Cossacks 3 Review (and a bit about Warcraft 2000)

Let's talk about Age of Empires-like game made by the same dudes who created STALKER: The Shadow of Chernobyl. Support the channel: / warlockracy
Sources:
Soccer footage: • 2018-04-23: Tabb vs Sm...
Starcraft 2 semis: • Video
How to stack mutas: • Video
Insane blink micro: • Insane blink micro l S...
Warcraft 2000 review: • Video
Wacraft 2 walkthrough: • Warcraft 2 Beyond the ...
Wacraft 1 walkthrough: • Old Games - Warcraft 1...
Cossacks 1 footage: • Cossacks 08 10 2016 ...

[@user-rr7cp9sz1n]

"Azeroth is Ukrainian clay" LMAO

[@vitaliitomas8121]

Of course it is XD

[@user-mk6mn6wu7y]

Azeroth will be Ukranian or humanless!

[@aw2584]

Azeroth je Srbjia

[@arielb8304]

Azeroth foi uma província rebelde do Império Brasileiro

[@PUARockstar]

@@user-mk6mn6wu7y людина культури, I see

[@BrotherSurplice]

The existence of DOOMCraft is lore that goes deeper than the goddamn Marianas Trench.

[@npswm1314]

Elaborate. I must know more.

[@BrotherSurplice]

@@npswm1314 Watch the video King

[@npswm1314]

@@BrotherSurplice while waiting for the reply i actually dug around a bit. Rabbit holes are fun...

[@TheSaival]

Maaan, this thing was on point. I hate when "real time strategy games" are actually more based on pure agility and action per minute than, you know... strategy? Love cossacks and similliar!

[@Seth9809]

It sucks to watch people play too, as they keep jumping around to do stuff.

[@sosig6445]

That's why SupCom, Total war, Planetary Annihalation and other games where armies gut so big microing a single screen worth of battle is pointless are the best strategy games. In supcom the map, and the armies are so large it's pointless to use your units like you use your stupid stalkers in korean spasmcraft..... You order a bomber to snipe out some enemy units but literally every other units are ought to be controlled as an entire army and not individually, battles are won by larger movements that take a longer time to perform or by army composition, or by baiting the enemy army int killzones, remember the map is huge, if the enemy army walks in range of powerfull defensive installations it will take a long time to get out of range. Each movement has to be considered carefully. However beacuse of scale you also do not lose do to a single mistake, in korean spasmcraft you let in an early game unit into your base the first 2 minutes and it can quickly spiral into your doom. oh you didn't apm enough? 10 minute timing push bam you dead. In subcom pulling off rushes are much harder and even said rushes take longer than a typical shitcraft match, it's about atrition, winning the air battle on a strategic level, having artirelly superriority, taking multiple decisive engagements. after all that if you do not agressively push the enemy can still build a large enough army to push back if they try to macro hard enough.

[@dragonkingofthestars]

I think it's a diffrent type of equally valid stratagy game. . .though it is interesting to think in terms of game evolution how that time of stratagy game evolved into dungeon crawlers and MOBA games

[@lastword8783]

@@dragonkingofthestars people who are slow or bad at microing hate on games like starcraft. so when someone is better at controlling their army than them, they blame it on the mechanics. They are so micro averse that they don't realize that Starcraft is a much more macro oriented game than micro.

[@Shenaldrac]

@@Seth9809 And for some reason they always give move orders like, half a dozen times? The units began moving the first time you right clicked, why are you right clicking so many times? It boggles my mind.

[@JarlFrank]

Don't forget about American Conquest, which is Cossacks in America (with absurdly overpowered buildings), Cossacks 2 set in the napoleonic wars with really wonky morale mechanics, and a fantasy Cossacks called Heroes of Annihilated Empires

[@Warlockracy]

You the Codex JarlFrank? Big fan of your pro-Arcanum propaganda.

[@JarlFrank]

@@Warlockracy The very same, yes. Arcanum best RPG of all time.

[@6StimuL84]

Still love American Conquest Fight Back.... The Cannon Crews are awesome.....

[@GurniHallek]

@@tovrobi5097 Indeed. Massive downgrade in all regards, but graphics. And some campaign missions are unbeatable without cheats.

[@redcomrade0088]

@@tovrobi5097 I think the whole Heroes of Annihilated Empires thing was supposed to be broke down into multiple parts, and modern stuff was teased and hinted at in first part, but supposed to appear in 2. But it got abandoned sadly, which really fucking sucked.

[@derpanzermacher9094]

The real question is: can GSC sue Blizzard for copying the story of Warcraft 2000?

