Introduction
Cossacks: Back to War is the second expansion pack to Cossacks: European Wars, following Cossacks: The Art of War. The game will feature the gameplay from the Cossacks franchise, once again returning to the pre-industrial world of Europe. Back to War features 100 new missions set during the violent Middle Ages, taking place during the 16th and 18th centuries. The game also adds two new countries, Hungary and Switzerland. The game will be shipping to stores later this fall.
Lloyd Sabin had the opportunity to speak with Mario “Mayo” Gerhold, Producer of the Cossacks: Back to War game. In the following interview, Mario offers details on the game, the reasoning behind a second expansion pack, new units, new multiplayer options and a variety of other questions.
The Interview
The Wargamer (WG): What exactly is Cossacks: Back to War? Is this a stand-alone product or will players need a previous iteration of Cossacks to play? Why should fans of Cossacks or the real-time genre pick up this game?
Mario Gerhold (MG): Cossacks: Back to War is a stand alone-product. You do NOT need any other product of the Cossacks range. It is absolutely perfect for all those are new to Cossacks. They could delve into a mass-scale RTS game with 20 nation, 8000 units, random-map-generator, extra tutorial-campaign and 100 missions. The plot is set in Europe during the 16th- 18th centuries.
Of course, it’s great stuff for people already addicted to Cossacks. Those who love to play missions will have fun playing through 100 missions with 4 levels of difficulty, creating their own ones with the map and mission-generator. For Cossacks players who are fans of multiplayer, Cossacks: Back to War will serve a new game-server with a championship system, an online archive and the Vizor mode. Vizor is a kind of spectator mode for unlimited viewers. Additionally, both groups will get 2 new nations, new buildings, 10 new units– a well balanced game. And there is an extra bonus on Cossacks: Back to War: MOD135. This is an improved modification with additional 30 new units and 3 new cannons.
WG: Why was a second expansion pack developed?
MG: Cossacks has a very big fan-community worldwide. We got a lot of requests to deliver even more Cossacks, so GSC GAME WORLD thought about it and created Cossacks: Back to War.
With the stand-alone we could offer a perfect game to Cossacks newbies too.
WG: What are some of the new unique units introduced in Back to War?
MG: We have new units for Switzerland, Hungary, Turkey and Algeria. Some examples: 1) Hajduks wore traditional national garments, generally richly and brightly decorated, and selected their own weapons. A special sash allowed them to carry several pistols and daggers. They were later used in the Austrian army. 2) Light infantry. Pandurs were also subsequently used in the Austrian army – these soldiers were dressed in national Hungarian clothes and had no standardised uniform or armaments. 3) Soldiers armed with harquebuses. The harquebus is one of the earliest examples of western European hand firearms which appeared in the first third of the 15th century. Harquebuses were muzzle-loaded and generally had a fuse lock. A harquebus had a lower weight and calibre than the later musket, and a specific shape to the butt.
WG: In Art of War, the game received a number of huge new maps. Will there be any dramatically larger maps in Back to War?
MG: Cossacks: Back to War will have the same size maps as Cossacks: The Art of War.
WG: Will there be any new multiplayer options?
Yep. Cossacks: Back to War provides the widest range of Internet play since the original Cossacks. In this add-on you have the following Internet game possibilities, provided by the GSC-Game.Net’s Internet Game server: the deathmatch introduced in Cossacks: European Wars; the Internet Rating System introduced in Cossacks: The Art of War; two special Internet systems provided in this latest add-on: the Automated Championship System and the Vizor game viewer. Additionally, a new online server was built.
WG: When will it be released and can gamers expect a demo, as well?
The official answer “2nd half 2002.” As far as a demo, we would love to make one, but as you may know GSC Game World is working on American Conquest, which should be out in the first half of 2003, so we have less time. But, I recommend this demo for those who don’t know the Cossacks franchise.
WG: Will Back to War be the last Cossacks expansion before Cossacks II is released? Can you tell us anything about Cossacks II or other future plans?
Yep. The next big step in the Cossacks range will be Cossacks II – Napoleonic Wars. As you can probably guess, the plot concentrates on the great emperor Napoleon. The game will be 3D RTS and it’s planned to have a max. of 32,000 units on the map. Right now GSC Game World is working on American Conquest, another epic RTS game with up to 16,000 units.
INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CONTENT:
Originally posted: wargamer.com (LINK) (ARCHIVED-1) (ARCHIVED-2)
Date of publish: 30.09.2022
Author: Lloyd Sabine
Language of publish: english