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Francis Drake on the Spanish Main
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| Author |
File Description |
Filthydelphia
(id: Al_Kharn the Great) |
Posted on 01/01/20 @ 01:42 PM (updated 03/18/20)
| File Details |
|---|
| Version: |
Age of Empires II: DE |
| Style: |
Fixed Force |
Screenshot:
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Land ho!
Raid the Spanish Main as the renowned English explorer and pirate Francis Drake. Capture galleons, raid Caribbean islands, and fill your ship's hold with Spanish gold!
Features:
Explore and raid the Caribbean Sea and the American coast with a rag-tag crew of English soldiers, French pirates, and escaped slaves
Use your unique pirate ship to board and capture enemy galleons
Recruit escaped African slaves and discover the secrets of the Mayan jungles
About the Author:
Filthydelphia (xbox: PhillySouljah) is the award-winning designer of historical custom campaigns and official content for the Age of Empires franchise. Part of the Forgotten Empires campaign team, his works include the Portuguese, Burmese, Bulgarian, Italian, and Indian campaigns featured in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition as well as several campaigns in Age of Empires: Definitive Edition. |
| Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Filthydelphia
(id: Al_Kharn the Great)
File Author |
Posted on 03/18/20 @ 05:54 PM
3/18/2020: Fixed bug where San Augustin could not be plundered. Enemy factions will now receive additional technologies on Moderate and Hard difficulties to make those difficulties more challenging.[Edited on 03/18/20 @ 06:10 PM]
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Possidon
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 05/17/21 @ 05:48 AM
Playability: 4
The scenario was excellent fun, propelled by its unique game mechanics which made for a highly original scenario. The scenario calls for the player to sail around the Caribbean islands to plunder gold. To do this they can either land and assault the settlements of the Spanish Viceroy or capture Spanish Galleons and plunder its cargo. As you sail around you can collect marooned sailors and free African slaves who will join your forces and strengthen your flagship the Pascha. I had a great experience playing this scenario and loved the original mechanics. However, I did feel as though there was something lacking. Despite the original gameplay, I felt as though the scenario could have done something more. Maybe a few extra challenges or something as I finished the scenario feeling slightly underwhelmed. Thats not to say that this is in anyway a bad scenario. I had a fantastic time with it and loved the free-play element at the end once the main objective was completed.
Balance: 4
While the scenario may seem daunting at first, given your limited ships with limited soldiers, in reality this scenario is pretty easy, provided you think tactically. The map is littered with GAIA units and there are also many African slaves which you can recuse who will join your forces. This gives you an edge over the enemy, but you have to be careful. You start with a powerful ship - The Pascha, but if t sinks you lose. You also have a ship that is able to convert enemy ships - The Swan, but again, if it sinks you lose. The Caribbean islands have many tower that can easily sink you vessels, so you have to explore with caution. In my game I was lucky enough to convert an enemy Cannon Galleon which allowed me to take out the towers with ease as it had a far greater range than anything the enemy had to throw back at me. Once the towers were dealt with, all I had to do was then send a landing party to finish off the soldiers and the settlement was plundered with ease. Granted there would be far more of a challenge if I didn’t manage to convert that Cannon Galleon, but seeing as I could, and I did it made it pretty easy.
Creativity: 5
This is a highly original and unique scenario. Featuring a whole new gameplay mechanism and focusing far greater on naval warfare, this scenario is not something you would have seen before. The idea of having to capture enemy ships to plunder them is very novel and creates an enjoyable scenario. Not having any form of villagers or buildings makes the gameplay unique as you have to keep your small force alive and only gather new soldiers by finding or reducing them. It calls for some intense micromanagement and tactics that you wouldn’t use in other types of scenarios. All in all this is definitely the scenarios greatest strength as there’s nothing else like this out there.
Map Design: 4
The map represents the islands of the Caribbean and its surround seas. Overall the map showcase some nice designing, with some beautifully crafted jungle scenes on the islands, as well a some nicely designed settlements for the Spanish and some nice native villages as well. Overall the map showcase some impressive skills from the designer, yet there are also areas where I feel the map could do with some more work. I found some of the native houses to feel a little bit out of place in areas, especially those so close to the Spanish colonies, and I also found that the water, which takes up a considerable amount of the map, could have had more mixing in it to make it look a little more interesting.
Story/Instructions: 4
The scenario being with an opening cinematic which sets the scene for the scenario - explaining that Queen Elizabeth has given Sir Francis Drake permission to sail to the New World and plunder as much gold as he can carry from the Spanish settlers. Beyond that though, the story isn’t particularly expanded upon within the scenario itself. There is some nice dialogue that crops up every now and again when you rescue some marooned sailors or capture a Spanish Galleon, but beyond that there’s no more story. The scenario ends with a closing cinematic too, explaining what happened after Drake return to England which closes it nicely as well. As this isn’t a story-driven scenario the opening and closing cinematic bookend the scenario well and help to set the scene for the gameplay. The instructions are also pretty clear and many helpful hints are provided, but some explanation into how the new gameplay mechanics work would be welcome, as it took me a while to figure out how to capture the enemy ships and steal their gold.
Additional Comments:
Overall this highly unique scenario is an absolute blast and I would highly recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a scenario that’s a bit different. It’s pretty short as well so its great ion you don’t have too much time on your hands.
Thanks
Possidon |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
| Rating |
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| 4.2 | | Breakdown |
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| Playability | 4.0 | | Balance | 4.0 | | Creativity | 5.0 | | Map Design | 4.0 | | Story/Instructions | 4.0 |
| Statistics |
| Downloads: | 810 |
| Favorites: [] | 1 |
| Size: | 3.63 MB |
| Added: | 01/01/20 |
| Updated: | 03/18/20 |
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