Falls short in every aspect. Shame though.
The principle of this game shows brilliance. Considering now there are more World War II FPS than grains of sand on the beach HC: Civil War presents the events of the American Civil War from 1861-1865.
The game opening mission sequence presents the historical situation involved before launching you into attack. It leaves that opening sequence like 'and so-and-so needs to defend the ranks...' therefore the player flows right amidst into the war. On the flipside and considering there are twelve different missions the history of the war does not flow very well as it's out of sequential order. This may not seem to be a big deal for some, however considering the History Channel logo is plastered all over the game and I trying to understand the events surrounding the great war made me even more confused (FYI - I'm an Australian therefore my knowledge of the American Civil War is probably like saying an American's knowledge about the Australian Federation and please no debatable arguments about stereotypes - I'm just making a point).
The game is trying to be as historically accurate as possible in regards to the setting scenarios, environments and the likes. It even goes as far as the guns themselves. So out goes that rambo-like shooting and in comes slow reload times. I really like that effect as it makes you think twice about pulling the trigger. The game also takes one step further as if you don't have time to reload (as it can happen quite a lot) you still have that opportunity to go up-front and personal - another words use that bayonet or swing that gun like you never swing before.
The missions themselves present a very good mixture of all-out firing to stealth to placing explosions to sabotage. Each mission has numerous check points which are governed by your 'radar' on the left. That said, the HUD is probably one of the best I have ever seen. Very little clutter yet provides all the information you need (i.e. ammo, radar and grenades).
Graphically the game looks nice. Not exactly cutting-edge technology however very pleasing for the eyes. It looks like the developers have spent some effort in the placement of carts, houses, fences, tents and whatever else. All placements do make sense and does not display some random mess. Even the types and colours of foliage look very impressive. At times I replayed the missions just to stare at the lovely trees and the rolling clouds!
It's the age-old saying that most games either have poor or superior AI. This game has poor AI. The enemies do take cover from time-to-time however they have a tendency to do the 'running-man' at the worst possible time. For example: when they try to take cover behind a sandbar, they would collide at the edge of the sandbar and do the running-man or at times the moonwalk. It's gets a little worse. There are many-a-times that you will get shot when you are hiding behind carts, trees and whatever else. Yes, the AIs have super aiming. Now what is good for the goose is good for the gander. That said, if your targeting cursor circles red, that means you are on target for the kill, regardless of the distance; and that includes firing through dense bush. Just pull the trigger and hear the man die. What's more frustrating is that once he dies, the body merges in the ground and their weapon will soon follow; so take real care of your ammo count.
The battlefields looks vast as you can see for miles away however it's all an illusion. If you stray off the 'path' you are treated with that invisible wall or quite simply a fence. Now the catch is that the game has that 'secret explorative' score and tries to encourage you to 'explore' the map thoroughly. At first I was extremely skeptical then I realise what 'explore' means. Go behind a house and you have located a 'secret' section; climb underneath a tree and voila another 'explorative' point. You get the idea.
The sounds in the game are quite good. The firing of cannons, reloading weapons, men shouting and so forth is quite OK. The voice-acting are also quite reasonable but needs a little more work. The musical scores on the other hand are very pleasant as I personally like the opening soundtrack.
By this stage you are probably wondering why in the world I should play this game. Well, for some strange reason I was addicted. Maybe because it's the only game I have seen that tries to replicate the American Civil War as a FPS. Maybe it's the battlefield settings as they are extremely impressive - no random crap. Maybe it's the realistic reloading effects. However dig a little deeper and sadly enough it doesn't do justice. Only play it if you, like me, is desperate for a FPS without a World War II setting otherwise stay way clear of this game.