Gamers Gazette (5/28/99)

        PRODUCT PERUSAL

        SpiritWars - Beta 1.3.5.a version
        Developed by Kellogg Creek Software
        Online version published by WON.NET

        Rating: four-and-a-half stars out of a possible five stars

        Reviewed by Hartley and Pattie Lesser
     In the world of online multiplayer games, occasionally a
        title pops-up that is deceptively easy to learn, yet holds
        the key to numerous game permutations for future
        interaction. Such is the case with SpiritWars, which is
        currently available at WON.NET (http://www.won.net) for open
        beta play. And we are impressed! This title proves that you
        don't necessarily have to have multiple chain guns
        chattering into action, blasting apart your online
        opponents, and that strategic thought can be as rewarding an
        experience as slaying millions -- if not more so!
           Think of your favorite board games, such as Chess or Risk
        or even Monopoly -- even an interactive card game -- and
        roll them into an online game that offers a
        richly-embroidered (graphically-speaking), randomly
        generated playing field formed of hand-crafted hex tiles.
        The object of the game is to destroy your opponent's Castle.
        Yes, it's that simple, as the world of Valhalla has you
        commanding a variety of Spirits in your quest to annihilate
        your enemy. For two-players, SpiritWars is so simplistic in
        its game approach, yet so complex in its various iterations,
        you will never play an identical game twice.
           Here are the basics. You start with your Castle, wherein
        a Dungeon exits. You must populate your Dungeon with
        Spirits, of which there are four varieties: Energy, Combat,
        Defender and Magical. These are your "forces" and they move
        from the Dungeon into your Castle's Courtyard. However, the
        Courtyard can only hold eight Spirits at a time, so as you
        move your Spirits onto the playing field, you open up
        "slots" in the Courtyard for additional Spirits to arrive
        from the Dungeon at the start of the next turn.
           WON's SpiritWars offers you more than 250 unique playing
        pieces, yet you must be quite particular in the number, and
        type, of Spirits you deem necessary to claim victory. In
        most cases, gamers use between 30 and 50 Spirits from their
        "kingdom" to populate the Dungeon. Spirits come in colors
        that represent their Homeland. For example, a Spirit from
        the Woodlands would be of the green category. The colors
        become quite important as you place your Spirits on the
        playing field. If you place a Combat Spirit on a terrain hex
        of the same Homeland color, that Spirit gains a +1 on attack
        and can suffer one point of damage without affect.
           The Energy Spirit garners energy for your forces. You
        cannot place Spirits, nor move them, nor use them in combat,
        unless you have the energy to "power" them. That's why the
        Energy Spirits become extremely important, for without them,
        the three energy points your Castle produces each turn will
        quickly become insufficient to motivate your forces on the
        playing field. Place an Energy Spirit on a Homeland hex, and
        they produce an extra point of energy! Believe us, when you
        have multiple Spirits in the field, and several Spirits
        awaiting delivery onto the playing area, you'll need as much
        energy as you can obtain. To be left bereft of energy as an
        enemy hacks away at your Castle is a most frustrating
        experience.
           Your Combat Spirits are the forces that tackle the
        opposing Castle as well as attempt to mitigate your enemy's
        forces in the field. These Spirits are categorized into
        three categories: Speed and Ranged Attack. Being able to
        assault an enemy while two hexes away from your target is a
        great bonus for you -- plus, you can move your ranged attack
        Spirits away from impending disaster far more effectively
        than a non-range attack unit. Speed is also a great bonus,
        as such Spirits can attack beyond the normal, one hex,
        movement allowance. Of the categories, the ranged attack
        unit is considered to be the most important of both.
           Your Defender Spirits, although unable to move or attack,
        if used wisely, can be extremely effective defenders. For
        example, their use in conjunction with an Energy Spirit can
        prevent your energy source from being decimated, as the
        Defender Spirits can absorb the damage your energy source
        would normally suffer. They also have a blocking range and
        blocking power - woe to the defending unit that attacks a
        Defender Spirit with insufficient force, for the blocking
        power can annihilate them through these Spirits' defensive
        posture.
           Finally there are the Magical Spirits. These are not
        actual playing pieces as the first three types, but give you
        special powers you can "cast" onto your own units, enemy
        units, or even the world itself. Many spells enhance ranged
        combat distances, speed a unit can move, or even "take over"
        an enemy unit and place it in your camp. Other spells are
        detrimental to the enemy and can weaken their defenses prior
