The Ancient Art of War

The Good
Besides this being the first game of its kind to introduce a chain reaction for war-based strategy games, what's not to like about this game!

This game revolutionized war-based strategy games when kids today playing 3D games weren't even born yet! Warcraft, Age of Empires, Command and Conquer, Heroes of Might and Magic, what elements of these and other games have not at least had similiar concepts that this game has paved for first?

This game introduced many features that triggered it's domino effect, such as: 1. Campaigns; One of the first games that I've noticed that has introduced campaigns for different tastes.

1. Construction Set; Probably my first taste of 'creating your own world'. The construction set made it possible for (then) 'our young creative minds' to create what was then impossible to perceive: A kid creating his/her own game.

2. Unit strengths and weaknesses; Now you know why Archers are bad at Melee. This game probably introduced that real-life fact into the digital world.

All of that, plus it even teaches you quotations from famous strategists, such as Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Julius Caesar and Sun Tzu. Though I still don't know who the hell Crazy Ivan is....:p

The Bad
There's nothing not to like about this game.

The Bottom Line
Broderbund's ticket to the hall of fame. This game shall forever be in the heart of 'us old-timers' when we were first wanna-be 'warrior kids'.

The Good
The Ancient Art of War was a breakthrough product that introduced several forward-thinking game elements that still exist in today's products. As a real-time strategy game, you couldn't just sit on your laurels and think for hours; the enemy was moving and thinking at the same time you were. As a result, the faster you moved at thinking and manipulating your batallions, the better a chance you stood against the computer.

AAOW also included a playfield editor. This extended the playability infinitely, since you could introduce new battlefields to the computer opponents if you'd mastered them all. You can even write a textual description of your scenario--which is printed on on-screen "parchment"--and give your scenarios to friends.

The graphics in AAOW are effective, and there's a lot of them. Zooming in on a battle to control your troops reveals several nicely-drawn backgrounds.

Finally, there are eight computer opponents, all modeled after real-life people like Napolean, Sun Tzu, Geronimo, etc. Each has a different style of playing.

The Bad
Sun Tzu, the ancient author of the book on which this game is based, is an incredibly tough opponent. (You'd assume this, of course, since he "wrote the book on war.") Also, there could have been more campaigns on disk; less than 20 are supplied, which leaves you craving more.

The Bottom Line
Absorbing, simple to understand, clever, and engaging, The Ancient Art of War is a "must have" experience for any serious wargamer.

The Good
Although the game only had three different army types, archers, barbarians, knights, the game required tremendous skill ... I wish I had this game still !!!

The Bad
The game only supported CGA ... !!

The Bottom Line
The first RTS game ever created ... command legions of archers, knights, and barbarians to conquer different war hero figures, like Sun Tzu, Ghengis Kahn, ... etc ...

The Good
Ever want to Kong-Pao Sun Tzu? The Ancient Art of War is a fun way to go about it. Simple game, easy to learn, and lots of fun! Remember to pick up (or beat up) Ghanghis Khan, Napoleon, et al along the way before tackling the master of the art of war himself.

The Bad
Should've made the Sun Tzu AI much harder. Still, it feels good to beat Sun Tzu (or his picture, anyway) at what he is known for.

The Bottom Line
The best game of its genre until Warcraft II came along 10 years later.

The Good
Playability. Depth.

The Bad
AI could be better.

The Bottom Line
As others have said before me, the FIRST real-time strategy game.

The Good
The concept of playing a real-time wargame was an itch I had always wanted to scratch. Every wargame up till this time had done phased (tabletop) combat, which heightens strategy but not command pressures or quik tactical thinking. This game opened all the doors to a new type of wargame. Its design influenced BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge , especilly the ability to set way-points for unit movement.

The Bad
Honestly, I could NEVER win a battle! So I wanted a tutorial mode, or a "archers would be better here" message or something.

The Bottom Line
As echoed by others here, the real heir to RTS.

The Good
Loved designing the maps.....god I have some wierd ones.

The Bad
The battle scenes just develop too fast. Even with a finger on every hotkey, one barely has the time issue more than two or three orders before everyone is dead.

The Bottom Line
I discovered this jewel late in my gaming life, after much time invested in the more complex war titles. It is still very playable. The map and senario editor are lacking in many recent games.

The Good
I would play this game for hours... It had multiple levels of gameplay, allowing for troop position, or formation, prior to battle etc. Then battle commencement was fought out with nervous tension. It didn't have plot, as such, but certain strategies were epic. Also, at my age it had the aura of actual history, which inspired me in no small part to be the student of history I am today. It is one of my happiest memories. Which is cheezy. yes..8)

The Bad
Spies were almost worthless. Um...If I recall the bit music would get a bit grinding as well.

The Bottom Line
good, I was hoping whoever owns the rights would have released them by now to open source... would be fun as flash.