|
|
 |
|
Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns is an ambitious
game that combines elements of real time strategy and turn based gameplay into one
fantasy wargame package.
The story is of a devine creator who assembled 10 immortal attendants and tasked them to
craft a world of splendor and beauty, which was named Khaldum. The 10 immortals then
populated this utopia with 10,000 immortal beings with the task of guarding Khaldum.
Each of the 10,000 immortals, called the Kohan, was given a golden amulet, as a gift
from the creator. As the Kohan tended to their world an evil force, called "The Shadow",
arose unnoticed, plotting the great cataclysm, which brought an end to Khaldum.
The Kohan fought valiantly with magic and steel, but to no avail. The Kohan have been
silent for eons, but are now being reborn, to rebuild their civilization and bring an
end to the reign of The Shadow.
|
|
After endless and condescending tutorials, you start the game by choosing play as leader
of one of 4 factions, each with their own plan on the best way to restore Khaldum to its
former glory. These factions include the Ceyah, The Council, The Nationalist, and The Royalists.
Each faction has its own strengths, weaknesses and unique units. For example, as leader
of The Council, your elite units are a wizard, elite bowman and channeler. Building bonuses
for The Cinclude +20% tax gold income from settlements, 25% cheaper upgrade for town upgrade,
and 20% shorter town upgrade time. The other factions have their own unique modifiers and
military units.
It is important to realize that once you conquer a faction town, you gain their strengths
and unique units as well as the bonuses you started the game with. For example, if you started
the game as leader of The Council, and conquered a Ceyah town, you would now enjoy the
benefits of both The Council and Ceyah factions. However, you can only build Ceyah specific
troops at a Ceyah town.
The unique economic models used in "Kohan" are the strength of the game. Unlike the last
1000 RTS games released, there are no peons used to gather wood, gold, manna, iron ore,
stone, etc. As you build "components" to your town (sawmill, quarry, barracks, etc.), the
resources build up in a stockpile. As you upgrade your components, the rate the resources
gathered is increased. Another interesting feature is that the town components are not
individual structures visible on the game screen; all components are contained within the
castle. This way no murdering horde can destroy your lumber mill and cripple unit production.
The resources gathered are required to build troops. All troops, from the lowly footman to
the vaunted wizard, require resources. of course, the higher the level of troop, the more
resources that are required. Excess resources can be sold at a marketplace for gold.
If the economic model of Kohan is the strength of the game, than the combat system is the
downfall. The combat system is centered on building units of 6 soldiers, each with a leader.
The mix of soldiers (swordsman, bowman, wizards etc) is based on available resources and
specific need. To defend a town, a mix of 3 archers and 3 swordsmen would work well.
For a scouting party, a mix of 3 rangers and 3 mounted cavilers would move quickly through
rough terrain.
Combat in Kohan is frustrating because you cannot control individual soldiers within the
6-person unit. Worse yet, you cannot control the spells that the wizards, magicians and
sorceress cast. I was horrified when in combat my wizard chose to cast a fireball spell at
the enemy when the units protecting him were being slaughtered, and the wizard could have
cast a "heal troops" spell.
With limited control of specific troops, the artificial intelligence is shockingly bad.
Case in point: my magician was casting a lighting spell into his own troops. Those troops
died, and the enemy, who was shielded from the spell by my attacking troops, then proceeded
to kill my defenseless magician. Not much fun in that. Finally, the graphics are acceptable,
but not great. My main complaint with the graphics is that the troops and towns are just
too small. Details are tough to see, and in battles, it is hard to see any features, such
as swords slashing or arrows flying.
All in all, Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns is a notable game that falls short of greatness due
to a flawed combat system. High marks are earned for an innovative RTS economic model.
Another plus is that Kohan is an original game concept, and not a sequel or add on pack.
Sliceboy's Rating:
3.5 out of 5 Planets
Talk about
Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns>> |
|
|
|
Buy it @
amazon.com |
|
|
|
Game News
