Metascore

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 14 Ratings

  • Summary: Anciet Wars: Sparta is based on the history of the ancient ages and their main nations. Spartans, Persians and Egyptians are fighting for influence around Little Asia, Europe and North Africa. Historical correct timeline is 700-300 BC and the action takes place with different campaigns for all three races. Sparta represents 3D strategy in real time with the new developed Ancient Wars Engine (AWE), where the player will have to use each nation’s powers to be superior over other competitors and build up a driving and ruling faction. The main emphasis is on large-scaled battles and complex tactical manoeuvres. Additional to this, a new method of army equipment is represented. Warriors can be equipped with weapons and shields, can be put on horses or on chariots and be given special abilities. The player can collect abandoned weapons after battles or import powerful weapons from other cultures to build more powerful and different special units. Additionally the forces of nature are very important, because fire, find etc. will affect the whole environment. Cities can be upgraded (e.g. turned to fortresses), workers gather resources to ensure the economic part. [Playlogic] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 21
  2. Negative: 5 out of 21
  1. It may not be particularly beautiful to look at, but it's tactical and challenging enough to keep you occupied. [June 2007, p.64]
  2. Wannabe "Age of Empires". [July 2007, p.82]
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

See all 21 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 4 out of 7
  1. AlexQ.
    10
    Exquisitely crafted with exceptional beauty and easy flow of Graphics. Although it may be a little hard to follow at first, and the overwhelmingly customizable might shook some people. But it is over all a solid RTS Old-places game. Expand
  2. SamA.
    8
    I found it very enjoyable but some aspecs will anoy everyone except the most avid RTS fan. Not for everyone but it is a fairly solid RTS game.
  3. JoeM.
    3
    This game just isn't very fun. It seriously looks like a game you would buy 10 years ago. The graphics are nothing special, and the characters just look weird. The whole feel to the game is just way overused. Theres nothing new added to the RTS genre, it just uses old school ideas. Expand
  4. stum
    3
    This is an extremly poor RTS with a number of huge flaws.
    The most irritating of these is the voice acting which is appaling i personally cou
    ld not cope with listening to the voices in the cut seen so i skipped every single one. Secondly if you are a fan of ancient history this is not a game for you the flaws in the story line or so astronomical as to make it entirely pathetic it looks like someone with the most basic and limited knowledge of the eras invovled took a stab at making up their own storyline. Third the human controlled AI is sometimes so stupid its rediculous walking into walls rather than arround them you sometime have to lead them round to areas bit by bit very annoying to say the least. Other lesser problems include the insane economy everythings so over priced the only way to build an army is by collecting arms not in itself a bad concept but theres little differences between the different sides weapons and theres no bonuses or limitations from using a differents sides weapons to your own troops. Which seems like its lacking. To put the economy in perspective workers harvest gold at a similar rate to those on age of empire games perhaps a little bit faster yet the average decent unit costs 600 gold each and before you can build it you have to build barracks and archery ranges and a forge and a workshop and buy all the upgrades each building costing 1500 gold a 1000 wood and each upgrade costing between 600-1000 gold so as you can imagine it takes time. Aside from these economic problems the campaigns are reasonable but boring you just come away feeling this is a very basic game that got pushed through to try and make money off the back of the 300 any way its not good and anyone who thinks it is chould play c&c3 or supreme commander Expand

See all 7 User Reviews