas, Movement, Land Battle, and Sea Battle, the game (in the guise of Alexander I, Czar of Russia) introduces the various aspects of the game to the player in straightforward ways that are never patronising. Itâ??s during these tutorials that gamers will realise exactly how much Imperial Glory takes after itâ??s predecessor â?“ it is not an RTS of micro-management and complex economies. Instead the developers have taken the old adage of â??If it isnâ??t broken, donâ??t fix itâ? and have placed Imperial Glory firmly into the sub-genre of Combat RTS.

After the tutorials and the sometimes endless supply of turns that sees players hang around for the completion of another Grenadier unit, itâ??s time to experience the battlefield itself. As youâ??d expect the theatres of war in the game are all climate specific so expect to fight in the snow in Norway and Sweden and the Desert in Morocco, and whilst the weather does add a nice visual detail to the game, it didnâ??t seem to make an impact on the actual battle.

Graphically itâ??s difficult to really fault the game, both in battle mode and in map view, although there does need to be a final bit of polish added to finish off the game â?“ troops flicker with broken models as they lay on the battlefield, but this should be sorted out between this build and the final code. Settlements and walls form a very strong strategic advantages to the player, with troops able to secure and fortify them for added protection as well as acting as vantage points. In fact some of the battle objectives will include the securing one or more buildings instead of accomplishing a total victory over the enemy.

As well as the fluid land battles, one of the distinct RTS progressions made by Imperial Glory are the playable sea battles, something that was distinctly missing from Rome: Total War. Taking the war to the high seas adds a whole new front to the game as players have to keep in mind factors such as the wind (this is the age of sail power) as well as the different types of shot that can be used against enemy vessels. In many ways the sea battles are slower paced versions of the land battles, but the game allows players to decide the fate of opposing vessels with the option of sending them straight down to Davy Jonesâ?? Locker or boarding them so they can be â??recruitedâ?? for the playerâ??s own navy.