"Cossacks 3": a review of the game. Reviews, requirements and advice

The legendary Ukrainian studio GSC Game World returned to service. However, to call it a full-fledged studio language will not turn, since its staff consists of specialists working remotely. Recall, GSC is known for the release of cult games series STALKER and "Cossacks". The first game is a first-person shooter, telling about the events taking place in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. But the "Cossacks" - a historical real-time strategy , which won the love of fans around the world. And so it happened! The restored studio released the game "Cossacks 3" after a ten-year break since the release of the first part. So, let's see what the "Cossacks 3" are. Review and first look at the new strategy.

Previous parts

The first part of the "Cossacks" came out at the beginning of the two thousand years. At that time these were "bombs". Especially they liked the players from the CIS countries, as the plot relied on the history of the Russian Empire. And she is very close to us. At that time these strategies were distinguished by a well thought-out management system and large-scale mass battles. And the level of artificial intelligence for that time was not bad. Then all AI was supposed to be stupid. And in the "Cossacks" he was surprisingly savvy.

Of course, some unmatched graphics from the first "Cossacks" did not have to wait. At that time, even the shooters did not particularly attract attention. What can we say about strategies. But the schedule then no one paid attention. Glanoi - the gameplay and mechanics of the game. And in this "Cossacks" were on top. Now a new era has come. Do "Cossacks 3" correspond to modern standards of real-time strategy? Let's try to figure this out.

Old game in a new wrapper?

Those who waited for the development of the old "Cossacks" and a fundamentally new strategy, will be severely disappointed. "Cossacks 3" - not a new game, but just a remake of the 2001 release strategy. Why did we decide this? Yes, because in addition to the graphic component and some changes in the balance of nations in the game there is nothing new. After playing a few minutes, you clearly understand that before you are the same "Cossacks" from distant "zero". Nostalgia is off scale.

"Cossacks 3", whose review showed that we have a 2001 game in a new cover, look a bit archaic in 2016. What was in the order of things at the beginning of the century, is completely irrelevant now. But the game came out without any special problems, because there are no competitors in this genre at all. Real-time strategies are extremely rare. Of the similar games of our time, only the second starcraft can be distinguished. But he is not from the niche of the "Cossacks" and has nothing to do with history.

Features of nations and units

So what about the gameplay? At least something stands out, "Cossacks 3"? The review of the units shows that some changes in the balance of nations take place. For example, Ukraine has the strongest warriors at the initial stage. Their serdeyuki able to grind in the cabbage of any units of other countries. But in the sea battles, Ukraine is at its very bottom. It is ruled by the old Britannia (as expected, in accordance with the real story).

But if a random generator of maps and nations toss Britain to the mainland, then it will be easy to roll it into the asphalt with infantry of any countries. The Poles have steep winged hussars. France has powerful horse musketeers who can smash everything to pieces. These are the features of the nations and units in the game "Cossacks 3".

The review on this, of course, does not end there. Some nations (such as Turkey) can not move into the 18th century on gameplay. This, of course, is not good. But as an alternative, these countries are able to easily "make" other players at the initial stages due to the cheapness of the soldiers. But as soon as the opponent moves to the 18th century, then the Turks end there. For to fight against muskets and rifles with scimitars in their hands is pure suicide. But if the Turks are not hampered, their opponents will simply not be able to enter the new millennium due to untimely death from the hands of the evil Janissaries. Against them, even the Ukrainian serdts are not able to do anything, because the Turks are simply crushed by the masses.

Campaigns

When you see the menu of campaigns, it is involuntarily thought that everything is exactly the same here as in the previous parts. But no. Developers have worked to think through new subjects. And they did it well. During the campaign, players are even given an alternative. For example, something like "You can not pardon execution." This is an important innovation. In the old "Cossacks" this was not. Still, it's "Cossacks 3" 2016. The review would be very boring if there were nothing new at all.

Now the main task of the campaigns is to teach the player to build the right buildings at one time or another and to properly manage the troops. True, the whole point of the campaigns is reduced to the formula "escort-deliver-kill." But this is already progress. "Cossacks 3", whose review somewhat spoiled the impression of the game, still managed to surprise.

