If you're a history nut and love to plan and watch epic battles unfold, Cossacks is the game for you. Based on historic europe of the 16th-18th centuries, Cossacks places you in charge of a european nation with the goal of world dominance.

Game play is simple: peasants collect materials and construct buildings, materials are funneled through buildings to create or upgrade units. Materials are also spent on combat (coal used to make gunpowder for
example) and to maintain units (gold for soldiers pay). Raw materials used to create units and spent on maintaining your units are the only limiting factors in creating your army. Combat commands are also simple: attack, defend, hold, etc...

The true beauty of Cossacks is watching formations of hundreds of troops blaze away at each other. There's a majesty all of its own, creating your own army and watching it form up for an epic battle. Unit types are
varied: officers, drummers, warships, muskets, riflemen, cannons, etc... and the buildings themselves have their own flair.

The game, while colorful and fun to watch, does have a few short comings. Most units follow sub-compass points for movement. This gives most ground units a 'robot' like feel when moving. And while most of the games animations are decent, the artillery graphics lack any realism. The artillery moves about without any crews! Yes, I know: most RTS games ignore gun crews too. But watching unmanned cannons massacre rows of brightly uniformed infantry kills the mood for me.