Str: Samurai [by Klear]

Game Review: Reiner Kinizia's Samurai
Release: March 03, 2003
Genre: Strategy
Developer: Klear Games
System Requirements: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP, Pentium II or better, 64 MB RAM, DirectX 7.0
Price: US $19.95

On the way out to the GDC, while I was taking my turn driving, I told my brother to pull out my laptop.  "There is a game on there called Samurai.  You've got to check it out."  I told him.  Actually I went on for some time telling him about the game, and we talked about what made it a great game after my laptop battery finally gave out while he was playing. I play a lot of indie games, rotating through the many titles as I get them. It takes a game of high quality to stay on my desktop for more than a couple of weeks. Samurai has graced a spot on my desktop for more than two months, and I don't forsee it disappearing anytime soon. It is a game that I pick up and play whenever I only have 10-15 minutes to play and want to be challenged.  Honestly it is one of, if not the best game I've played this year.

I'm not alone in my assessment, at the Independent Games Festival in 2003, Samurai was one of the finalists and won the award for technical excellence due to its highly sophisticated AI system. 

So what makes Samurai such a great game.  The concept is simple, though honestly it sounds complex when you try to explain it.  The game takes place in pre-unified Japan.  In that period, you play as a Warlord trying to control as much of the land as possible.  To do this, you must gain the backing of the different classes in Japan.  The three classes, peasants, clergy, and nobles are denoted on the board by different icons, rice, Buddha's, and helmets respectively.  These icons appear at locations that are cities.  For example, the square where Tokyo would appear on the map contains all three icons, whereas most cities just have one icon due to their smaller size.  The boar itself is set up as a series of hexes.

You have at your side 5 pieces.  Each turn, you choose a piece and put it down somewhere on the board.  Your pieces have different numbers on them that denote the strength they have.  They also have an icon on them that tells you what type of piece they are.  Your basic pieces have the icons of rice, Buddha, and helmet on them.  So for example, you may have a piece that has a Rice on it, and the number 4.  That is the most powerful Rice piece that you will have available to you.  So you place it on the board so that it is adjacent to a square with Rice in it.  That gives you 4 rice influence over the city.  However, if you had played a helmet next to the city with the Rice in it, you would have received no influence over the city as there were no helmets in the city.

In addition to your basic pieces, you also have Samurai.  The samurai have effect over each of the different classes or castes.  So in the example above, if you put a samurai of 2 next to the rice, you would have 6 total influence over the city.  If for example, the city had the icon of rice and Buddha, you would have 6 influence over the rice and 2 over the Buddha. 

Once there are no empty square adjacent to a city, the totals of each players influence on the city is determined, and the city is then pledged to the player who had the most influence.  So in my example above, if another player played a Samurai with the value of 3.  We would win the rice with a score of 6-3, but they would win the Buddha with a score of 3-2.

Ok?  So how does this all add up to one of the best games of the year?  The great thing about Samurai is that the concept is simple, but the strategy is not.  Easy to pick up, difficult to master...and fun while your are trying to master it.  The game takes a lot of thought to play well.  Klear has included 4 difficulty levels in the full game in addition to letting you create your own custom game.  Each difficulty level increases the AI of your computer opponent, making the game more challenging.  The increased difficulty levels also increase the number of computer opponents, and the land available to play on, buy adding the other islands of Japan.

Obviously just because a game is challenging doesn't mean it is fun. What sets Samurai apart in this category is the fact that the challenge is reasonable.  After playing a game and losing, instead of looking at the board and thinking, there is no way I could possibly win, I found myself studying the computer and trying to figure out why the moves he made where good moves, and what I could have done differently. 

Now granted...I like chess.  I was on the Chess team as a youth, and really enjoy playing.  I'm not a great chess player because I have trouble seeing the board 12 moves from now, but I get by pretty well.  Samurai, in my mind is a lot more enjoyable than chess because there are so many different options you have available to you on any one turn.  In addition to the normal pieces, there are pieces that can be played that don't keep you from playing your normal piece that turn.  For example, there are boat pieces that can be placed in the water adjacent to cities, that act like Samurai when determining your influence over the city.  Playing pieces like that can allow you to play multiple pieces on your turn instead of the single piece, greatly changing the complexity of your or your opponent's strategy. 

The different strategies involved, and especially the strategies of the computer make this game a real treat.  I've learned from watching the computer play strategies that are quite good, but hadn't occurred to me, which is something I don't believe I've ever had happen to me in the many strategy games I've played.  Anyone who enjoys planning out ahead a little and trying to outwit an opponent I'm sure will enjoy this perfectly crafted game and the seemingly endless twists of challenge that it presents.

Graphics: 8
Graphics are not the key to the game.  The graphics meet the need of the game and very clear and clean.  The graphical interface is very professionally done and will leave you assuming a major company has taken a fair amount of time making everything look very good.

Sound: 9
While there is really only one sound track in the game, it does not get repetitive.  The sound helps create a great atmosphere for playing, and the effects are also well done.  My wife mentioned while I was playing that the sound was very melodic and not intrusive.  I heartily agree.  However, the sound is good enough I often turn up the volume on my stereo to become completely immersed in the game.

Game Play: 10
This game is taken from a board game.  I have not played the board game, but cannot see how it would be nearly as easy to play as this adaptation.  I was taken in by how amazingly simplistic the game is to play.  A big worry I often have when I see a game like this is how long is it going to take me to figure out how to even play.  The tutorial included in the game does a great job of leading you through the basics.  Within no time, you'll be fighting your way through and be itching to try out the more difficult levels. 

A complaint I often have of strategy games is that they leave too much to chance.  That is not the case with Samurai.  Though there can be some randomness when drawing your pieces, it does not negatively affect game play, but rather gives you a different strategy challenge, since in the end you will have drawn all the same pieces as your computer or human counterparts.  What is more, on the higher difficulty levels, you are able to choose your initial pieces, further equalizing the playing field.

Options: 9
The options are limited in the game, but offer everything you could need to play.  I attempted once to play an online game through that option through the Klear server, but after an hour of trying anyone who happened to come by to take me on, I gave up and took on the computer in a custom game, where I choose the AI ability of my opponents.

Concept: 10
Board games have been made a million times into computer games, but I've not seen any so easy to pick up and play, while remaining so complex in available strategy as Samurai.  It is this interesting mix of simplicity and complexity that makes the game stand out so far among the pack of what might be considered similar games.

Fun: 10
An absolute blast to play, Samurai will challenge your intellect without causing undue frustration.  Often strategy games become marred as you try to play on, but realize that there is no possible way for you to beat your computer opponents, or more commonly with the genre when you are set an an unequal advantage with your opponent.  Samurai has a perfect mix that challenges you, and if you get good enough to beat the hardest level, you can still create a custom game with more high level AI computer opponents than you will face in the most difficult level.

Overall: 10
Samurai is the third 10 that has been given out by Game Tunnel to date.  I think that the reasons are obvious, but also understand that this game may not be everyone's cup of tea.  Still I feel very comfortable to suggesting this game to anyone who looks forward to a challenge that is different and interesting every time.  Samurai will force you to think beyond what you may be used to, in order to win your match, but in this case, being forced is a lot of fun.

Reviewer's System:  AMD 1800 XP, Windows XP, GeForce 2 MX 32MB, 256 MB RAM Added: May 5th 2003
Reviewer: The Mole
Score:
Related Link: Klear's Website
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