Whatever combination you choose can then be saved as a template to make further changes or purchase at the barracks. From there, you can access the equipping screen, which allows you to outfit any of these base unit types with weapons, secondary weapons, and shields. For example, the Spartans have Psiloi, Spartiate, and Hoplites. Instead of having global upgrades that are researched, World Forge has chosen to let you take researched weapons and create their own unit combinations. One of the interesting things that Sparta is doing with unit creation is with outfitting. The formation options are a bit lean with only line, column, and scattered, but they'll do in a pinch compared to no formation at all. Ranged fighters like javelin throwers or archers will always sit behind the more powerful melee units for protection while chariots and cavalry lead the charge. From what we've seen so far, formations are fairly intelligent about where units are placed. As with most RTS games these days, units can be put into formations. It's fun to see the larger groups of units on screen fighting each other so we certainly hope the speed is increased by release. The three resources, food, wood, and gold are readily available on the map (food is actually generated by farms), but the gold harvesting is a bit slower than we'd like at this point. Whether this will be how the game works by the time of release we don't know but as it stands now it takes a considerable amount of time to earn cash enough to fund an good sized army. The number of units on field has never been overwhelming at this point, largely due to the pace of resource collection.
We're hoping this portion of the game also becomes a bit more complex since the ships are large and look good. We've also had the chance to try out the naval combat briefly.
Halfway through the Greek campaign we were already constructing walls and sieging fortified enemy camps. Most of the missions seem to introduce new units and ideas to each of the factions one step at a time. We've played some simple seek and destroy missions while others skew more towards the tunnel crawling with no construction of bases at all. From there, the campaigns include a variety of missions. Any of the three can be chosen from the beginning of the game so each starts off with quick tutorial-like missions to help you become familiar with the control schemes and ideas behind the game. During our time with the game, we've been able to complete most of the Greek campaign and take a quick peek at the Egyptian and Persian campaigns. The campaigns tell the story of these powerful men from past to present. Both the Spartan king Leonidis and Xerxes have probably become a little more familiar with the release of 300 even if their portrayal in that is more fantasy than fact. The three campaigsn follows the exploits of important men inside the Greek, Egyptian, and Roman camps.
Sparta takes place in the ancient Mediterranean setting where the Persians were the powerhouse and the Greeks were brash and violent underdogs to the rampaging armies of King Xerxes. We're hoping that by the time Eidos and World Forge release Sparta: Ancient Wars, a game we've been playing for a few hours now, we'll have another game to add to the growing list of quality titles this year. The real-time strategy genre is once again getting a little crowded, though lately we've been seeing more quality titles than otherwise.
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