Multiplayer

That's with multiplayer in the game until everything is bad. Of course, the developers are in full swing patches, but the multiplayer game over the Internet is working very badly. Also, the multiplayer system itself does not please. Play on the left servers will not work. And for the official will have to unfasten the monthly fee. This somehow does not appeal to the fans of the good old "Cossacks." Multiplayer is openly any. And it seems that everything will remain so.

Here, the studio GSC gave a crash. They should learn from Blizzard. But what is - that is. Still, it's not "Starcraft" or "Warcraft", but "Cossacks 3", the review of which is moving in its turn. And we turn to the most interesting for many players. Namely - to the graphics of the game. On the multiplayer until we forget. That's when they bring it to mind, then you can talk about the charms of multiplayer games.

Graphic arts

The graphic component of the game has been reworked very much. It would be worth to call the game "Cossacks 3D". For so it really is. But the 3D graphics in the game are strange. Somehow at once you will not understand what happened to the graphic component. "Three De" in the game is not noticeable until you turn on the dynamic camera. But you need to include it with a special command from the console. Without this, nothing at all. However, rolling around with a free camera and simultaneously controlling the troops is still a test. So it will be better if everything remains as it is.

In the rest the picture of the game pleases. Everything is clearly drawn. The colors are bright and juicy. And the units move quite realistically. And this despite the fact that a particularly powerful video card for launching "Cossacks" at maximum settings is not required. And on the minimum the game is able to run even on the built-in processor graphics. And the general system requirements do not differ with anything terrifying. So, the best real-time strategy is "Cossacks 3" Empire, the review of which shows that it will behave perfectly even on computers with medium iron.

System requirements

The requirements of the new "Cossacks" are minimal. And in comparison with the requirements for the iron of other modern games, they seem generally ridiculous. To run the game requires a computer with a single-core processor and a frequency of 3000 megahertz. RAM requires nothing at all by modern standards: 2 gigabytes. The video card is also not needed very powerful. A built-in graphics core of the Intel Core i3 processor of the second generation is quite suitable. Not to mention discrete graphics cards. This is the minimum system requirements that will allow the game "Cossacks 3", a review Which is the topic of our article.

As for the requirements recommended for a comfortable game with all the graphical bells and whistles, they are slightly different from the minimum ones. Although even they do not reach the minimum requirements of modern games. Judge for yourself. Requires a processor family of Core i5, 4 gigabytes of RAM and graphics adapter, equivalent to the "invisible" 560-series. Agree, the recommended requirements are rather moderate.

General opinion about the game

So, what can you say about the game "Cossacks 3" in general? The review of the game enters the final stage, so you need to somehow generalize all the information and give a short review. In general, this is not a full game, but just a remake of the original 2001 strategy with updated graphics. But in this version there are some innovations that distinguish it from the original part. Basically, these innovations relate to the balance of nations and campaigns. The mechanics remained exactly the same. Even the location of the control elements copies the original of 2001.

However, the game will appeal to many. Especially happy are those who once played the original version. For them, a new ideal will appear in the real-time strategy world - "Cossacks 3". Review, the passage - all these are not particularly interested in such gamers. The main thing is to return to "zero" and again to play for the Cossacks. However, the game will be interesting to those who have never played in the original "Cossacks", because there are no analogues of this strategy at all. In this regard, we can say that the developers have a very good game. And in any case it will be popular because of the lack of competitors.

Conclusion

We have just reviewed a relatively recent release from the makers of "Stalker." Even considering all the shortcomings in the "Cossacks", the game is doomed to success. Already, the debate on the web about the orthodoxy of the "Cossacks" does not stop. Some argue that the game has retained its best traditions, while others with crazy persistence prove that such "Cossacks" in our time - the wildest anachronism. Who of them is right, we will learn a little later. But for some reason it seems that the new "Cossacks" have every chance to become a cult strategy of real time. They are quite capable of repeating the success of their "ancestors".