Civil War II
- July 3, 2014
- Ageod
- 10h median play time
"Civil War II" is a turn-based regional strategy game that simulates the American Civil War from 1861-1865. As the military and political leader of either the USA or CSA, players must build, organize, and command armies, make important economic and political decisions, and navigate the challenges of this historical conflict on a detailed map of the USA. The game is built on the AGE engine and features a wide range of real military leaders with unique strengths and weaknesses.
Reviews
- The game offers an incredibly detailed and immersive experience of the American Civil War, with a strong focus on logistics, economics, and political decisions.
- Players appreciate the depth of strategy involved, with many options for army organization and decision-making that can significantly impact the outcome of the war.
- Despite a steep learning curve, many players find the game rewarding once they master its intricacies, leading to a highly engaging experience.
- The game suffers from frequent crashes and bugs, which can disrupt gameplay and lead to frustration among players.
- The user interface is often described as clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult for new players to navigate and understand the game's mechanics.
- Many players feel that the AI can behave erratically, leading to unpredictable outcomes in battles and overall gameplay.
- gameplay66 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 77 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay is immersive and complex, requiring significant time and effort to master its detailed mechanics, including logistics, economics, and strategic decision-making. While it offers rewarding strategic depth and a well-executed historical setting, players have noted issues with clunky mechanics, a steep learning curve, and occasional bugs that can detract from the experience. Overall, the game is praised for its potential but may not appeal to everyone due to its demanding nature and some frustrating elements.
“The game is immersive, exhaustive, and well-detailed with logistics, economics, diplomacy, politics, national level decisions, regional level decisions, with your decisions actually impacting the gameplay and development of the national strategy.”
“Deep complex gameplay that rewards planning on both the strategic and unit level.”
“The gameplay does a good job of demonstrating the importance of leadership, supply, industry, and recruitment.”
“The mechanic to avoid enemy engagement is too overpowered.”
“It has a lot of potential, but there need to be mechanics in this game that allow your units to react automatically to enemy raids.”
“The new engine they created is ugly, confusing even for veteran players, and on top of everything it adds little to nothing from the original civil war's engine and gameplay.”
- graphics44 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game are generally described as simple and somewhat outdated, with many reviewers noting that they are adequate for the genre but could benefit from further optimization and enhancement. While some players appreciate the pleasing aesthetic and detail in certain aspects, others report performance issues such as low frame rates and crashes, particularly on higher-end systems. Overall, the consensus suggests that while the graphics are not the game's strong suit, they serve their purpose without being particularly impressive.
“Loved the game, fun graphics and cool to explore different Civil War regions.”
“The graphics, as you can see in the screenshots, are simple, but the game has, in my opinion, a pleasing aesthetic.”
“Pros: extremely detailed (army leaders, units, army organization, you name it), appealing graphics, advanced AI, historical events (e.g. suspend habeas corpus) and extremely detailed.”
“I would say that this game will run best on PCs with fast CPUs and that the game is poorly optimized for the graphics it has.”
“Despite the simple graphics, Civil War 2 can have quite the low FPS, even on a good machine, and can run quite poorly (5-10 FPS with massive stuttering while scrolling across the map) when first loading into a game, though it does improve greatly after a few minutes.”
“The graphics, if you're into that kind of thing, are lame at best and the game crashes about every 6-10 turns on average (which is unacceptable for me since I paid full price) and I have a pretty sweet rig, so I know this game isn't maxing my PC out.”
- stability20 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 90 % negative mentions
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing significant bugs, random freezes, and crashes, particularly in late-game scenarios. While a few users reported no crashes during their playtime, others found the game frustratingly unstable, leading to a lack of confidence in its reliability. Overall, the game appears to have persistent stability issues that detract from the overall experience.
“So far, I have reached 1863 with no crashes at all using Windows 10, so at the moment, for me, it's bug-free.”
“So far, I have reached 1863 with no crashes at all using Windows 10, so at the moment, for me, it's bug-free.”
“First impressions, this game looks awesome, but after playing it for a short time, I can't really bring myself to spend more time on it, from the way the map lags when zooming out, and to random freezes that happen in your campaigns.”
“I tried starting it again a few times and I did get it to restart, but then I started reading comments on how this developer's games are buggy and crashes will happen also in late game.”
“It is buggy and will crash after an hour or two of play.”
- music18 mentions
- 44 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many players appreciating its depth and thematic relevance, particularly the inclusion of historical tunes from both the Union and Confederate armies. However, some users have reported minor bugs affecting the soundtrack, such as overlapping tracks and limited control over music playback. Overall, while the soundtrack enhances the gaming experience, players suggest that additional historical animations and visuals could further enrich the atmosphere.
“Love it - plenty of depth, wonderful content, and good music.”
“The soundtrack is pleasant enough to listen to.”
“I found myself turning the music up so that it plays more often, because it fits so perfectly to the theme.”
“I usually turn the music down, but I couldn't find a way to turn it off... only a control on how often the music plays.”
“There are also some minor bugs such as tabs not working, or the soundtrack playing on top of itself, which does impact the overall experience.”
“I loved the game once I finally worked out all the mechanics, but I feel it needs a few tweaks, like more historical animations during army fights with music.”
- optimization12 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with reports of poor performance even on high-end gaming rigs, resulting in low frame rates and significant stuttering, particularly during initial loading. While some users note improvements after a few minutes of gameplay, the overall consensus is that the game is inadequately optimized for its graphics, leading to an inexcusably subpar experience.
“This is one of the better Ageod games in terms of performance and stability.”
“Lastly, the performance of the game can be utterly awful even on a powerful gaming rig.”
“I would say that this game will run best on PCs with fast CPUs and that the game is poorly optimized for the graphics it has.”
“Despite the simple graphics, Civil War 2 can have quite low FPS, even on a good machine, and can run quite poorly (5-10 FPS with massive stuttering while scrolling across the map) when first loading into a game, though it does improve greatly after a few minutes.”
- grinding6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be challenging and tedious, often likening it to the experience of studying a difficult subject or poring over a dull instruction manual. This can lead to frustration, especially for those who lack interest in the game's core mechanics.
“The downsides are that it is very hard to learn and somewhat tedious if you're not interested in the topic.”
“It gives the feeling that you are back in school or reading up on the most tedious instruction manual.”
“You take all of the time to tediously make your moves and then ??????”
- replayability4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players highlight the game's high replayability, noting that campaigns offer unique experiences each time due to the AI's varied strategies. This variability makes the game more accessible and enjoyable compared to similar titles.
“Tons of replayability - campaigns never play out exactly the same, with even mid-level AI drastically altering its strategy from game to game.”
“A good game, easier to pick up and more playable than Forge of Freedom.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is noted to be amusing, particularly in its contrast to the player's usual preference for complex games, suggesting a lighthearted and unexpected comedic element that resonates with players.
- story2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The story of Fifty Mission Crush is engaging enough to leave a lasting impression on players, as evidenced by its status as a favorite among users.