New animated battlefield chess: pieces will animate and attack each other in specially designed 3D chess sets.
Reviews (10)
You really do learn, but...
I bought this game on New Year's day 2005 as part of my resolution to learn to play chess.I read all the review and weighed the good and the bad, and bought the game new at a video store.
The good thing about the game is that you really do learn to play chess.From the main menu you click on "tutorial" and then you are directed through screen after screen which explains each chess piece in detail, teaching you the legal moves for each piece.After a while I got a little impatient and went to the Battle Chess when I hadn't finished the tutorial, but after 2 moves I got my (...)kicked so I'm back in the chess school!
The bad thing is that this game is hopelessly boring.I have to admit that I thought the game would be like the front cover of the disc case but you will see nothing like that.While you're going through the tutorial, low-register easy listening music plays in the background while a male voice reads from the instructions on the screen.Also, what the other reviewers said about the mini chess board is true.I thought it wouldn't matter to me since I have a large TV screen but it's set up so that half the screen is the chess board, the other half is taken up by the on-screen instructions.Why couldn't they put the instructions as a moving caption below?In the battle chess, you can barely see the pieces -- as if the figures are extremely fuzzy and once they start moving, you don't know which figure corresponds to what chess piece.
This being said, I would still recommmend this if your goal is to have an intelligent and intimate knowledge of the game.You learn different strategies, how to gain a holistic perspective of the board and it is easy to navigate. I admit I've only done the tutorial and Battle Chess so far, and I might even buy that cartoony looking chess game designed for kids (Fritz and something?) just to make it a bit more fun for me to play. There is no doubt that you will learn, but like me, you may fall asleep a few times in the process!
Excellent, but....
This game is awesome.But also, a bit frustrating.
The plethora of opponenets is great and the computer AI is tweaked to perfection but there are some things that make this game a bit annoying.One of these things is that the boards are a tad bit small.It is very hard to see your pieces unless you are either squinting or have your nose touching the screen.Also, I've found that most of the boards are hard to play with by the way the pieces are designed, so most of the time i'm playing on the simple figurine style.And last but not least, the chess battlefield sucks.I really dont need to explain it, it sucks.Yeah sure the pieces slay eachother, but when you cant remember if that guy is your bishop or your queen, it creates a problem.
But lets get back to the pros shall we?
I love how you have a rating, especially if you're a beginner because it makes it very simple to find a reasonable opponent, not some program that is going to whoop you in about ten moves.Also I like the tournaments.They're cool because you can choose them on what type of player you are, such as a defensive player, or a trader.
Overall the Pros outweigh the Cons by a landslide.Great game, great price... This is a must have for any chess player; master or beginner.
Ridiculous amount of bugs
This game could be a 5 star, if it worked properly. I've only had the game one month and I've found several bugs in it. I'm a computer programmer and if my work had this many errors in it, I'd be out of a job.
If you win a match within the time limit in 'Rated Game', half the time it'll declare your victory a 'Stalemate'. This has happened probably a dozen times.
Also, it sometimes overwrites your save files. I had a profile with a 4-0 record and this morning it was overwritten. I recreated it, won a game and saved it. Thanks to another 'stalemate' that I didn't deserve, I rebooted after a 2nd game. I come back and my new profile with 1 victory saved has been overwritten again.
If you love chess, try to get this game used at GameStop or some other used game store. But be warned. It has more bugs in it than Windows 2000.
Worth the $20
The first person to review this product, SleepyJD, must own a copy since he stated that this is chess for people who have no friends.
kingof games
this game is pathetic.I had chessmaster 2 for ps1 and it was much better (larger chessboards +actual controls)do not buy this mini screen squinter!now you know K.G. out
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