[@ctrouble2309]

As someone unfamiliar with the genre, Starcraft 2 is a visual nightmare. It's all glowing blue lights, rounded metal objects, and generic scifi. I looked at starcraft 1 and it seems less cluttered. But you're right, Cossacks is immediately readable

[@RuslanLagashkin]

SC2 units also make less sense. While the ones from original are physics-grounded generic sci-fi things, like space marines, missile turrets and nuclear warheads easy to intuitively understand, the 2nd one started to add retarded things, violating the laws of physics, like a flying robot, generating a turret over time out of thin air? or a running robotic mine, internally generating a homing missile over time out of literally nothing? then an infantry unit who, for whatever reason, has over twice hp than a similar space marine, which caused a removal of (a perfectly self-explainable) battle medic unit from the 1st part, because together they were too powerful? Like, wtf, Blizzard, you are ruining the logic of your own universe? The worst is perhaps an ability to call in a robot worker, which is much more effective than normal workers (again, the robotics is not a synonym of magic, blizz) and this robot (lore-wise) is send in a drop-pod from a cruiser orbiting the planet . . Like WTF this implies there is a whole damn cruiser on the orbit, and it cannot help with eradicating the opponent in the very early game? Truly, just a bunch of weird, unintuitive rules for a player to accept "as is" and not making a sensible bigger picture.

[@ximbabwe0228]

Any bloody isometric pixel art is superior to shrek-style cartoon 3d models

[@darklordish1]

I love sc 2 visuals

[@RuslanLagashkin]

@@darklordish1 The question is not whether or not visuals are aesthetically pleasing, but unintuitive in the sense many effects/units functionality are not obvious without an explicit explanation for a novice user. It prevents uninstructed audience from enjoying the events on screen which rises the entry bar both for viewer and player. I would argue that units and interactions could've been made considerably more self explanatory, if such goal had been understood.

[@darklordish1]

@@RuslanLagashkin so basically you want all games to look ugly but readable?

[@pavoldanko4811]

"You see, I am not a monster. I am just ahead of the curve" - Warcraft 2000

[@jehovasabettor9080]

Well, to be fair, some of the problems with Cossacks were addressed in Cossacks: Napoleonic Wars and American Conquest. They've added a morale system, experience and made small squads (i.e. with less than 100 dudes in them) more or less obsolete. There were new mechanics, like you had to chose when exactly to switch to bayonets, which was a dicey decision, since a point blank volley from an enemy formation would send you men scatter for the hills (unless they were elite; then they just suffered heavy losses, which took a lo-ong time to replenish), although a bayonet charge into a formation which was reloading quickly turned into a massacre. The scope however made this game so taxing for the eyes, I could hardly play it. But it was the only two games that had buildings scaled correctly with people (a fortress was a really oppressive sight indeed), so it got this going for them.

[@Seth9809]

So Cossack 3 doesn't have these features, right?

[@jehovasabettor9080]

@@Seth9809 From what I gather, Cossacks 3 is a remaster of Cossacks 1. Therefore, no, it doesn't have features of Cossacks 2.

[@ZMCFERON]

Old school Cossacks was insane. Units requiring continual resource upkeep then rebelling if left unkept led to some wild multiplayer games when someone would make a very costly ship to transport units only to later have it shelling your own shores

[@simonkorica9467]

Cool to knowl

[@OmegaEnvych]

Let's just spend a minute comprehending that unofficial Warcraft game by (at a time) no-name company had a fully animated CGI video introduction instead of static images or only plain text. Considering this I can only commend that team definitely always had an ambition. I guess, this is what describes Cossacks and other early GSC games - ambition above all else. An RTS game with emphasis on controlling armies yet allowing player to micro-manage every unit individually? Check. A tactical two-men FPS with ability to monitor situation from you Teammate POV and other interesting decision? Check. A FPS/RPG hybrid with significant attention to little details and a unique setting loosely based on loose adaptation of the classic soviet era sci-fi novel about aliens littering on our planet and people dealing with aftermath and actually one of most fondly remembered not just Ukrainian, but Eastern European games in general? Well, check. Funny that Grigorovich started his career by selling pirated games on a flea-market. I can clearly say - guy knows how to do business.

[@StalkerOfTheZone]

I remember playing Cossacs 2. Units had upkeep (food, gold, gunpowder, etc..) And I accidently ran out of gold. My navy quickly mutinied and I lost control of the lake. Good times.

[@olgagaming5544]

Damn, Cossacks 2 was cool

[@PUARockstar]

Same mechanics are also present in original Cossacks (and 3 since it's basically a remake or glorified remaster of originals).

