Review of FreeCol
Like previous games, this one seems to emulate a previous game in this case Colonization. Therefore, this review will be more concerned with how close it got, as to the overall fun level of the game.
Several of the changes have already been documented. You can now play multiplayer. You can now play up to 8 nations with up to 8 advantages that you can select. That's really nice. I played with the normal Dutch advantage because I knew it, but I played as the Danish for a bit of a change.
Another change is that founding fathers can only be taken once. The AI is pretty good at grabbing the better ones, so near the last third of my game, the pickings were slim. I grabbed the good ones early, but I was taking crap like Jan de Witt and John Paul Jones at the end just to take someone.
The game's graphics were actually quite good. Looking at pictures of the game before, you can tell they were an area of development. The sound was not great, so I just turned it off and played iTunes.
The game is not exactly Colonization, and there are difference.s There is no autosave, so you have to save regularly and often in case of a crash. I experienced three times the game hung up, each time during the time the AI was moving opponents.
The game engine was close, but again, I noticed differences. I never boycotted a tax, so my taxes ended up in the 76% area, and it was reduced numerous times. That's not even close to realistic or close to the previous game. I was making money, for the last 30 years or so, by trading with Indians instead of Copenhagen. However, it made Thomas Paine the best founding father ever! Once I got him, I was getting founding fathers every 12-15 turns or so, it was awesome. I got a bunch of crappy ones as a result. I don;t think I have ever gotten John Paul Jones before, but I was like, sure, at least I get a boa.t
My strategy was to go for naval power early, and then infrastructure. I went for Pocahontas, then Magellan and Drake, then stuff like Washington, Bolivar and Paine. Once I had both Bolivar and Paine, it was simply a matter of building my colonies up, because I was able to call a revolution.
The game does not show, graphically, the town, which I found disappointing. It also only had a few of the woodcuts from Colonization, just finding lands and establishing a nation, none for Indians, Europeans, Native Attack, Pacific, Fountain of Youth, etc.
Because my taxes jumped so high, my advantage as trade based was rather minor, so for much of the game i was playing without any advantage, except my starting Merchantman.
After getting ready for a revolution, I declared Independance and won shortly after without much need for aid. Washington, + a ton of cannons and veterans from my wars with Spain when the crown offered them to me on the cheap meant each of my five colonial cities had 15 defensive units plus a fortress and Sons of Liberty quite high. My fortresses, frigates and privateers were able to take out about half of the Expeditionary Force, and the rest were easily killed on the ground.
So result - victoire, after three nights of playing.
FreeCol will be staying on my PC for a long time to come.
The game was good and I had a lot of fun. If you liked Colonization, then grab this for free and get it up.
Overall: 3.5 outta 5, because it is still a dated game for a bit.