Search - Decisive Battles of the Ancient World (History Channel) on DVD

Exactly what a military historian and video gamer needs

Andariel Halo | Phenomynouss@hotmail etc is my e-mail | 02/02/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Up until the successor, Medieval II Total War, Rome Total War was my favorite video game ever. Almost totally modifiable, and the most accurate depiction of ancient warfare, along with the capabilities of fielding thousands of individual units on the field at once for top-notch accuracy and combat.



And as is done in many "battle replays" and historical battles, the best way to put this to use educationally is put to use in this series, "Decisive Battles", which uses this video game technology to display what previously could only be done with huge film budgets and thousands of extras.





One of the best parts is that every bit of video game footage is actual game footage. The graphics aren't perfect, and all the troops within a unit look identical, but it's arguably the best portrayal of the sheer size and scope of ancient battles in a documentary, with the game footage churning out TENS of thousands of units on the field, far beyond that which the game could even allow on one side.





The documentaries also feature the use of the in-game music, composed by Jeff van Dyck, and the traditional use of historians and the like speaking about the historical subjects, my favorite of which being Steven Pressfield for the episodes on Marathon and Thermopylae.





The scope of the battles cover some of the more commonly known, such as the battle of Marathon, Thermopylae, Cannae, Teutoberg Forest, and Gaugamela, but I'm also delighted at the inclusion of such battles as the battle of Cynocephalae (the first decisive battle of the Macedonian Wars between Rome and Macedon), the battle of Kadesh (the oldest known recorded battle in history, between the Egyptians and the Hittites), the battle of Adrianople, the battle of Watling Street, and so on and so on.





Perhaps the game content would make it impossible, but if they either hired the modteam for "Europa Barbarorum II" or designed units themselves, I could easily see this series becoming far more impressive and astounding if it were re-made (or simply done with the base game's Medieval units) using "Medieval II Total War" for a new set of "Decisive Battles" documentaries. It would be phenomenal, with the inclusion of non-cloned armies, grit, and blood.





Another set of documentaries were produced by BBC, using Rome Total War, called "Time Commanders", which features simultaneously two groups of people re-creating historical battles and fighting them out themselves, alongside and following with descriptions of the actual battles. I find it even more impressive for including some not very well known battles, such as the battle of Leuctra (in which the Theban Sacred Band destroyed the Spartans using innovative new weapons and tactics)."