[@nerevarinenwah3690]

[Comment to let the YT algorithm know this is a hidden gem of a channel]

[@forlornhope5106]

As an American I played this game a lot and I didn't even know the name of it thanks for the Nostalgia

[@TheKitMurkit]

How did you get to know this game then?

[@spencerb891]

It is so satisfying firing an artillery barrage and watching the cannonballs fly across the screen and slam into the enemy formation. Seriously this game is awesome.

[@khankhomrad8855]

I still have nightmares about losing hundreds of massed Hussars to a couple of artillery pieces. This is the kind of dread that makes RTS' fun to expectate.

[@ArbiterLibera]

"Cossacks is for everyone." I wish I lived in that dimension, I truly do.

[@Warlockracy]

Sure, just look how popular AoE 2 still is!

[@louisr6560]

Imagine an dimension where there is Cossacks e-sports...

[@fdsfggr]

@@Warlockracy 600 player to all the i want to play that game my big brother played wehn we were kids (aoe) saddly cossaks never was very well made and was from the east they did not made much effort to promote it ether but the game is deeper in combat and better in it than aoe saddly the boys like the units stucking on eachother tow times re sale aoe more (its not a bad game but common play cossaks damn)

[@GarkKahn]

I can't understand how games from more than 20 years ago are mainstream around the globe But i'm glad for it

[@caseyb1346]

@@GarkKahn Not everyone can afford gaming PCs. Games from 20 years ago run on just about anything. It really is that simple.

[@domnikoli]

its weird cause Cossacks 2 had audio confirmations and some advisory elements, and the unit amount DID matter because it affected overall morale. A unit was capable of defeat by a route within the unit, and not just killing everyone. Actually my favorite in the series. My only gripe with it was that I wish there was more tactics to affect morale such as ambushes and encirclement

[@alfredroa9437]

It's really interesting that i find my country (Algeria) in an obscure Ukrainian game, i really appreciate it and thank you for showing us this game

[@PUARockstar]

hey, it's not that obscure.

[@TheZerech]

Cossacks 3 is probably partly responsible a recent revival of rts games. Maybe that's optimistic, but it was one of the first classic franchises to come back. They just didn't call it Cossacks "Remastered" cause it was a fairly new concept outside of Halo. As a kid who grew up fanatically playing AoE II, as in it was the first real video game I ever played. Hell, my mom even played AoE II. I never heard of the Cossacks franchise, but God I wish I had. It took me discovering a love for Ukrainian history and independent to that discovering STALKER for me play Cossacks. It hit me with AoE nostalgia and my RTS love combined with being super happy to play as a Ukrainian faction, let alone serdiuk rush. Letting aside the fact that you can play as the Zaporizhian Cossacks, I would have loved it, as I enjoyed AoE III, perhaps more. I have been playing the new AoE III DE, but I am considering reinstalling Cossacks 3. It's definitely not a perfect game, but it was definitely money well spent. I did not know about GSC's early ripoff history, but I am quite happy to learn about them.

[@nemesisnidhoggr1468]

nah. It's Total War franchise keeping RTS alive (especially warhammer one). And civilization for turned-based. That's why you barely see good base building strategy games. They either army on army, or with limited resources.

[@yerlocaljacc8461]

"the game looks like a playable painting" thank god its not just me it really is a playable painting

[@KissatenYoba]

My biggest gripe with the cossacks game was that you could delete an army by pressing delete. Imaging being a small kid in computer "cafe", and some bully comes from behind and presses delete button. A true nightmare Also, Warcraft 2000 had AI that had a functioning fog of war. If you run away with your single worker to another location on the map and start building there, AI won't be able to find you for a long time. I don't think Blizzard's AIs had that limitation, they always know the entire map and just pretend not to.

[@josephc.3192]

Such high quality content... Hope your channel blows up soon! :)

[@Warlockracy]

Thank you!

[@mrkrabs8234]

It will, he hit the KZbin algorithm. His chanel just showed up on my page one day same with Mike D's channel i think Morrowind is in graces this time

[@mrkrabs8234]

He just has to post more frequently even 1-6 min videos

[@DoctorEviloply]

"Warcraft 2000 is about Azeroth being invaded by space aliens" Very accurate to the lore. Actual Warcraft lore has cameras, smartphones, alien invasions, space ships, helicarriers, and nukes. I'm not joking.

[@Warlockracy]

Yeah. But keep in mind the ukrainians made up all their stuff pre-WC3. I think it was supposed to be satire.

[@jehovasabettor9080]

@@Warlockracy could be rule of cool. It was a strange time

[@LuaanTi]

@@Warlockracy It was a pretty common thing in fantasy - both written fiction and even more so in games. Games like Wizardry or Ultima were firmly in that camp. Warcraft 2 already hinted at some of it - with the Dark Portal and such.

