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Grand Ages: Medieval

Grand Ages: Medieval

Trading simulations like Patrician and Port Royale are the specialty of Gaming Minds. This recipe has now been spiced up with a dash of strategy.

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When Kalypso announced Rise of Venice two years ago, we were somewhat disappointed. Developer Gaming Minds had a couple of interesting new game mechanics to add, but at the core it was merely an update of the well-known trading simulation albeit with a fresh lick of paint. During a presentation at the time we asked creative director Daniel Dumont when they would push the envelope and really mix in something new. Of course he defended the new elements, but also announced that the next or the one after would take us to pastures new. Now, after a relatively short wait, Grand Ages: Medieval has added a strategic element that has finally revitalised the well-worn concept.

In fact, the new game still has a commodity-centric economic cycle, much like what we're used to from previous games. This time there are twenty goods that we are able to produce and trade. Half are available everywhere, the others are spread in different zones over the entire map, and not a single one is specific to a single region. It's loosely based on where commodities would naturally appear. Coal and metals are up in the mountains. Fish, naturally, can only be caught either at sea or in a river. Wine can only created from hillside regions, although you can still find it in the far north. A bit more realism would have been better, because as it stands no starting point on the map has any significant drawbacks, even if the benefits depend somewhat on your location (i.e. less wine is produced up north).

In every town between Scandinavia and North Africa you can select up to five goods that can be produced in workshops. Theoretically this means that four well-selected cities are enough to cover all of the goods that flow through the economic system. We need only consider that some are also simultaneously raw materials and that we need to produce plenty of these. Thus, the needs of the population can be satisfied and we can also collect high taxes for a high level of satisfaction. That said, only essential resource is food; cities will starve without it. We set up trade routes, these can be automated to buy and sell goods in accordance with supply and demand, or you can tinker manually.

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In terms of economy and trade, Grand Ages: Medieval remains straightforward and easy. The number of goods is less than in it was its predecessor, and there are only a few complex production chains to master. Only clothes and finery need five workshops and even these can be produced (with a bit of luck) in a single city. Add to this the lack of regional specialisation. With the number of cities the demand on our skills increases and when you get to double digits it starts getting complicated, but veterans won't feel it's too demanding. Not at all. In particular, there is a lack of variation in terms of strategy when heading into your second play-through. Maybe future enhancements or updates will bring a little more depth to the game - it's something we've come to expect from this publisher.

Grand Ages: MedievalGrand Ages: Medieval
Grand Ages: MedievalGrand Ages: MedievalGrand Ages: Medieval

Trade with neighboring countries and city-states brings extra money and improves our relations with each city. If we give the rulers enough gold or goods to raise their opinion of us, we can also take over a city; a peaceful route to a victory. Then again, with swordsmen, cavalry and archers you can also besiege cities and conquer them. The special feature here is that our army must always be supported by our nearest city. With a huge array of troops we can't simply go from town to town and conquer, but need to plan accordingly.

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There is a lack of regional variation when it comes to the various goods you produce, but there is when it comes to troops, even if they're not really historically accurate. Special units with special bonuses can be recruited in certain regions. If you want an efficient army, you must therefore be well positioned. What is unfortunately missing is the ability to put together a battalion. It's possible to build fortifications that we can fill with ranged units to fight off bandits and wild animals, but these units dwindle over time as soldiers only recover health when stationed in cities.

As a third element to the game, there is some rudimentary town building and research to engage with. We can build a warehouse and military barracks (among other things) in the city next to our workshops. With religious buildings the potential population increases, although they remain capped at 15,000 inhabitants. This number is important as it feeds into the number of potential workers and the maximum number of troops that can be supplied. The bigger our cities and the more inhabitants, the higher our rank. And with each rank there are research points for improvements in infrastructure, production and military.

Grand Ages: MedievalGrand Ages: MedievalGrand Ages: Medieval
Grand Ages: MedievalGrand Ages: Medieval

Grand Ages: Medieval consists of a campaign, a sandbox game, and a multiplayer mode for up to eight players. For starters, it's advisable, to play through the campaign once. It tells the story about the young ruler Leon Vasselios who has fallen in love with the daughter of the Emperor of Byzantium. All of the features and mechanics are explained through a series of missions. In-between there are short sequences that drive the story forward. At the end we're taken into a sandbox mode. It's actually a great way to get started in Grand Ages: Medieval, it allows us to learn the most important tips and tricks, and only then join the game proper.

In the open sandbox mode we can also choose what part of the map we want to play. The region can be limited as well to say Eastern Europe or the classical Hanseatic League region. The real excitement in this mix of trading sim and strategy game, however, comes from multiplayer. The passive and relatively subdued artificial intelligence only rarely forced our hand, even if the AI is otherwise very expansive. On top of that, as far as diplomacy goes, pretty much anything can be fixed with money. Sometimes it feels like the game is inconsistent in the way various parameters affect the experience. For example, enemy factions will pay attention to how much money we have and demand a corresponding amount, the political situation and the imbalance of power are apparently less important.

Grand Ages: Medieval is surprisingly good at connecting trade and strategy. It's fun to meet the needs of cities and at the same time keep an eye on the military and its supply. It's something new, and adds a further dimension to methods employed by Gaming Minds. Unfortunately, there are still parts that are work in progress. The trade and production have been simplified so that we can also focus on the grand strategy part. However, it's also a fairly simple game, and the artificial intelligence is very basic if you were to compare it to a game like Civilization: Beyond Earth.

Still, we're glad Gaming Minds accepted the challenge and left their comfort zone. Grand Ages: Medieval does a lot of things right, and the presentation is nice. Although many elements could do with more depth and detail, none of what's here is unnecessary or annoying. A few areas will surely be improved with updates, as is usual in games from Kalypso. Other problems may need more work and may not be sorted until a sequel, but they're on the right path. And so in it's present form this is a good alternative for those who enjoy strategy but find the games from Paradox and Creative Assembly too complex. The downside to that is that veterans of the genre may not find enough of a challenge here.

HQ
08 Gamereactor UK
8 / 10
+
Mix of trading simulation and strategy, nice campaign, decent graphics, great multiplayer.
-
Individual elements are perhaps too shallow, relatively few goods, unspectacular AI.
overall score
is our network score. What's yours? The network score is the average of every country's score

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Grand Ages: MedievalScore

Grand Ages: Medieval

REVIEW. Written by Martin Eiser

"This is a good alternative for those who enjoy strategy but find the games from Paradox and Creative Assembly too complex."



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