Nick R Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 I seem to have been burned buying CEAW. So before I purchase SC2 I wanted to get some feedback. Is the game scipted or does allow for "what ifs" like not attacking Poland and attacking France, etc.? How good is the AI? How "realistic" is the combat? How well is the research handled? How well is the diplomacy handled? What other positives or negatives are there? Thanks in advance. [ March 28, 2008, 12:09 PM: Message edited by: Nick R ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timskorn Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Is the game scipted or does allow for "what ifs" like not attacking Poland and attacking France, etc.? As the game goes on, yes, but it still follows a pretty historical path. In the 1939 Fall Weiss campaign (the one most people play), you are already at war with Poland and France. At this point you can't change that fact, but many different strategies can be employed that can affect your long-term decisions. After Poland and France falls though, it's up to you how to go from there. War with Russia WILL happen eventually, but as Axis you can have it start sooner or later than the historical date. There are plenty of strategies, on both sides, that allow a different outcome each game. You can use diplomacy to sway Turkey to the Axis, for example, or try and take it by force. Or you can invade England and hope Spain and Turkey are emboldened by your success and join your side automatically. How good is the AI? The AI is excellent. It has come a LONG way through numerous patches. As a veteran player, playing a game on Expert gives me a run for my money. Giving the AI a +1 experience bonus on top of that, well I'll probably end up losing! How "realistic" is the combat? Depends on what you mean. The biggest complaint people have is the fact SC2 abstracts the entire destruction of a division. Lots of units get wiped off the map in a game, which realistically didn't happen that often, but in SC2 you can "buyback" those same units at half the regular price as an abstraction of "reorganizing and refitting" and routed unit. For the balance and play of the game, combat works great. How well is the research handled? Research is fairly generic. You buy chits in a category, such as infantry weapons, and each chit gives you an increased % chance of successful research. If you hit it, then next turn your units can use the new tech. But you can research many different categories, such as industry, subs, rockets, etc. and they are definitely a big part in your overall strategy (such as if you wanted to go heavy with Axis subs over tanks, early Allied bombers over ground units, etc). How well is the diplomacy handled? Diplomacy is very well done, in my opinion. This is one area that really helps make each game unique. As Axis, for example, you can try early to get Spain to join your side…but then that causes the US to ship some of its Pacific fleet over to the Atlantic. Certain military actions can also cause diplomacy shifts as well. Lots of cool things with diplomacy, both through scripts and your own actions. What over positives or negatives are there? This you would really need to play the demo a few times to figure that out for yourself. There are a lot of long-time, veteran players that have been here since SC1 and is a testament to how good the game is. Multiplayer is definitely one of the reasons for its longevity as well (on top of the awesome dev and patch support, of course). But whether single-player or multi-player, you will get your $$$ worth with this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Cater Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Hi Nick, Thanks for your interest into the game and for your questions. I think Timskorn has really summed it up quite well and I will just emphasize that the SC2 game engine allows for a very flexible system that takes into account the historical imperatives but also game player actions when it comes to Diplomacy and when countries will enter the war. For example, while the US is going to eventually enter the war on the Allied side, their entry can either be delayed or accelerated based on player actions and/or Diplomatic pressures. Play the Axis too aggressive and you may not only cause the USSR to take notice but the US may enter early. Play a more passive game without declaring war on every minor nation and it could work to your advantage in the long run. No need to simply take our word alone for it that Strategic Command 2 is a high quality game, try the Demo and decide for yourself Here is a link to the Weapons and Warfare Expansion pack Demo that includes many new features such as more dynamic weather, rail and roads as well as a greatly enhanced AI: http://www.battlefront.com/products/sc2/sc2_wwe/demo.html Hope this helps, Hubert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honch Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 SC2 with WAW is definately the best of the bunch. CEAW's only advantages are the oil feature and the scale of the map. Although the interface is rather pretty as well. Best features of SC2: 1. Support. Hubert is amazing at supporting the product and the commitment to expansion is fabulous. 2. Moddability. The editor is great and only getting better. Try the CEAW editor, its like working in binary. 3. AI. Its a tough one. 4. Diplomacy. The "what-if" and re-playability are very good. 5. Variety of units. Although many of them are not appropriate at the large scale of FAll Weiss (1939 scenario) they provide lots of fun. Need improvement: 1. Scale. The Fall Weiss scale is too large. It needs to be reduced by about 30%. 2. Oil. There needs to be an oil feature to represent oil shortages later in the war. 3. Artwork. THe 3-D units and resource bitmaps are too large. They should be reduced by 50% to clean-up the map. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick R Posted March 28, 2008 Author Share Posted March 28, 2008 Thank you all for your feedback. I have downloaded and played the demo a little bit but have not had the time to really look at it very well so the feedback is great. Honch, I agree I do like the interface on CEAW better and the "icon/ map style". I am trying to get used to the isometric view in SC2. That is one thing I wish had an option, 1D with nato units (for example) or the 2D isometric. The only thing that I would like to see, perhaps in the future would be a scenario that starts in say 1936 before anything occured. I believe it would drive Germany to war anyway but on the players terms and show the "why" they went to war, resources. It was the same for Japan. Just my 2 cents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timskorn Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Nick, also, their is a Global War map for SC2 out right now. It doesn't start in 1936, but playing as Japan you get to experience them "pre-war" (at war with Chinese though) and understand the desire to expand and get resources. Also, as Honch noted, the editor is fantastic and has allowed for many mods to be made for the game. There is even a War of the Worlds scenario, with new sounds and graphics. If you have the time to do it, you can make that 1936 scenario! Another thing to be mentioned is that while many here prefer SC2 with the WaW expansion, in my opinion (and others) it doesn't obsolete SC2 vanilla either. They both offer pretty distinct game styles and I only really understood this after going back to SC2 to play the Global War map after playing WaW for so long. There's even a new expansion coming called Patton Drives East... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_j_rambo Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Buy it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armuss Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 SC2-Waw is the Best World War II turn-based game! Buy it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blashy Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 I can only state the obvious... must have wargame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaMonkey Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 I have had only one other game hold my interest as long as SC and that was TOAW, notice I said was. SC is still current, over 5 years now. The player to player interaction and the many user created scenarios leads me to believe that it may make a decade. Huberts continual upgrading and enhancing of the engine also adds to the great value that SC is. There are not many things in life that gives the many hours of relaxation, exuberance and mental stimulation that SC provides, especially for the price. If you are a wargamer, SC should be in your library. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Cater Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 Originally posted by Nick R: The only thing that I would like to see, perhaps in the future would be a scenario that starts in say 1936 before anything occured. I believe it would drive Germany to war anyway but on the players terms and show the "why" they went to war, resources. It was the same for Japan. Just my 2 cents Just wanted to follow up here that with the new Patton Drives East Expansion there will be an additional bonus alternate history WWII campaign that allows you to start in early 1939 with Poland, France and the UK still neutral. More info can be found here: http://www.battlefront-store.com:8080/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=431&Itemid=214 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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