[@AleK0451]

@@LuaanTi i always loved how might and magic just became doom later on when you get laser guns, its such a juxtaposition to how you start out

[@TrollDragomir]

Granted, with a few exceptions, the rock paper scissors dynamic is kind of how battlefields worked in that time, with pikemen, musqueteers and heavy cavalry all countering each other very effectively.

[@odinatra]

Couple of fun tidbits: Cossacks was originally planed as locally distributed game with four or five nations: Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Turks and, maybe, Germans. You can notice that first four are more unique in their units than the rest. After showcasing at expo in France people got excited, and asked to implement their country, so GSC took Germans, and copied them to fill rest of Europe, sprinkling unique units here and there. Also, all buildings in game are landmarks, because those were the only ones with reference material devs could find back in 2000's. I also disagree with your assessment about RTS, because by your logic Mario, Sonic, Pokemon and many other successful franchises would've never taken off. IMHO there wasn't newbie accessible/casual RTS for a while, and genre is heavily tied tied to pro-scene. Can you imagine any RTS implementing APM cap? But fighting games done exactly that, for reason that frame-perfect inputs scared newbies away. I believe it's possible to streamline RTS formula, without dumbing down its essence, or locking it to certain setting.

[@HappyAspid]

You just need to have a strategy in your strategy games instead of clickfest.

[@grumblebee]

when i watch a fighting game match im watching two people fighting each other, ofc i dont know any of the moves or the mechanics their characters have but the animations carry the experience when i watch starcraft and i see players pressing 35 buttons in 10 seconds and the camera switching perspectives rapidly it’s very hard as a newcomer to keep track of what’s going on

[@Cythil]

Star Craft is hard to read for a outsider. Naturally every kind of game or sport is hard to fully grasp when it comes to all the minor details. But if you can easily spot the winner and the loser at the moment, to know who is ahead, then you got a good start for a popular spectator game. Note that not all games need to be spectator games. In fact I like diversity myself. And even games like Age of Empires can be hard to read. Hard to know what counters what and so on. But it is likely that game that focus more on the macro and have more relatable setting, be it historical or modern, likely have an edge when it comes to gaining mass appeal.

[@iamLI3]

an apm limit would ruin the competitiveness of an rts for the competitors and the spectators , but i hear a more streamlined rts is the new rts imortals so maybe make a video on that game

[@MsHyeven]

@@iamLI3 Not if instead of putting APM as the barrier of entry into the competitive scene, strategy was the main focus. You still could have a very cool RTS, standing for real-time strategy, if the units and overall gameplay was more focused on placement, terrain, flanking, kiting, having multiple frontlines going, and stuff like that. My main gripe with RTS these days really come to how dull the actual combat, where the strategy of real-time strategy is supposed to be, actually is in most games. Starcraft does have an edge on the matter, but then proceeds to overcomplicate it. So I get my fun out of Total War, where 90% of your success comes down to making the best out of the army you got.

[@TOCS94]

4:45 - I don't think it's necessarily dislike that made it fall, but it is, broadly speaking, a less accessible genre. I think MOBA took over and because it was team oriented, very spectator friendly and required less micro to get into, it got overshadowed. We seem to be gaining a bit of resurgence through remasters and franchises like AoE being taken pretty well care of.

[@noobarium]

how are mobas more spectator friendly than literally any RTS? they have like 50 different unexplained abilities in each game from a pool of over 100 unexplained heroes? how can a new player ever understand what's going on in a moba?

[@defaultkoala2922]

​@@noobarium I agree. I have been a PC gamer for my whole life but never got into mobas, watching LoL matches makes little to no direct sense.

[@zanekwame2740]

American Conquest was my first ever strategy game, its still one of my favorites.

[@pedrosalvador1146]

I guess you were right about the new RTS hit being a historical one AOE4 looks like it's going to bring the new era for RTS

[@egillskallagrimson5879]

Was that irony? Because AOE4 is the nuclear fusion of the rts it's always 30 years in the future...

