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honest thoughts on TOW3


lofty12

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No question to buy at that price. I was a bit disappointed in it over Kursk, and there has been no patching I know of. It's almost like there may never be. So at $45, I'd skip it and get another BF game. But on sale, grab it. It also has that strategic layer which is underdeveloped but at least it's different.

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where are the bad reviews? links?

ToW3 is one of the two best tactical WWII games ! (the other one is CMBN!) Both games have theirs own or same flaws though.

what ToW3 has over former ToWs :

-strategic" mode (did'nt try it yet)

-Non-linear dynamic campaigns

-Unique landscape modeling for correct infantry combat simulation

-Lots of new artillery, armor and aviation units, e.g. transport helicopters

-Engineer Corps: real-time mining and demining

-binocular view feature

-authentic Korean landscape and architecture

-New fragmentation damage model :

http://www.tow-game.com/painstaking

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  • 4 weeks later...
where are the bad reviews? links?

No links just facts-

IGN **

5 / 10

Apr 13, 2011

Game Chronicles **

7.5 / 10

Apr 4, 2011

Gaming Nexus **

D

May 5, 2011

Gamers Daily News **

6.5 / 10

Apr 4, 2011

PC Gamer **

35 / 100

Jul 1, 2011

ToW3 is one of the two best tactical WWII games ! (the other one is CMBN!)

I disagree. That is your opinion of course and I respect that but there are other great titles out there as well. One I can say without doubt is Panzer Command Ostfront by Matrix Games. Excellent tactical title. Another one is Men of War series especially the latest one Assault Squad. CM is a great series and CM Normandy is a top notch tactical title but its not alone up there.

what ToW3 has over former ToWs :

-Non-linear dynamic campaigns

How are the campaigns dynamic? They were in Kursk and Africa 43 as well.

-Engineer Corps: real-time mining and demining

Can you explain mining/demining and how to do this with your engineer corps in-game.

-binocular view feature

What does this feature exactly do?

http://www.tow-game.com/painstaking

Let me know. Thanks..

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I recently tried MOW AS & altho I liked MOW this latest incarnation isn't as good - to me - but MOW AS has good reviews & I'd really expected to enjoy it.

Reviews often aren't so much fact as opinion. Unless they isolate flaws in the software (bugs etc) they can be misleading.

Having now played both ToW3 & MOW AS, I prefer ToW3.

To me MOW was a fun animated war themed puzzle. MOW AS is more of a combat game, ToW3 is more of a combat sim. I prefer the latter.

Matrix's new panzer command is good but not as pretty as ToW :D

In answer to your questions on game mechanics -

Mine laying & removal is done via mouse click on a button (or hot key) the units go through a routine & small flags show the presence of mines when the laying operation is complete.

Binocular view gives you the worms eye view from the selected unit.

Dynamic campaign, in earlier ToW you followed through a pre-ordered list of missions. In ToW3 you select the province to focus on, meaning the missions are 'dynamically' ordered & the order of missions changes on the basis of the strategic level choices.

ToW has benefited from major efforts by fans, I hope this will continue with #3. Without those fans I doubt the game would be as good as it is now.

I also hope the devs will address any technical issues with #3 (tho I'm not having problems) & add some content. But we all know how patches & the wait for them can be.

That said I'm enjoying it as a variation on something I've grown to like a lot since it was first released.

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GIJas,

thank you for the answer on the reviews!

I didn't like Panzer Command at all (bad copy of Combat Mission in my opinion, the Ostfront map/scenario editor is fantastic though).

Regarding realism, ToW Korea is perhaps the best one along with CMBN... But perhaps to hard to master... Pity!

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ToW3 is the best of the Theatre of War games, and in my opinion, by a great margin.

As far as I can tell, all the issues which bothered some players in the previous titles have been addressed. The most common complaint was about the poor survival of the infantry. With the new fragmentation model and the new simulation of the landscape cover depending on the type of terrain, infantry survival has been considerably boosted.

Now, a unit lying prone has a much better chance of escaping damage when a shell is exploding nearby, as well as being better protected against small arms fire. For me, it has been like playing a new game.

Of course, one can argue that there are still a few things that could be improved. But for me, with ToW3, the series has reached its maturity and is without doubt one of the very best tactical game. It is more a simulator than a game though, and as such it might not appeal to everyone.

I'm not a big fan of the game setting in Korea, I would have preferred a game set in WWII, and I wish that ToW2 Kursk and the Caen add-on could be ported to the new Theatre of War 3 engine.

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Will a patch be forthcoming to upgrade TOW2 games to TOW3 engine?

I don't think there's one by 1C...

but i've maked the Kurks and Caen filelist, finished ToW1/ToW2 ones, then extracted all the files and adapted them for ToW3. That was a long and difficult work, almost finished, will see if 1C/Battlefront agree to the release.

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I don't think there's one by 1C...

but i've maked the Kurks and Caen filelist, finished ToW1/ToW2 ones, then extracted all the files and adapted them for ToW3. That was a long and difficult work, almost finished, will see if 1C/Battlefront agree to the release.

Wow. That sounds like alot of work. As someone who has never been able to even extract and modify any of the SFS files, I want to thank you for your efforts.

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@Tartari - that is incredible. Does this mean that the ToW campaigns can be ported to ToW3 for solo play or is your mod for building new missions only?

I am wondering how easy it would be to do a straight conversion but I believe the map construction would impact a 1:1 change badly - is it possible to take a ToW1 map & add the missing data easily??

I would like to replay many of the original missions in ToW3 form to compare the effects/engine operations.

I hope you are able to share your work! ;)

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@Tartari - that is incredible. Does this mean that the ToW campaigns can be ported to ToW3 for solo play or is your mod for building new missions only?

I am wondering how easy it would be to do a straight conversion but I believe the map construction would impact a 1:1 change badly - is it possible to take a ToW1 map & add the missing data easily??

I would like to replay many of the original missions in ToW3 form to compare the effects/engine operations.

I hope you are able to share your work! ;)

didn't try it yet, but at least ToW 2 Afrika/Centauro/Kursk/Caen could be ported by each owner of the games.

It is possible to convert Tow1 maps to ToW3 with some work. I wasn't able to import Tow's trees in Tow3, would be a lot of work to plant them with speedTree trees and i don't know how to create winter speedtrees for winter maps.

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Interesting. I will have to find time for experimenting.

I agree that it would be great if it were possible to transform ToW WW2 games to the #3 code with the strategic campaign mode. Being able to port individual missions will be a good start though.

I hope 1c support this with some add-ons/patches/expansions that give enthusiasts more flexibility to use the engine of #3 for other wars.

As it stands I think one could model from the Spanish Civil War through to Viet-nam without fundamental changes to the engine. Maybe a cold-war (WiC style uchronie) game would also be possible in the future.

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