East India Company Early Look

Authors:  Chris Beck & Lloyd Sabin

There is something about the Age of Mercantilism that just makes some guys smile. Maybe it?s the merciless competition between overseas colonial companies, or the hope of pushing the player?s faction to the forefront of the known world?s technological limits. Or perhaps it?s the naval combat between 17^th and 18^th century wooden warships that occurs as a result.

We here at The Wargamer couldn?t pinpoint exactly what excited us so, but we were beside ourselves when we got our sweaty hands on a preview build of the upcoming naval strategy game East India Company. Scheduled for a Fall 2009 release it promises to include all the thrill and novelty of the age, and has created a solid buzz on our forums.

Note that this preview build included only demos of the RTS/DC ship-to-ship combat, DC standing for Direct Control. The RTS system is built around a traditional waypoint system that the player uses to direct his ships around the battlemap. Click on a ship or group of ships that belongs to you, then right click on a location and they will follow your directional orders.

The RTS mode can be supplemented or substituted by the DC system, in which the player selects an individual ship and pilots it directly to port and starboard, adjusts its speed and sails, and gives orders to the ship?s cannon crews. This DC mode was a real thrill to behold as it felt authentic to the era and made ship-to-ship combat more personal...it was hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the fighting. The rendering of the water, combat effects like splintering wood, smoke, and sparks, ambient lighting, and beautiful ship models were all excellent, which helped make the combat mode of East India Company that much more convincing as well as beautiful.

Some other features we found will no doubt make those groggier old salts among us squeal like dolphins. Cargo from ships can be thrown overboard during combat to gain speed, although it will no doubt enrage your boss back in Rotterdam, Venice, or London. Combat is also pausable in either RTS or DC mode, and tool tips appear when hovering the cursor over buttons in the User Interface. Other naval combat options included a flee mode that can be used to automatically cut your fleet losses (especially useful if you?re carrying expensive or precious cargo), three types of ammunition available for the ship?s cannon (solid, chain, grape), and three firing arc sizes that can be used to concentrate or spread naval gunfire. DC mode also features a battle camera that can be maneuvered towards the bow or stern of the selected ship. Wind direction and speed (in knots) is displayed on the East India Company minimap, adding further to the game?s convincing environment.

Both accessible and detailed, the combat portion of East India Company is comprehensive enough for interested grogs to get excited about and accessible enough for landlubbers to enjoy. For a preview build this version was very polished and whet our appetites to see a sampling of the strategic layer too. If the developers can keep the quality of the campaign as high as what we?ve seen in this demo, naval aficionados and colonial history lovers may have an Empire: Total War killer in their midst.