[@Zucadragon]

I love your dry, hard hitting commentary on the state of gaming, and surprisingly, it's spot on. I grew up as a Starcraft kid and when SC2 came out, I was super happy, and I watched a lot of matches but could never get into how it played myself. I was big on custom games, but those died out hard in SC2, anywho, right now, when you explained just how complex even a simple thing is, and how the deciding factor is often supreme control of such a little factor of the game... I never got that till now, but yeah, that's super annoying, so thanks :D

[@pavlotverdokhlib7627]

OG Cossacks was the actual iteration of the AoE formula, whereas Ensemble veered into crazytown with AoE3. At the same time, stuff like formations (if you had an officer and a musician unit), with formations getting insane attack and defence bonuses, compared to a much larger mob of otherwise identical, but "un-organized" units, the physics model on the artillery (the game's hills mattered, b/d if you tried shooting your cannons uphill, most of the time the balls would hit the terrain- but you could also use clearings in ridges to fire and then scoot away to avoid retaliation), upkeep for everything (all units required food, and your foodstocks were always trickling down, until you got to 0, had a famine, at which point your units would just start dropping dead; each musket/cannon shot from EVERY unit required a small amount of iron and coal; stone and palisade walls would continuously drain your stone and wood stockplies, respectively; high-tier units and mercs would require gold upkeep to function, or they could switch sides and attack you), unit & building capture mechanics; mercenaries-- all of this was pretty mind-blowing in 2001, adding new layers to the AoE2 formula, while at the same time, being very intuitive and almost common-sense. And I think that was the real secret behind its success

[@Zekyb0y]

I liked Cossacks 2 more, it was more tactical and reflected perfectly napoleonic warfare, kind like a total war game done good with pretty sprite artwork, too bad Cossacks 3 didnt followed that design

[@Zeus2199]

Unfortunately I can't play it on win 7 or win10

[@Zekyb0y]

@@Zeus2199 there is crack somewhere that lets you play on win 7 and whitout the OS breaking DRM, i managed to run it on win7 but i dont know if it's possible on win10

[@louisr6560]

Cossacks 2 has to be one of the most underappreciated strategy gems of all time.

[@herrerasauro7429]

Yeah, I fucking loved Cossacks 2. It's weird as fuck game, it has a weird mix of generic RTS and Total War tropes on steroids. I remember when I learned I had to recruit drummer boys and flag carriers, it was amazing but also annoying as fuck. It was amazingly hard to get used to and very gorgeous, but it was jank city. It's awful that it's largely forgotten and TW is becoming more and more generic over time.

[@donaldpetersen2382]

Oh boy just wait till he finds out about Stronghold

[@TheKitMurkit]

Stronghold crusader, oh man what an architectural marvel it was

[@nerevarinenwah3690]

5:20 that small digress was just about the best comment on the current state of RTS I´ve ever heard/read

[@Warlockracy]

Thank you!

[@hadin9563]

Now I'm hoping to see some S.T.A.L.K.E.R love on this channel, I know it's far fetched given the completely different genre but my love for that series wants to believe otherwise

[@Warlockracy]

I wrote a 20k script for four stalker vids in the same style, but they are uh less comedy-oriented and more into cultural analysis, Russo-Ukrainian relations, slavaboo culture etc. So I keep delaying them.

[@GheoBlackPlum]

​@@Warlockracy #ReleasetheSlavCut

[@Warlockracy]

In a few days

[@EDIshames]

im so glad to have found your channel; your videos are fantastic! your perspectives are unique and keep me yearning for more. thanks mate!

[@amhyreally]

Cossacks 2 blew my mind back in the days, it was the only RTS with this kind of scale. Good memories.

[@GrooveSpaceArk]

AOE4 thoughts? It's probably the closest we've got to an RTS comeback using intuitive historical theme in 20+ years.

[@Warlockracy]

I need to check it out asap

[@Fromplenickel]

So like I just found your channel dude and keep it up, I love this kind of content. Between you and tehsnakerer making these long form styled reviews I can't get enough ♥

[@Masternaldo]

Excellent video m8 👍🏿👍🏿 I really enjoyed the story behind making these games, your story and humour and everything

[@testaccount4191]

aaa i remember the original cossacks, the disc version of the game would not launch on a XP machine so you had to manually patch the game immediately after install. The game was horribly spammy and the cannons nuked everything. On the building front it was quite stupid that a single enemy can come along and "capture" it leading to them having it or the whole thing blowing up, which when it came to a fully upgraded coal mine was crippling. Also the only unit you needed to win where huge amounts of 17th century pikes.

[@Stahlvanten]

Another beauty of a informational little video.

[@Pointingtothereality]

2:15 Garrosh orders the mana bombing of Theramore, colourised

[@Kniazz]

Very interesting thoughts on RTS player experience regarding intuitivity of gameplay elements related to game setting. Subscribed.

[@InVinoVeratas]

This channel is so good, like, so many nostalgia moments... that were locked away, deep in the depths of my past years, long forgotton... only to be awaken, to phrases like _"Opening the Warcraft 2 menue with F10"._ That was like a shock, I remembered that I forgot that, and it's wierding me out, so thanks!

