96 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
96 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
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BANDIT KINGS OF ANCIENT CHINA
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BANDIT KINGS OF ANCIENT CHINA (BANDIT) is the fourth in Koei's
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series of historical simulations of Asian empires from long ago.
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This game is slightly different from previous Koei efforts in that
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its main inspiration is a semi-fantastic historical novel. (This
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review is based on the IBM-PC version.)
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The major objective of BANDIT is not the conquest of ancient
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China, but the killing of an evil minister, one Gao Qui. Gao Qui has
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managed to usurp most of the power of government so that even the
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Emperor Hui Zhong cries out for help. Your job is to gather a loyal
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group of bandits, conquer and develop provinces, and grow in
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strength so that you may destroy the heinous Gao Qui.
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The basic system of BANDIT is extremely similar to that of earlier
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Koei efforts. Game play occurs on a large-scale strategic map that
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encompasses most of China. This map is broken up into provinces
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controlled by players. During a turn, play proceeds on a
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province-by-province basis. When your province is selected, you may
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issue orders for that province and any units it contains. Wars are
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initiated when one player sends a bandit (or official for Gao Qui)
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into a province controlled by another player. When war begins, play
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shifts to a tactical map depicting the terrain of the invaded
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province. Players' bandits and their men move about and fight for
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control of the province.
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There are some small differences between BANDIT and other Koei
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games. First, an important part of the game is character
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development. In BANDIT, your character (called a Good Fellow), has
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several attributes: Body, Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom. The
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difference is that these attributes are directly impacted by your
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actions. Different actions accrue experience points that will
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eventually raise the value of the character's attributes. This is
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handled in a sensible fashion, so that each action affects an
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appropriate attribute.
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Another difference is that you can only directly control a province
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if your character is in it, or if the bandit controlling it in your
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name is a Sworn Brother. And you cannot simply swear brotherhood
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with any bandit you recruit. Instead, your ability to swear
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brotherhood is based on the bandit's loyalty, _and_ the
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compatibility of your personalities. Personality is measured by
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three attributes: Integrity, Mercy, and Courage. These attributes do
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not change, so each character tends to accumulate Sworn Brothers who
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are "compatible" with him.
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The effect of these changes is to give BANDIT much more of a
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role-playing flavor than any other Koei game. Unfortunately, the
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actual impact of these changes in game play seems rather small.
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While character development is nice, players are not likely to
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change their strategy in order to facilitate their character's
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development. Nor are the slight increments in attributes likely to
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greatly affect a character's success.
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The graphic presentation of BANDIT is excellent, as is generally
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the case with Koei's products; the opening sequence is particularly
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sharp -- almost worth the price of the game by itself. The interface
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is still keyboard-based, with little substantive change in style.
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The packaging and supporting materials are very well done: The rules
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are reasonably brief and the historical documentation is excellent.
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The IBM-PC version of BANDIT KINGS OF ANCIENT CHINA displays in EGA
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(640x350x16) and CGA (640x200x2) modes. It requires 384K and two
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floppy drives, or a hard disk. There is no copy protection of any
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kind -- a welcome change from earlier Koei games. Input is via
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keyboard only, and no sound boards are supported.
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Despite all of this, I had some real trouble with the game. I've
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played and loved earlier Koei games, to which BANDIT is very
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similar; in fact, it's _too_ similar. Though the individual
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characters are given greater emphasis, the overall flavor of BANDIT
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is almost exactly the same as ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS. I would
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like to see Koei devote its considerable talents to development of
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completely different sorts of games, if possible. In many ways,
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BANDIT reminds me of the "Star Trek" movies. The first was flawed,
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if interesting. The second was a vast improvement, but later
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installments have seemed increasingly superfluous.
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The bottom line is this: If you've played and enjoyed Koei's games
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in the past _and_ you want more of almost exactly the same, buy
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BANDIT KINGS OF ANCIENT CHINA. If you've never played a Koei game,
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this is a good place to start. However, if you're looking for
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something from Koei that's a little different, this isn't it. Maybe
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the next game will be.
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BANDIT KINGS OF ANCIENT CHINA is published and distributed by Koei
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Corporation.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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