        to an attack, or even wear away an opposing Castle's walls.
        When a Castle's defensive points are lowered to 0 or below,
        the other player wins the game. But getting to that Castle,
        while defending your own edifice, is the trick of the game.
           You'll countermove, keep reserves in the Courtyard for
        Castle defense, work Defender Spirits in close to your
        Energy Spirits, perhaps fall back or race ahead, regardless
        of the consequences, as you strive to crush that enemy
        Castle. As you can only see two hexes beyond your furthest
        unit, you must also keep in mind that you really don't know
        where the enemy Castle is when you start the game. This
        means not only considering your defensive positions around
        your Castle, but also sending out Combat Spirits to attempt
        to locate the Castle and engage the enemy.
           WON's version of the game offers a default Dungeon which
        is especially helpful for new players as you don't have to
        decide which Spirits to use, which can be a complex decision
        process. Even when you do use the game's Dungeon Editor to
        select your Spirits, you never really know what units will
        be brought from the Dungeon to the Courtyard, as they are
        randomly placed. You simply have to use your wits in
        selecting the units made available and ensure you have
        enough energy to complete your tactical plans.
           Spirits can also be healed and resurrected, but once
        again, only if you have the color energy necessary to
        accomplish such actions. As the Castle only produces two
        colored energies, the wise gamer will establish other color
        Energy Spirits as soon as possible on playing field hexes to
        start generating the additional color energies necessary to
        empower a variety of Spirits. We learned the hard way that
        Energy Spirits should be placed BEHIND your Castle, making
        it more difficult for opposing forces to attack them to
        reduce your energy supplies. However, BEHIND is relative
        for, as we stated earlier, you really don't know where the
        enemy Castle or forces are when you start the game (unless
        you happen to be lucky enough to find yourself starting the
        game in a corner of the map, which is easier to defend).
           The interface allows you to right-click on any unit to
        determine its characteristics. And remember, the object of
        the game is to destroy your enemy's Castle, so no matter how
        tempting it might be to engage in unit-versus-unit combat,
        getting to that Castle may be far more important than
        winning a single battle. In fact, some of the folk we played
        online enjoyed setting unit combat traps using their weaker
        units, drawing us away from our Castle, as they used
        speedier, more powerful Spirits to whittle away our Castle
        walls. One tactic we finally employed was the decimation of
        an opposing force's Energy Spirits, for once that energy was
        depleted to the point where our opposition could no longer
        move their more powerful troops, their Castle was ours for
        the taking!
           Oh, should your Dungeon become depleted of Spirits, your
        Castle will then start to suffer neglect. This means that,
        each turn, your Castle will lose three points to damage.
           SpiritWars is an extremely enjoyable online game that is
        suitable for the entire family. The only drawback was the
        fact that there really is no practice game in which you can
        tune your skills. Certainly, you can enter the SpiritWars
        chat room and find players there willing to enter a game
        with you, but your first experiences will definitely be of
        the losing variety. If you can hang tough, suffer through
        those first games, you will soon learn how to play
        SpiritWars effectively. Not that you'll win every game, for
        there is a certain amount of random luck in each session.
           WON has provided an easy-to-read tutorial for newbies and
        many of the folk in the SpiritWars chat room are eager to
        help you learn the game. For those who want in-depth
        information regarding the game, tips and strategies, and
        philosophies, Kellogg Creek (the creator of the game) have
        their own SpiritWars site at http://www.spiritwars.com that
        is certainly worth your while to visit. Definitely a winning
        title - and should your war not go the way you had wished, a
        special CONCEDE button has been included on the game screen
        to allow you to slink away without suffering the humiliation
        of total defeat. Engage SpiritWars at http://won.net. You
        won't be disappointed!

        System requirements
        PC, Win95/98/NT, 16MB RAM (recommended 32MB), 14.4 modem,
        16-bit graphics card with resolution set to 800x600.

        Addendum
        You will need to download SpiritWars to your hard drive --
        Beta version 1.3.5a is a 16.2 MB file. Plus, you will also
        need WON.NET's online game service software. When installed,
        the game will offer you a direct connection to WON's
        SpiritWars server and you must have an open connection to
        the Internet when starting the game.

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