[@TheOis1984]

i played Cossack 1 back then. the units while near unlimited were so squishy that you can easily lose tens or hundreds of units storming a blockhouse (a kind of defensive fort). a skirmish game once needed 6 hours to complete you need a swarm of peasants too to harvest resources, as all units had maintenance cost that ate up your resources pool.

[@skull7877]

Man your content is awsome i relly like it especially tamriel rebuilt hope you continue on that Also Your channel logo is A very nice FORSWORN HELMET 👍

[@Warlockracy]

Thank you!

[@ClearlyCero]

I played so, so much Cossacks! Thank you so much for covering it; solid video!

[@SNIPERjamnik]

Excellent reviews m8. Subscribed.

[@snaakie]

Didn't think I would find a fun review about this game, I was very wrong! Thanks for this, had a lot of fun watching

[@guyofminimalimportance7]

I think the reason Starcraft is inexcressible is less about the sci-fi themes and more about the competitive aspect of it. When the game was new it made a really big splash in the mainstream and a lot of people were playing it. The campaign was even made to appeal to people who cared more about story and spectacle than gameplay expertise; with a ton of units and scripted events which don't appear in multiplayer matches. After everyone in its initial wave of attention played the game and it's expansion however all that was left was the very large competitive scene. E-sports are always hard to understand if you don't know how to play them, but in a game like star-craft where the competitive tactics are so confusing that you need to have many hours of experiance to get what's going on it's way more intimidating than something like Halo, where someone who knows nothing about the game's mechanics can still watch a competitive match and get the gist of it. This problem is exacerbated by how competitive focused Blizzard is with their marketing and updates. In Modern Star Craft 2 you can't just boot up the game and start a skirmish match against an AI; the skirmish has a ranking period where it gauges your performance against AI of computer chosen difficulty then starts giving you AIs tailored to what it thinks your competitive level is. Starcraft 2's obsession with competitive play guarantees casual players won't want to stay long, and no mainstream triple A game can survive on competitive players alone.

[@jokubasrazas2255]

But the starcraft casual scene really isnt dying with modders and the arcade also lets not forget that because of giantgrantgames starcraft 2 is having a modding renaissance

[@Warlockracy]

Yes, it's strangely stable and is doing ok which is gr8.

[@guyofminimalimportance7]

@@jokubasrazas2255 The community is still finding ways to have fun with the game, which is good; but its been a long time since its had a lot of players which aren't long time RTS fans

[@TemplarX2]

Such an underrated series. C3 looks better than AOE 4. I had a great time playing the original Cossacks. The scale of the whole thing was breathtaking for its time. The tech tree was huge. The battleship was a real piece of visual art.

[@jfalconredskins]

Great video. Informative and funny!

[@hanklestank]

I dunno, I randomly stumbled across some Lowko casts of starcraft 2, and found them super interesting? Never played it, but it’s kind of fun watching it? It took a bit to figure out what was going on but he made it pretty understandable pretty quickly - okay, that’s a Reaper, he’s a jet pack dude, he flies over to the enemy base and wins the game if he kills enough miners. The only rts I’ve ever played was starcraft 1, and then maybe like 20 times back in middle school? Just saying, I’m not a huge fan or anything, or knew the lore or anything but I found it pretty enjoyable (PiG is a pretty great caster too, pretty darn funny).

[@hanklestank]

Haha I guess moral of the story is watch more Cossacks? Looks like a really cool game!

[@MumwaW]

Time just flies when you watch these

[@RudeFoxALTON]

I think the more tactical nature of total war appeals to me more. Especially war hammer, there's just something so satisfying about overwhelming an opponent with a tide of skaven.

[@evilmurlock]

"Your Majesty, your treasury is nearly empty!" "IM MELTIIIIIING!!!!!"

[@Kunbeeb]

Underrated content good thing i stumbled here

[@notyoursavior78]

I never liked RTS I think I just felt like there was just too much going on at once to keep track of, but this video did hit on a lot of nostalgia of watching a friend play Warcraft and Starcraft. So I enjoyed it Also remembering how StarCraft II took over at least one country in the early days of broadcasted competitive gaming. I was just so much younger and less jaded when I think about the later 90s to the 2000s at large.

[@artyomarty391]

The thing with Cossacks, is the game tries to remove many elements of micro. You dont really need to scout unless you're a super pro. No need to select individual buildings or make orders to build individual units. You can be a pro multiplayer player with only like 20 apm. No joke... This is also why I enjoy the game... You can have thousands of units under your command but its easier to manage them, than just 5 units in SC2. Its a fairly relaxing/low stress game.

