Beyond the Sword Review by Solver

[Solver]

Indeed, the review is finally up! So, without further ado, Solver's Review of BtS.

[Wiglaf]

BtS espionage doesn’t break balance

A questionable assertion, considering that poisoning water supplies can reduce a city to 1 population without going to war and for little gold.

I don't see why a tester can review the game without a disclaimer, "I worked on this game" on the review.

[yin26]

Thanks for all your work for the community, Solver. Once again, your deep understanding of the game will put "professional" reviewers to shame.

[Solver]

Wiggie, shows how much of a careful reader you are, there actually is a disclaimer.

[Wiglaf]

Where? Certainly not near the beginning or in the intro, where it belongs.

" The second expansion to Civilization IV, Beyond the Sword, has been released. In this article, Solver, a long-time Apolyton staff member, reviews the game."

Should read:

The second expansion to Civilization IV, Beyond the Sword, has been released. In this article, Solver, a long-time Apolyton staff member and tester who spent months working on BTS, reviews the game.

[Solver]

That text isn't even an intro, it's more like a description of the page. The review itself starts under the "Beyond Civ4" link, and the second sentence there mentions that I worked on the game.

[Wiglaf]

How you can argue espionage is balanced is kind of beyond me. And you don't mention the terrible AI in the space scenario. Hm..

[Solver]

Are you reading the same review I wrote? I explicitly mention the AI as the weak point of Final Frontier.

[Wiglaf]

Final Frontier is, essentially, Civ in space. Developed by Jon Shafer from Firaxis, it feels considerably different from standard Civ4 as well. There are only so many places you can colonize (solar systems), space is littered with dangerous anomalies and massive Starbases need to be constructed in space before you can gather resources. The story follows several splinter groups of humanity after contact with Earth is lost. As you research technologies, quotes from FF universe characters, such as Admiral Aadesh Dama, are presented, and the story unravels. While allowing several ways of winning, warfare is probably the most fun in Final Frontier. There is a considerable coolness factor to leading spaceships into battle, and warfare is powerful in FF. While the mod has a somewhat weaker AI than the core game, it is visually beautiful and has enough differences from Civ4 to make it a high-quality mod.

Oh, come on. You mention the AI in about 5 words at the end, then qualify it by saying "Super scenario!" When the AI is the crux of it.

[Wiglaf]

Originally posted by Solver
That text isn't even an intro, it's more like a description of the page. The review itself starts under the "Beyond Civ4" link, and the second sentence there mentions that I worked on the game.

It only says you contributed to the game. Should be more specific, and in the intro blurb by DanQ.

This is why people who personally know the games' programmers and who worked on the game should not write reviews. Too much potential for whitewashing things that suck.

[korn469]

It's about damn time!
I'm off to read it

[Solver]

Originally posted by Wiglaf
Oh, come on. You mention the AI in about 5 words at the end, then qualify it by saying "Super scenario!" When the AI is the crux of it.

The whole mod only gets a paragraph from me. And the AI isn't as terrible as you seem to suggest. While worse than in the epic game, it's not terrible. And curiously enough, some things that are/seem to be AI weaknesses are due to the core design of the mod.

[Solver]

Originally posted by Wiglaf


It only says you contributed to the game. Should be more specific, and in the intro blurb by DanQ.

This is why people who personally know the games' programmers and who worked on the game should not write reviews. Too much potential for whitewashing things that suck.

It's a fair description. A specific description of what I do would be an unnecessary paragraph. For the record, I actually admit, in the review, that I may be somewhat biased about the feature which is largely my design.

I don't believe myself guilty of presenting things in too much positive light. I also worked on Warlords, and my review had an entirely different tone, and actually ended with a suggestion not to buy immediately. I believe Warlords was mediocre as an expansion, just as I believe that BtS is great. It's my opinion, which in the end is all the review is about.

[onodera]

The part I like most is the screenshot in the AI section.
The review: "The AI now builds huge scary stacks. Look at this one: so many frigates and galleons!"
The screenshot: Solver has Tanks and Destroyers waiting for them.

[Solver]

Yeah, that's a funny one. In that game, Hannibal didn't have Oil or Uranium, so he couldn't build those powerful ships. There's another screenshot, from the same game you might recognize, showcasing an Egyptian fleet.