A nation divided. Two opposing sides, united by a love of their country, yet torn asunder by irreconcilable differences and notions of what it means to be ‘an American’. Ideology, political wrangling and corruption descending into hostility, conflict and open warfare…
Not the forthcoming US elections, sadly, but the American civil war. A period of turmoil, strife and struggle which tore much of the country apart and set fire to quite a lot of the rest of it.
Now the civil war has been recreated – in pocket form – thanks to Hunted Cow and Hexwar.
Civil War: 1863 is a turn-based strategy game which pitches the Confederates and Unionists against each other once more, in some of the civil war’s more notorious battles. Infantry, cavalry and artillery all play a part and players can change formation, use cavalry as mounted or foot soldiers and get the generals and leaders involved to increase morale.
All with simple, intuitive touchscreen controls for you favoured iOS device. There’s even a pass-the-pad multiplayer option, allowing you to devastate and destroy your friends and loved ones in the same room.
Hunted Cow and Hexwar are, we believe, Scotland’s most northerly developers (unless you can prove us wrong…) Hunted Cow is based in Elgin, while Hexwar is in Fortrose.
This is the second collaboration between the two companies. Their first title, Tank Battle: 1944 was released a couple of months ago and picked up some very respectable reviews and ratings. Civil War: 1863 builds on this success with more in-depth gameplay and more complex levels, which include capturing multiple check points and achievements for losing no units, keeping a certain percentage of your troops alive, etc.
Each level in the game can be played with multiple difficulty settings. It also includes a number of downloadable levels, which experienced gamers can buy and unlock once they’ve completed the original First Strike and Hoorah! sets of levels.
It’s entirely possible you’ve not yet come across Hunted Cow. Their location in the frozen North and focus on browser-based MMO titles, means that they’ve not had a huge amount of coverage in the games media, or the wider Scottish media. Which is a shame, since the company has achieved some notable successes since it was founded – by two Abertay graduates – in 2003. The company started life with a correspondence chess game, before finding their niche with the MMORPG market. The company’s first game, Gothador, is still being played today by gamers worldwide. This was followed by a number of increasingly ambitious and technically advanced games including Sigmastorm II, Solar Fleet and Fallen Sword.
Hunted Cow is also hard at work on its next generation title, Eldevin, which looks like it will hit that sweet spot between World Of Warcraft and Diablo III/Torchlight.
The company’s move into mobile and iOS games is also continuing with a fantasy-based strategy game, Battle Dungeon, following on from Civil War: 1863.
Civil War: 1863 is out now, priced $1.99/£1.49. You can also find Hunted Cow on Twitter and Facebook. Or go old-school and visit the company website.