tough but worth it, Feb 08, 2010

by Robert (Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand)

I enjoyed the game for its ‘no tricks’ gameplay, every turn it is required to reevaluate your position, and cruising through on a simple strategy is not possible. By constantly making you weigh up the benefits of how to exploit your resources (money, citizens, soldiers, generals) the game keeps you on your toes, requiring you to be cautious on one turn and bold the next. I must admit that I often use the strategy of picking a secluded country at the beginning with few borders to give a slight advantage.
The difficulty of the AI can be disheartening to begin with, but winning on expert (contrary to popular opinion, is possible) for the first time becomes all the more gratifying for it. While it is hard to be entertained for all that long at one sitting, the game manages to maintain some freshness coming back to play another game weeks later. While the lack of decent graphics could be considered a weakness it also contributes to the laid back, think before you act feeling that this game excels at.
Warning though, after more than 15 minutes the music becomes intolerable.

Risks, intellect, and fun--Sound good?, May 22, 2008

by Nick (Rochester, NY)

I encourage anyone seeking a challenge to try and play this game at it’s difficult levels (with a lot of countries). The AI is smart, and one has to balance well the different aspects of the game (including technology upgrades, economics, and military) while accounting for the randomness factors and luck. Great game.

general, Oct 02, 2007

by Anonymous

This game was pretty good. The game got boring pretty fast and i found it boring how you couldn’t attack anyone by yourself you had to let your general attack.

Why Play the Generals, Sep 29, 2007

by JC Matriano (Philippines)

1st of all it has a easy to learn economic system but it’s hard to master once the game heats up.Many of the game’s features appear simple but they are very hard to master, specially if you "start late".While I played the game I noticed that it is hard to balance the finance features of the game with the economical ones.I liked the parts of the game when you NEED to fight to earn land…something like a conquest.One of the rules in playing the game is to always watch and think unlike other turn-based games because this game really PULLS you to play hard and think sharply which is good for both adults and kids.In my opinion, this game is probably the best turn-based strategy game because it FORCES you to not just WATCH but PLAY it with all your heart.So to all of you strategy game fans out there…PLAY ON!

Clever game, but far too difficult, Sep 27, 2007

by Unsatisfied (Schenectady, NY)

I am a turn based military strategy game fan, and have played many different games of that genre for over a decade. This one is by far the hardest one I’ve played. Even on the training (easiest) level, the computer explodes in both economy and military might far above me in 10 to 20 turns. I’ve tried every strategy I can think of, and it wins straight away.

If the AI wasn’t so difficult even on the easy level, this game would be fun.

Great GAME !! - Manual needs re-writing, Jul 23, 2007

by STAL (ATHENS, GREECE)

Great Game, user friendly, some depth of strategic (perhaps operational or tactical) thinking. The General has a workable concept and its algorithm works smoothly and fast. Game play is easy to everyone to lean playing but does not allow the player to have more flexibility in setting the parameters of its battle. Science tools provide such flexibility to the player but not for battle direction. The game needs the addition of a “battle window”� in which the player would have info for the opponents and would direct the composition of its own forces as well as their formation and tactics. It seems to that the player cannot select the Battle orders, as appears in the manual. The manual, nevertheless, needs a re-writing as in several areas (especially in the section for military, battle orders, etc) are confusing: e.g in what conditions an PC-opponent decides to attack, what does mean military “level 1”� versus military “level 2”.

One of the better free strategy games, May 24, 2007

by Shahbaz (Sweden)

Definitely one of the better free strategy games. Is never too easy. Only flaw is that sometimes there is little logic why AI attacks. Otherwise a perfect balance between simplicity and complexity!

Easy to learn ... impossible to master, May 23, 2007

by Kirby (Regina Saskatchewan Canada)

While this game does need improvement in music, graphics and typo correction, I love how challenging this simple game can be. I rarely beat the game at its hardest settings and I noticed that anyone can fix some of the typo’s with a simple text editor.

Average. Period., Apr 20, 2007

by Anonymous

Ahh.. the General. It’s one of the strategy games I’ve come to like, after a while(heh.) Here’s what I have to say about it.

First off, it was quite challenging, as the makers have said. They were right. The AI is too much, in fact, for me. There was not a single instance that I have beat the AI of this game. They did a good job here.

The game didn’t have much graphics. That’s not such a bad thing. Its simplicity quite matches it. The music, meanwhile, didn’t really impress me. Not very good quality, though I believe they tried to make up for it in quantity. A small BGM collection(around 6), were included. In short: the music bored me, though there was room for improvement.

Since I believe the game is not from an English-speaking country(Russian, I think?), I found some bugs in the game’s "vocabulary". The title bars of the help system, for instance, weren’t translated, and so were the names in the high score screen, though that didn’t stop me from playing like normal.

A domination of wit & courage! TIPS!!!, Mar 29, 2007

by Shawky Azad Zeryf (Dhaka, Bangladesh)

"The General" is a game of character, wit & courage. It tests the patience of the player & brings out the unseen patriatism & ego hidden behind one’s face.
Although this game is not the usual graphical action ones, but with a very little bit of imagination "The General" brings out what you can do when YOU are our own boss. It creates environment where, either you have to look after your country, or dominate others under you, as your dream kingdom & lustful, everhungry power-cry increase from one continent to other. Just dont fight too much, let them do the job & concentrate on the harvest. Build money, hire good general who are young, have enough skills & speed. If you must-fight every two years, that’ll give you time to have a year’s grain. Concentrate on increasing your populations & sciencetists community. They are the key. Its going to take a while, but its worth it. An addiction you can’t get over! ENJOY!!!