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Diplomacy
Put your strategy and negotiation skills to
the test in the interactive version of the classic board game Diplomacy.
Set in early 20th century Europe, this PC adaptation brings the power
struggles of seven mighty nations to life like never before. Its
abstracted and simple gameplay puts the focus on the need for shrewd
negotiations and overall strategy.
Features
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Challenging single player experience. Diplomacy will
feature single player capabilities, which will remove
the need for real-world opponents and will allow the
player to encounter life-like computer opponents at any
time.
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Graphical negotiation language, which will allow the
player to communicate efficiently with humans and AI
players alike.
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Multiplayer experience. By capturing the essence of the
player interaction in the original board game, the
computer version will offer both the classic versions of
Diplomacy as well as more optimised versions that will
decrease the amount of time required of players.
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True
diplomacy includes the ability to communicate and agree
on anything that makes sense in the game world. It
allows the player to form agreements and to break them
without artificial constructs. The player will decide
who to trust, and building that trust will be part of
the gameplay, rather than a formal element of the
rules.
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3-D
graphics-enabled engine.
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Although
this title will differ from the latest titles developed
and published by the company, players will still
recognise the Paradox touch and passion for game
development. The title will be less of a historical
simulation than Paradox traditionally creates; instead,
most of the focus will lie on negotiation.
No longer will a friend be needed to enjoy
the world of Diplomacy. With life-like opponents, gamers can take on the
20th century's mightiest nations at any time on their PCs. An enhanced
graphical language will be the negotiating tool between the player and
his human and AI opponents making the options almost endless for the
player.
Avatars representing your opponents will
express feelings depending on your actions and play style. More than
just a name, Diplomacy allows the player to negotiate anything that is
logically negotiable. Form alliances or break them on a whim - the
player decides whom to trust how to convince others to trust him
For those that are unaware of the original
board game, Diplomacy has been around for quite some time and is not
only a welcome addition
to the PC but little has changed since its original incarnation. As the
old analogy goes, if it ain't broke... don't fix it...
Diplomacy has created a cult following
world-wide and many companies have attempted to clone the success of the
original board game to the PC but many have fallen flat. With this
information at hand, Diplomacy is not for everyone and if you're looking
for a game like Command and Conquer or Civilization, then you best look
elsewhere.
As mentioned, the title is set in the early 20th century that
has the gamer performing a plethora of diplomatic and strategic moves from double
dealings, secret treaties and broken promises in an attempt at European
domination that feels more like a war room, rather than a traditional
turn-based strategy game.
Before engaging the main game, it is
recommended that all players complete the fully fledged tutorial that
teaches the gamer all the different tactics and gameplay styles in order
to fully master Diplomacy. Once the tutorial is over, the player chooses
between one of seven European powers and attempt to wipe out the other countries.
To keep things interesting and more akin to
the original board game, the developers have ensured that each country
starts with the same number of units (except the superpower Russia) with all units having the same
strength. This puts a strange spin on the gameplay which focuses more on
double dealings rather than brute force.
The basic essence of Diplomacy is to
control a majority of the map supply centers by using your armies to
not only support your allies but also conquer your enemies as for each
supply center you control, you are awarded an additional unit and the
first player to reach a majority of these centers wins the game.
The more interesting things in the game happen between
turns in Diplomacy where alliances are made and broken, treaties are
created
and friends are back stabbed. As Diplomacy is a turned based game, this
game can sometimes become an excruciating long
game with its turn-based environment that is filled with twists and
turns.
Graphically, Diplomacy captures the
original board game with its Spartan presentation that is truly akin to
the spirit of this genre and one can almost be forgiven in thinking that
they are playing the actual board game. With that said, the maps have
been professionally developed and the units in the game are more akin to
toy soldiers than your traditional Command and Conquer graphics. A true
homage to the original.
As with the graphics, the sound department
also lacks a little forte but fortunately there are enough sounds and
music to assist the gamer immerse into this title that is set in the
early 20th century.
In conclusion, Diplomacy is an entertaining
game, provided you enjoy turn based games that I would recommend to
all fans of the original game or for those that want a thinking game.
Whether you're playing single-player or multiplayer, Diplomacy is
guaranteed to give you hours, days and months of tactical enjoyment. |
