Ancient Wars: Sparta

A game with a different and effective spin on an old idea.

Wannabe "Age of Empires". [July 2007, p.82]

If you stick with it, though, and you don't mind your games on the slow but strategic side, you should find a fun and inventive title hiding under all the faults.

Lacking. It lacks original gameplay. It lacks excitement. It lacks anything that might set it apart from any number of entirely uninspiring RTS games that have come out in the last 2 years. And most of all, it lacks the level of interest required to have me write another word about it.

Sparta doesn't have much meat on its bones - we've all been there and done that, just maybe not as Spartans. [Sept 2007, p.62]

Don't expect any grand, over-the-top treatment of Spartan history, as Sparta: Ancient Wars is a very generic real-time strategy game.

A very generic RTS game. It's graphically appealing, but in terms of gameplay, there are many better RTS offerings out there.

None of the presentation, unit design, tactical options, or factions were interesting enough to capture my attention and when an RTS junkie like me doesn't want to jump back in for another skirmish, there's definitely a lack of substance, style, or both.

Grossly predictable. [June 2007, p.84]

If you want to jump in with the current "300-craze" and play it your way - this will sate your cravings with no regrets. However, if you have a shelf of BC themed RPG titles, you won't feel like you have anything new.

A by-the-numbers RTS that offers few surprises.

However, it hasn’t been patched yet, six months after its release, so it’s unlikely it ever will be. Sadly, this game is thus doomed to end up in the bargain bin.

There really isn't a lot going on in Ancient Wars: Sparta in terms of strategy. That said, it's not an easy game to play, but you have to play by a specific set of rules - rules that would rather have you collecting resources than employing strategies on the battlefield.

For a brief play it serves a purpose well enough, but if you really want to get the most out of this exciting period of ancient combat then you'll want to wait until something more inspired comes along, because Ancient Wars is just a bit too spartan to give you the experience that you are hoping for.

Given the intriguing nature of the narrative and the potential for development in such a plot, it's surprising to see such a bland title. 300 offered a glimpse of what could have been created with a little imagination and it is a shame that Ancient Wars - Sparta, despite the innovative unit management system, fails to deliver overall.

If you have the sheer will power to push on through the vast mire of early drudgeries, there are jewels to be found buried deep within Ancient Wars: Sparta, but whether you’ll still be motivated enough to really enjoy them is another matter.

Instead of the kind of solid, varied combat which the RTS genre has been steadily evolving towards over the years, Ancient Wars: Sparta falls back on resource management for its core gameplay. Distressingly, this is a sub-"Age Of Empires" affair which rapidly becomes a chore.

There's no option to edit the keyboard layout; the way your soldiers navigate the terrain can be erratic; tight map designs feel tactically restrictive; building armies is a slow process; and the overall presentation is extremely rough around the edges, including clumsy dialogue and grainy cut-scenes. "Total War" or "Supreme Commander" are better options.

A slower, less colorful Age of Empires. None of the research trees make much sense (you need to go through multiple steps just to get a spearman) and by the time you get to the cool weapons like scythed chariots and elephants you won’t care very much.