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World War One – La Grande Guerre – PC Game ReviewLarry Levandowski | February 02, 2009 | 9 comments | Print | E-mail  Armchair General Magazine Passed Inspection: Captures the sweep and scale of WWI. Failed Inspection: Poor documentation, interface issues, occasional freezes and CTD. Like the war itself, AGEOD’s World War One is sweeping and complex, but also confusing and not for the squeamish. World War I was a man-made catastrophe that is only eclipsed by World War II. Europe, coming out of the 19th century, was full of hope and optimism but also unchecked nationalism. The horror to come was made worse because quaint ideas about warfare were out of touch with what technology could do to the legions of European youth. Elan and chivalry quickly gave way to the grim reality of water-cooled machine guns, horrific artillery barrages, and rolling clouds of poison gas. Within the course of four years, the industrial meat-grinder of war would sap Europe of its vitality and change the world forever. AGEOD, the game company that burst onto the strategic game universe with great titles such as Birth of America and American Civil War, now turn their talents to the Great War. The result is World War One – La Grande Guerre, a computer version of a board game by Philippe Thibault, the designer of the original Europa Universalis. Like the war itself, AGEOD’s World War One is sweeping and complex, but also confusing and not for the squeamish. In terms of scope and features, WWI is aimed squarely at AGEOD’s strategy fan base. The game tries to be everything that wargamers look for in a grand strategy game. The concept is wonderful; all the game play elements we want are there. WWI certainly gets an A for effort. But the execution is less than stellar, and even after vigorous patching, WWI is still a rough ride. This is a massive game. It is the first computer game that portrays WWI as a truly global conflict: the map details Europe, the Mideast, Iraq and Russia, but also represents Asia, America and Africa. The region-based map has many hundreds of regions, and is so large, that players will be forgiven if they sometimes get lost. The occasional disorientation is not helped by the map’s 90-degree, counter-clockwise orientation, though that is something that does grow on the player with time. Military units are infantry and cavalry corps, artillery units, air squadrons, and ship flotillas. Each unit is rated for factors like attack, defense, movement, support value, moral, and (for ships) gun range. Like other AGEOD games, these units also have nicely done portraits that depict the correct uniform or equipment. Units are organized into armies or fleets. Headquarters are essential for units to move and fight at full capacity. Armies may spread out over several regions on the map and include both front line units and a set of reserve corps. Historic commanders like Paul von Rennenkampf and Paul von Hindenburg are assigned to the HQs. These commanders are rated for their ability to not only attack and defend, but also to coordinate their moves with other armies and to react to enemy moves. There is a political price to pay for replacing commanders, so sacking a sluggish general must be done with care. The game is turn-based, with each turn representing one or two months of real-time depending on the season. For the first turn of the 1914 Grand Campaign, there is also a pre-turn that is used for Germany’s surprise overrun of Belgium in August of 1914. Even with the basic unit being a corps, WWI has hundreds of units on the board at once. The army organization makes movement and combat for this large number of troops manageable, but still, playing a major campaign like 1916 gives the player a wonderful appreciation for the sweep and scope of the Great War. Fighting in the deserts of Iraq, the mountains of Serbia, and the trenches of France all convey just how massive the war was. Pages: 1 2 3 4Help Armchair General by bookmarking to
            Tags: game, PC game, review, World War I
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9 Comments to “World War One – La Grande Guerre – PC Game Review”
I really wold like to see a clear link to the web page where the game in question (or under review in this case), is possible to order.
Not too much to ask I hopes???
By Nelson Cook on Feb 2, 2009 at 8:50 pm
The global map (4th picture) seems to be not only ahistorical, but really strange with the contemporary borders of Western Europe and merging the rest of Europe and the Middle East into hardly justifiable regions.
By Peter K on Feb 3, 2009 at 3:36 am
Hi Nelson,
The game is possible to order on ageod website :
http://shopus.ageod.com/game-description-World_War_One-662843.html
By Kristobal on Feb 3, 2009 at 6:13 am
Hello, I’m the developer of WW1. I appreciated very much the review, that I consider fair. I’m working hard to remove all compliants and bring improvements to the game. The final version of the BIG game manual will be soon available, and a draft is already downloadable. Next versions of the game will have some key new features, such as the “Combat Logs”, that will help a lot players in understanding the game mechanics. In addition, current technical problems (the freezes and CTDs reported on some PC configs) are my priority #1 and I’m working hard on them. Thanks, Luca.
By Luca Cammisa on Feb 5, 2009 at 9:51 am
EU customer can buy World War One at play.com Saving 50% in comparison to AGEod shop.
http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/6059656/World-War-One/Product.html?cur=258
The game has been reviewed negatively by some users, me included: low graphic level, high complexity unsupported by a paper game manual, lot of bugs and CTDs, original game out of the box unfinished, a not optinized game interface, a not always brillian AI. More three month later game publication CTDs are till occurring as confirmed by Luca Cammisa.
By JastaV on Feb 6, 2009 at 4:18 pm
I own the game and I agree with the reviewer on many points. I have to say that as far as the crashes are concerned these are few these days and the game is very actively maintained. I was really disappointed when I bought it (there was no demo at the time) and if I had known its state I would not have invested the money and time. However, things improved dramatically in the following months and as it stands now, it is a worthy purchase… there are still a few issues (meaning it will probably crash a couple of times during a campaign) but I am sure these will be addressed as well. If you like world war one strategy there is nothing like it in the market right now, as far as i know.
By Steven on Feb 6, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Got to say that I bought thise game just after it came out but haven’t really played it yet due to poor documentation issues and game crashes. However, from reading the AGEOD forums I can see that the game is vastly improved and correct manual will be available on Monday. I own a number of other AGEOD games and they are the best software company for continuously improving their games thru patches. I am sure that when I return to the game next week it will be just as satisfying as all of their other strategy games
By ird on Feb 7, 2009 at 10:11 am
WW has come a long way. The review is not only fair but detailed. Now, since the version tested at last 2 more patches have been delivered. A demo can be downloaded and the full manual is available in an almost achived form ( 200 pages…)
Ageod records garantee this game will be improved in the next months.
Last point/ Buying at Play.com will save you money but AGEOD will not get one cent from you.
About JastaV opinion, you will learn why he hates AGEOD here:
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1997686
By Clovis on Feb 8, 2009 at 8:16 am
I would be pleased if JastaV refers to my words with the proper circumstances. because I do not like them being used out of my intentions, artificially transformed into concepts that I do not expressed. I wrote that ’some’ PC configs are still suffering CTDs, not that the game crashes regularly on ALL PCs. Just to be clear, these occurrences are due to outdated audio codec drivers, HW sound card incompatibility issues, antivirus programs that make the game crash, etc. etc. Despite the extreme complexity of these issues, I’m working hard on them, in order to help the most number of customers.
By Luca Cammisa on Feb 11, 2009 at 5:44 am