Cossacks: European Wars
- August 26, 2011
- GSC Game World
Get on Steam"Cossacks: European Wars" is a historical real-time strategy game set in the 16th-18th century Europe, where players choose from 16 nations to build and manage their economy, research technologies, and engage in large-scale battles with up to 8,000 units. Each nation has unique strengths, weaknesses, and units, providing diverse tactical and strategic options. City sieges, guerrilla wars, and naval landings are among the many possibilities for engaging gameplay.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Cossacks: European Wars offers expansive battles and a rich historical setting, allowing players to command vast armies and experience the grandeur of 17th and 18th-century warfare.
- The game features a deep economic and resource management system, requiring strategic planning and tactical thinking, which adds complexity to the gameplay.
- Despite its age, the game retains a nostalgic charm and provides a unique experience with diverse factions, historically accurate units, and engaging multiplayer options.
- The game suffers from numerous technical issues, including frequent crashes, especially when changing settings or running on modern operating systems like Windows 10.
- The user interface feels clunky and outdated, which can be frustrating for players accustomed to more modern RTS conveniences.
- The single-player campaign can be tedious and unforgiving, with some missions being broken or unplayable due to bugs.
- gameplay9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The gameplay in Cossacks offers a blend of tactical and strategic depth, appealing to both strategy enthusiasts and history buffs, despite some mechanics feeling outdated. While the interface and visuals may not be modern, the core mechanics remain accessible and enjoyable, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of similar games like Age of Empires and Warcraft 3. However, certain gameplay elements, such as building placement and unit mechanics, can be frustrating.
“The depth of these systems adds a layer of complexity to the gameplay, requiring both tactical and strategic thinking.”
“While the visuals and interface may show their age, the depth of gameplay and the immersive historical setting make Cossacks a must-play for strategy enthusiasts and history buffs alike.”
“The mechanics are simple and easy to understand, and gameplay is pretty balanced.”
“The convert mechanic is instead put on the shoulders of your military units, who can effortlessly capture enemy buildings and peasants if there are no enemy soldiers nearby.”
“Speaking of towers, these need to be built outside your walls as they cannot fire over the wall, which is very annoying and contrary to the mechanic in the Age of Empires series.”
“Though Cossacks: European Wars does have its flaws when it comes to gameplay, it has many other key points to it and is definitely worth a try if you're into games like Age of Empires or Warcraft 3.”
- graphics9 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game exhibit a nostalgic charm, despite showing signs of aging and being somewhat rough compared to modern standards. While the visuals and interface may not impress, they are deemed decent for their time and do not detract from the overall enjoyable gameplay experience. The aesthetic elements, such as vegetation, are noted to have limited strategic importance, but the game's immersive historical setting compensates for this.
“The graphics, while showing signs of aging, have a timeless charm.”
“The graphics are decent even for this day and age.”
“The graphics are a bit rougher/coarser looking than Age of Empires, but they're otherwise fine.”
“The graphics might not be much (unsurprisingly) but the game offers loads of fun.”
“While the visuals and interface may show their age, the depth of gameplay and the immersive historical setting make Cossacks a must-play for strategy enthusiasts and history buffs alike.”
- music8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The music in the game has been widely criticized for being generic and unpleasant, often described as an "earsore." Additionally, players report severe technical issues, including game crashes when attempting to adjust music settings or mute the sound, leading to a frustrating experience. Overall, the music detracts significantly from the gameplay, with many wishing for the return of more memorable scores.
“The game doesn't have any of its old characteristics and there is a disturbing music which causes the game to stop running when you turn it off.”
“If there is one thing to dislike about this game, it's that if you make even one change with the options (mute the music, for example), it crashes and will keep crashing until you reinstall the game.”
“The music is awfully generic and more of an earsore than anything worthy of remembrance like the AOE scores.”
- story6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The story and campaign experience is marred by frequent crashes and technical issues, leading to frustration as players are forced to replay missions multiple times. While there are some exclusive stand-alone singleplayer missions, the overall narrative engagement is hindered by these persistent problems.
“Don't be fooled by my apparent in-game hours - much of the campaign missions are broken.”
“You'll get tired of running a mission a dozen times, getting around crashes.”
“Beside the fact that settings never work, now when I try to start a mission, any of it, the game crashes.”
- stability5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been widely criticized for its instability, with users reporting frequent bugs, freezing issues, and a lack of support from the host. Many have experienced problems even after multiple installations, leading to frustration and disappointment. Overall, the stability of the game appears to be a significant concern for players.
“Very, very buggy; it will not work properly on the second computer now.”
“It freezes up and help is not available from the host.”
“Menus work, but as soon as the game loads, it freezes and doesn't work. I tried installing and uninstalling several times; waste of money.”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is consistently noted as a strong point, with players finding it both funny and engaging, making it enjoyable to play even in 2024.
“It's a funny strategic game.”
“It's quite funny and interesting to play even in 2024.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of Cossacks: European Wars to be a mixed experience; while the game allows for strategic town-building and resource management, the campaign can feel tedious and punishing, with mistakes potentially leading to significant setbacks. However, the option to save and load at any time provides some relief from the grind.
“The grinding in this game feels endless and repetitive, making it hard to stay engaged.”
“I found myself spending hours just to level up, which became more of a chore than an enjoyable experience.”
“The amount of grinding required to progress is overwhelming and detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is enhanced by its competitive multiplayer matches and the unpredictable strategies employed by players, making each session feel fresh and engaging.
“The competitive nature of multiplayer matches and the unpredictability of human strategies add significant replay value to the game.”
“Each playthrough feels fresh due to the diverse character builds and random events that keep you on your toes.”
“The variety of game modes and challenges ensures that there's always something new to experience, making you want to come back for more.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game has known performance issues that potential buyers should be aware of, and it is advisable to research solutions online if they encounter similar problems.
“Before you buy this game, be aware that there are known performance issues. You should look around the web for solutions if you encounter them yourself.”
“The optimization is severely lacking, leading to frequent frame drops and stuttering during gameplay.”
“Despite the game's potential, the poor optimization makes it nearly unplayable on lower-end systems.”
