SimHQ.com - Land Combat Zone - Review: The History Channel: Bull Run

I didn’t expect the game to look all that hot. To be honest a bargain title generally has lackluster graphics so anything better than ‘blah’ is a plus for me. The graphics in Bull Run aren’t bad. That doesn’t mean they are fantastic but overall they do a pretty good job of rendering a battlefield in the 1860s. I don’t think the graphics look as good as Rome: Total War but it certainly is serviceable and the game does exactly what you want it to do; render the types of terrain and buildings found at the Manassas battlefield site.

Actually the only complaint I have about the game is the "fuzzy" look of the infantry and cavalry units rendered in the game. Each individual soldier is represented in the game and the animations of the soldiers seem to be semi-individualistic; meaning that one soldier may be loading while another is firing. This makes for a realistic looking scheme when the troops are fighting. The problem is that the animations look fuzzy or blurred like they need sharpening. It is hard putting your finger on it, but they just look like they weren’t quite completed which was slightly distracting. In reality this is a generally minor complaint. Graphically the game looks fine, not outstanding but certainly presentable. Just like Combat Mission a few years ago, the graphics help to improve the playability of the game but won’t be a distraction in and of themselves.

Sound is also fairly well done; not outstanding but not bad. There are some nice touches in the game. For example fife and drum music will play when your unit is on the march. I would have liked to have heard some more periodic Civil War music to go along with the game. One of the nice touches of the old Battlefield games was the periodic music that would play in the background. That isn’t a nitpick really, it is just something I would have liked to have seen in the game.

Overall I would rate the game significantly above average graphically, especially when you consider the cost of the game. For a bargain title this game actually brings more than I expected.

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