[@gylfearisen8420]

Warcraft lore was absolutely a thing, just not the peace love and rainbows story it is now. Warcraft 2 even came with an extensive book about each of the races and the back story. I beleive there was something out there on wc orcs and humans as well, which was my first wc experience in 95

[@ausilliam]

amazing review dude

[@andrewp.4852]

Your videos are always more interesting then I expected them to be, came for game review, learned about nerd game too

[@maximvsdread1610]

Like your style. subscribed ;)

[@jakejutras5420]

R.I.P. Geoff "InControl" Robinson. He is sorely missed.

[@exilestudios9546]

commenting for the algorithm. keep up the good work dude

[@DrRESHES]

Cossacks European Wars was a game from my childhood, I wasn't good at it but I loved looking at the farmers working in the Wheat field, that building is iconic for me. I loved more than anything the upgrade system's Icon's and the Icons of the things that you can upgrade, and nearly all the SFX's were joyous to listen to. The fighting was also awesome, just create hundreds of cannons, put them in rows and columns, max the volume on your stereo speakers in the year of 2000 and blast away the neighbors. also yeah, I love the animation of building, and how logical it is, you put a foundation, it's a pile of bricks and wood, send people to make a building, and the sound of people building is great. Also Also the tutorials had beautiful pictures to accompany it's aesthetic and help the immersion, all that just for pictures in the tutorial.

[@nnw157]

ok, i need more historical rts videos now, i grew up playing aoe & had never heard of this!!

[@carlosfigueroaortiz8431]

Cossacks 2 Is a great game. it's really impressive that the army actually act like an army and know how to make formations. They have problems with defending but it's still a fun game.

[@peterdenov4898]

Honestly I think that the developers of SC1 intended for the terran supply depos to be industrial oxigen-generators for the units to have something to breath.

[@Noobazzah]

For some reason, my favourite thing to do in Cossacks was to go to this specific map with a huge fortress in the middle, cheat in resources, and hire as many Sich Cossack mercenaries as I possibly could. I would then send them to attack the fortress, watching them snake around the hills and towers and eventually making it to the walls was mesmerising.

[@jomix7]

Cool video, I remember playing Cossacks when I was a kid but I would prefer to let my older brother play as I only used to like watching the massive battles unfold rather than actually playing it... Now that I think of it, Cossacks is a really strange game, like you said, it’s kind of like a mash up of rts and total war...

[@Seth9809]

I'm surprised you didn't compare this to the new Age of Empires 3 or its Definitive Edition more.

[@Warlockracy]

Didn’t get the chance to play the new remake yet.

[@MGoogle3146]

Nice video, will check out Cossacks 3! You need an outro :)

[@adamm2091]

Man I stumbled upon Cossacks as a kid and it was MINDBLOWING.

[@golgor321]

Cossacks really do be scratching my Tsar/Alexander itch.

[@PointyHairedJedi]

Aaand now you've got me hoping that you cover Majesty at some point.

[@Superschokokeks]

I had to look up because I couldn't believe that about WC2000. Well. fuck. Will you do a proper "review" for it?

[@Warlockracy]

It only has a single level unfortunately, so there is barely anything to review.

[@houcinrabed8724]

Watched this while I was high af thanks for the trip my dude

[@d4n5t3p3]

Man, watching this video reminded me of my favorite rts of all time - men of war, theres just nothing quite like it. I just wish more people talked about it

[@MichaelYoungShin]

I disagree that the unit clipping is necessary. I think it removes a huge tactical element potential. It makes pike and cavalry formations weaker against enemies mobbing as a stack not in formation, which is unrealistic, and also makes formations useless.

[@VineFynn]

Soccer still has arcane rules like offside.

[@prawn_emporium]

Since you mentioned it, syrian warfare review? The geopolitics of that series is hilarious

[@marba_7849]

Only RTS I ever played was on a DS, but this looks pretty cool. Good video

[@ndschenk8552]

[Leving a comment of recognition for this supreme channel of Eastern European game lore]

[@Ammeo]

Gr8 review

[@lordbuss]

I played American Conquest since 2007. And heard about Cossacks. Discovered only today they were made by the same developer.

[@kagtkalem7115]

Man i really wish you speak about Cossacks 2. That game is a hidden gem.

[@coyote4326]

Doomcraft sounds like such a fun idea.

[@thekgodiale8320]

Nice video

[@anonimus370]

I'm pretty sure football also has advanced tactics that would require half an hour to explain.

[@CM-db5cg]

The difference between Starcraft and AoE is about how important unit micro is, that's what makes it more acessable, not the historical setting and grounded resources. In AoE most micro is only important in high level play, units don't even have abilities to worry about. The same can not be said for Starcraft, where you have to micro all your shit across the entire map basically all the time. And thats the big barrier to entry.

