Campaign Gettysburg (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.5 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Tracy Baker
• Reviewed on: 10/19/2004
• Released on: 08/06/2004
• Originally published on GameSpot: Campaign Gettysburg (PC) Review

Gettysburg is among the few battles in history that needs no introduction. If only the Rebs hadn't needed shoes, this decisive battle likely would have been fought elsewhere, and the South may have held on to its chance, however slender, of forcing the North out of the war. HPS Simulations' wargame Campaign Gettysburg covers not only the eponymous battle, but also the entire campaign leading up to it, using a combination of an elegant strategic layer and an excellent tactical combat system.

Most games in this genre welcome players with a campaign map, letting them shuffle units around, partake in politics, and see how the war is playing out on a grand scale. The campaign engine used here sticks to the combat, putting players in the boots of a general and giving them options that play out like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. For example, playing as Robert E. Lee, your cavalry may or may not obtain important reconnaissance information at Brandy Station during the opening stages of the complete Gettysburg campaign. If they don't you must blindly choose whether you want to risk surging north quickly (leaving your 3rd Corps trailing behind), or advance more slowly to consolidate your forces. If you meet the enemy as a result of your decision, a battle is fought using the tactical engine, and the outcome determines the menu of choices that will appear in the campaign interface.

If you are interested in the period but don't want to commit the time it takes to fight an entire campaign or even a single monster battle like Gettysburg, this package has you covered. The designer created more than 300 scenarios covering every aspect of the campaign, including historical and hypothetical engagements, and a complete scenario editor also is included for the "what if" junkies. You can learn the system playing a little four-turn scenario re-creating the opening shots of Gettysburg or the seven-turn fight for Little Round Top, and then take on larger and longer scenarios as you absorb the mechanics.

The gameplay is easy to grasp, and it does a good job of capturing the essence of combat during this period without burying players in minutiae. Infantry units do the bulk of the fighting and can deploy skirmishers to harass the enemy and probe for weaknesses. Cavalry units are used in their historical role as the "eyes" of the army and are terrific for harassing weakened infantry units or artillery units but are awful in direct combat with infantry. Artillery dominates the battlefields in which it is used, and learning how to advance in the face of withering cannon fire is one of the first skills players must develop.

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