Graphics: In a word…boring. I thought both the units and the landscape throughout the game were rather plain. The units lacked any real detail or clarity. The background was almost worse and provided an unexciting backdrop on which to play the game. I could come up with numerous turn-based games that did a better backdrop to play the game on. Quite simply, many of the maps lacked any detail and even when they did, it wasn’t all that interesting. The animation during battles was limited and not all that well implemented. To be fair, not many turn-based strategy games seem to put that much effort into the graphics portion, but Semper Fi definitely is behind the pack in this department.




Interface: The interface in Semper Fi was only average. Moving units was a simple matter of pointing and clicking. I liked the ability to determine how a unit moved from point A to point B by setting waypoints, much like in real-time strategy games. I thought moving groups of units could have been a little bit easier than it was, but on the whole the controls weren’t too hard to get used to. The commands in the menu bar did not have pop-up dialogue boxes to explain their purpose or use, and that certainly would have helped. Adjusting the AI was pretty straightforward and not terribly difficult, although it did take me a while to grasp exactly how the different variables worked. The scenario editor was also simple to set up and use. In general, the interface was not too difficult to manage, but I couldn’t get over the feeling that it was a bit more complicated and clumsy than it needed to be.




Gameplay: Some of the campaigns and scenarios in Semper Fi were pretty interesting. I liked the fact that the game provided for combat on a smaller scale instead of larger battles with more troops. The game was pretty easy to understand and begin playing. The manual was helpful and did a good job of explaining the basics of gameplay, although I thought it could have been organized a little better. While the game offered a fair amount of challenge and entertainment, it never really managed to get me excited or interested in playing for long periods of time. I also thought there were elements missing in the game. For example, I didn’t understand how movement was not affected by the amount of damage a unit had taken. This didn’t seem to be very realistic nor an accurate representation or real-life combat. Also, the game didn’t include any kind of attack bonus. In other words, morale could only go down and never be higher than normal. Since the game talks about some of the most fierce fighters in the world, I would have thought that some heightened state of combat might be included for a unit that won successive victories. At least something that conveys the effect of adrenaline and the “killer instinct” that takes over when a particular squad or platoon experiences victory after victory. The scenario editor allowed me to create some interesting battles of my own and I-Magic has a section of their web site set up to exchange scenarios. I was curious to see what scenarios other players had designed, but at the time of this review I had yet to see a scenario posted.




Sound FX: The FX weren’t bad, but were not that inspiring either. The standard sounds of gunfire, explosions, and men answering my commands. While it was usually appropriate, much of it seemed to be rather canned. The quality of the FX was good and always came in at the right moment. Still, I couldn’t help feeling that there was room for improvement here. Compared to other turn-based strategy titles, the game fared well.




Musical Score: The music in this game was largely annoying. Maybe it was due to the fact that it sounded exactly like the music from the Great Battles series. Maybe it was because the quality was poor and sounded like cheap synthesizer music. Mostly, it was probably due to the fact that it simply did not fit in with the feel of the game. I kept waiting for dramatic music, like “Battle Hymn of the Republic” or something, and instead I got lame tunes with annoying horns. I turned the music off pretty quickly and left it that way.




Intelligence & Difficulty: I thought Semper Fi offered a good challenge. What gave this game a high score in this category was the AI editor that comes with the game. Basically, it allowed me to decide how enemy units moved against my own. Manipulating the 20 variables in the AI settings determined whether or not enemy units would be more or less aggressive in different situations. For example, changing the setting for the different “victory hex” settings determined how attractive a nearby victory hex would be to an enemy unit. So, a higher value would mean an enemy unit would be more likely to move towards a victory hex from farther away than if it were on a lower setting. Manipulating these variables allowed me to custom design my opponent in a number of different ways. From how different types of units attacked to how they moved in different situations. It was a nice addition to the game and allowed me to make the game as competitive and difficult as I wanted.




Overall: In the world of turn-based strategy games, Semper Fi really fails to offer enough variety and intriguing gameplay to be competitive. Sure it’s nice to be able to tweak the AI, and the ability to custom design scenarios is nice, but how new is that? For example, Steel Panthers 3 allows you to create new scenarios and custom design campaigns of up to 200 interlinked missions. The ability to wage war on a smaller scale is somewhat nice, but the bottom line is the game truly failed to pull me into the action at any level. There is a demo out for the game if you think it sounds like your cup of tea, but there are plenty of solid turn-based games out there on the market.