[@Warlockracy]

Accessible for players, yes. Accessible for spectator audiences, no. But you are right.

[@CM-db5cg]

@@Warlockracy I mean honestly? No, you're wrong. It might be less fun to watch, but as you demonstrated yourself, even simple unit micro is kinda hard to explain. So it's probably easier to understand watching, even if it's less entertaining until you understand more what's going on underneath the hood, so to speak.

[@Vattghern_]

The first Cossacks game was a wonderful addition to the Age of Empires 1 & 2 historical RTS era. The thing that blew us away (my friends and me) was the mentioned unit cap or lack of one to precise, the second thing were the beautiful graphics and how every faction had its own building design. Lastly, we were were happy as it introduced early modern history, more European factions and a continuation of history after Age of Empires 2.

[@alanwestmoreland6152]

*there will never be a greater sight than a dutch musketeer with a m1 carbine for a harqebus.

[@Tom444493]

Cossacks Back to War is the real shit! I love it!!!

[@ernestconcepcion531]

Doomcraft needs to be remade. Awesome content!👍

[@sup1602]

When I was younger I wanted starcraft, but my parents got me european wars from probably a bargain bin, I played the absolute crap out of the game and loved it. By the time I got around playing starcraft I expected something similar, but all I got was 2 resources and 3 fractions and no real base building unlike in cossacks. Having units require resources to upkeep really makes me want to build resource outposts and defend them rather than just building another base at a node and strip mining it.

[@canale39youification]

16:28 Strangely enough in the original CEW (I've played it on PC ad nauseam when I was a kid) there was at least a trumpet sound cue to alert of units/buildings under attack, so it seems strange they didn't include that too in this remake

[@iamLI3]

great review , im among the best players playing cossacks back to war on game ranger right now , im also sc2 gm level zerg , and i think everything you have said in this video is accurate , except explaining sc to someone , it is complicated but not as much as you made it sound , and i do hope for the rts renascence to look like any rts especially the most important sc :c .....

[@sosig6445]

it IS complicated, you don't have to explain how a cannon works in a historical RTS to a newbie but you do have to pull bullshit out to justify the MOST BASICS of engagements, "uhhh yeah space marine can use his pee shooter to attack air units (imagine a fuckin' AR15 actually bringing down an attack hely IRL) but the maruader who fires ROCKETS CAN'T because the terrans were dumb enough to make the marauder be unable to point his fuckin' launcher upwards...."

[@iamLI3]

@@sosig6445 that's literally not complicated though and your just explained it in the comment and i can explain it even easier , there are ground units and flying units , some units ranged attacks can hit the air units , others cannot , this has been a feature of rts since almost it's inception , in wc2 archers with 4 range can hit flying units but catapults with their 8 range double that of archers cannot.....

[@sosig6445]

@@iamLI3 the problem is the explanation is not logical... and you cannot intuitively come to that conclusion

[@iamLI3]

@@sosig6445 you cannot intuit the logic of the rules of any game humans have invented , that's why we call them games and develop rules to separate them from other games with different rules , the logic of your complaint can be applied to all human sports , why can the other pieces move in any direction but the pawns cannot? it's not logicalllolololol!!!!......

[@sosig6445]

@@iamLI3 That's not tha same, chess pieces are abstract. But you still cannot give a logical reason why a unit capable of launching rockets can't launch them in the air.

[@nonames810]

Ay thats pretty good.

[@traversingthedark]

I've been going through your videos as someone just starting out in the genre of reviews/commentary vids. I'm going to go out on a limb and ask what you use to edit your videos? My own software is sadly lacking at the moment. I know you'll be busy and may not see this, but on the off-chance, thanks and I love both your content and delivery style - I can actually focus on the games and info you're delivering because of your pace.

[@RevenTH]

Oh man... RIP Geoff. He will be missed.

[@Meister_Mogul]

Hey! I've never played a Cossacks game and didn't even know the same studio made stalker, but this video brought back a memory of mine regarding a janky civil war game I played long ago. That game is American Conquest: Divided Nation. And, wouldn't you know it, that game has the same developer as the Cossack series. I guess Ukrainian jank has that way of spreading itself throughout the world. I'd say to take a look, but it's basically Cossacks, but with a different splash of paint. But hey, if you ever wanted to be utterly confused as the enemy spams hundreds of units across the map while you're stuck getting eaten alive by swamp gators, while I would suggest American Conquest: Divided Nation.

[@Meister_Mogul]

Oh, I'm pretty sure they bring back the clown car boats in this game too. Just another reason it's a certified Civil War classic.