textfiles/games/REVIEWS/sword.rev

 SWORD OF ARAGON

 Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) has long been famous for wargames like
KAMPFGRUPPE and BATTLES OF NAPOLEON. And SSI is also renowned for its fantasy
CRPGs, from QUESTRON and PHANTASIE to the more recent POOL OF RADIANCE and AZURE
BONDS. So, perhaps it was inevitable that one day SSI would blend the two forms
and publish a fantasy wargame. SWORD OF ARAGON mixes the strategy and combat of
a wargame with the monsters and magic of a fantasy game to create a challenging
combination. The IBM-PC version is the basis of this review; Amiga version notes
follow.

 In some ways, SWORD OF ARAGON is a traditional fantasy RPG. The game begins
with the death of the ruler of the city-state of Aladda. As his child, you
assume his goal of restoring the glory of the old Empire to the land of Aragon.
To do this, you must find the Sceptre, Crown, and Amulet that belonged to the
ancient Emperors. During the game, you encounter minotaurs, trolls, a dragon,
elves, dwarves, and literally thousands of orcs. Some characters volunteer to
join you in your quest, but if you are short-handed, you can hire additional
characters as mercenaries.

 There are five different character classes: Warrior, Knight, Ranger, Priest and
Mage. Mages, Priests, and Rangers are spellcasters, while Warriors and Knights
specialize in combat. As in traditional fantasy RPGs, a character's combat and
magic skills increase with experience.

 Aside from these elements, though, SWORD is essentially a wargame. The goal of
the game is to unify all the cities on the game map through conquest or treaty.
To win, you must develop your armies and cities as well as your characters.
Cities provide both tax revenue and fortresses for your armies. Each turn you
may choose to develop the various industries in your cities. This costs money,
but it increases your tax revenue in the months to come. Between turns, a
variety of political and economic news appears on the screen, and you must
occasionally make political decisions such as whether to enter into an alliance,
or whether to execute a prisoner. These aspects of the game are easily mastered
after a few turns.

 Managing your armies, however, is not so simple. There are five different types
of armies: infantry, mounted infantry, bowmen, mounted bowmen, and cavalry. Each
unit's skill progresses with more experience, and certain forms of equipment are
only available at higher levels. For example, an infantry unit may use plate
mail only if the soldiers are experience level three or above. All army units
cost money to create, equip, train, and maintain. The trick is to have an army
that is both large enough and experienced enough to be effective in battle
without going bankrupt.

 Actual combat is handled well. When a battle begins, the display changes from
the strategic map of Aragon to a magnified tactical map of the area. There you
control your individual characters and units. To succeed in combat you must take
into account the terrain as well as the speed, stamina, and morale of your men.
If they are badly battered or frightened, your units may ignore your commands
and retreat, ruining your carefully laid plans. During a combat turn, you have
the option of running the show yourself, or of turning control of your units
over to the computer. Major battles may take more than an hour to win, but
unfortunately there is no way to save a game during a battle. Be prepared for a
long session when attacking major cities.

 The most difficult part of SWORD OF ARAGON is attacking an enemy city. The key
here is the strategic use of your "artillery" (bowmen and spellcasters) to
soften up the interior of the city before launching an assault with infantry.
Not all cities need to be conquered by force, however. Some of them may choose
to become your vassals by sending money to you as tribute every turn. Other
cities may join with you as allies, sending computer-controlled troops to assist
you in major battles. The combination of tactical battles with economic and
political elements keeps SWORD interesting. If you become tired of attacking
cities, you can spend a few turns developing your armies and cities instead.

 The game's EGA graphics are crisp and above average for a wargame. Each unit is
represented with its equipment, e.g., infantry units are shown holding little
swords, halberds, pikes, etc. Most of the small icons are quite effective,
although mages in their robes look more like Barney Rubble in his caveman gear
than fearsome wizards! As with most wargames, the game commands are difficult to
learn at first, but become familiar after a few battles. The game can be played
with either a mouse or the keyboard, and has no on-disk copy protection.
Instead, manual-based copy protection is used.

 My only problem with SWORD OF ARAGON is the manual. A large amount of important
information is either glossed over or just plain missing. For example, there are
no tables showing which equipment combinations are possible for a given type of
unit. Instead there is this suggestion: "Experiment with various armor and
weapon combinations to discover which weapon types work together." Not very
helpful, considering there are over 100 conceivable equipment combinations for
infantry alone! The Charge and Overrun options are barely mentioned in the
manual, and the rules for firing missile weapons over different types of terrain
are not mentioned at all. Also missing from the manual is an index, which a game
with as many features as SWORD requires. All of this makes SWORD harder to play
than it should be.

 Nevertheless, SWORD OF ARAGON is the perfect game for those who enjoy _both_
RPGs and wargames. Players who prize fantasy RPGs for their mapping, puzzles, or
storytelling, will find those elements missing from SWORD. And wargamers who
have never played a fantasy RPG may find a campaign that requires slaying
dragons and casting spells a bit odd. But for those who appreciate, for example,
both POOL OF RADIANCE _and_ EMPIRE, SWORD OF ARAGON is a treat.

 AMIGA VERSION NOTES

 I should state right off that I am not much of a wargamer. I have played some
of SSI's games, and found them well-presented, intellectually challenging, and
quite realistic. And I have become bored with most of them after a few hours.
Now, SWORD OF ARAGON may be the perfect game for those who enjoy _both_ RPGs and
wargames (as the main review states), but I did not find it so. For those whose
interests (like mine) lie primarily in RPGs, it leaves a great deal to be
desired. I found the game ponderous, difficult to follow, and totally lacking in
all the elements I seek in an RPG. Nor can I believe that a gamer whose focus is
on war simulation would find this game the least bit palatable. Even as a war
game, I found it unbearably tedious. Manipulation of armed forces and
spellcasters takes forever, and the interface is leaden. Without a storyline to
keep the plot moving, the game becomes a series of repetitive moves, with few
clear goals in sight. I became frustrated with SWORD OF ARAGON in less than an
hour, and probably would've stopped playing if I were not reviewing the game for
this audience.

 The IBM reviewer found fault with the manual, and says that a large amount of
important information is either glossed over or just plain missing. That is only
half the problem. The manual is so badly organized that the player is left to
flounder through the various sections in hope of stumbling over the part of the
game he or she seeks to address. If the game is geared toward those RPG'er who
are looking for something a bit more strategic, the manual should have each step
in the turn process set forth in one place so that those unfamiliar with the
conventions of wargaming simulations can have at least a (pardon the pun)
fighting chance.

 The game makes little use of the Amiga's graphics and sound capabilities; some
sound effects are ported intact from the TSR games, I noted with some amusement.
The overall graphics level is not much better than you would expect from a
Commodore 64 game. As with the IBM version, the game can be played using either
a mouse or the keyboard (I would recommend the latter), has no on-disk copy
protection, and is installable on a hard drive. The copy protection scheme
requires reference to a poster, and from there, to the manual. This two-part
keyword system is typical of the overall approach of the game: It constantly
makes things more difficult than they have to be.

 SWORD OF ARAGON is published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. and distributed by
Electronic Arts.

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