Battle VS Chess

Here are a couple of interesting facts about the game of chess that you might not be aware of. One: It has been around for well over 1,000 years. Two: If you do a search for it on this very Web site, you'll find nearly 400 results. Those are imposing numbers for any game developer looking to do something new in the world of little wooden horses doing battle with tiny clergy hats, but that hasn't stopped TopWare Interactive. Together with publisher SouthPeak, TopWare will soon release Battle vs. Chess, a game that takes the familiar rules of this classic game and throws in more than a few modern trappings.

Release Date: 9/28/2010

Platforms: PC PSP DS PS3 XB360 WII HAC

Publisher: SouthPeak Games (SouthPeak Interactive)

Developer: TopWare Interactive

Gamesite: Click here

Genres: Strategy

ESRB: T

Plot:

At our most recent meetup with Southpeak, in addition to our hands on time with nail’d and Two Worlds II we got a look at Battle vs Chess. It was described to us as chess with animations akin to Chessmaster and Battle Chess. It uses the Fritz 11 chess engine and is fully licensed, which is good news for those looking for an authentic digital chess experience.

On the surface, it looks like just a shiny and prettied up version of chess, and in Classic mode you get exactly that. There’s also a mode that lets you recreate historic matches if you want to pick up on the strategies experts used. A series of tutorials also helps new players (or those who need some brushing up) acclimate to the rules of the game and details how each piece works and their strategic advantages and disadvantages. The tutorials are interactive, so you’re not just sitting in front of the screen reading blocks of text.

However, there’s also a myriad of modes that distinguish this from other chess games. For those looking for more variety, Random Placement mode puts pieces in different opening places than the standard ones, forcing you to think outside of the box. Recruit mode gives you a random assortment of pieces using point values, meaning that the pieces at your disposal won’t necessarily consist mostly of pawns. There are also puzzles that tasks you with placing certain pieces in certain spots within a given number of turns. Duel mode entails mashing the buttons displayed at the right time in a vis-à-vis battle. Mana mode consists of collecting a certain number of crystals (using the queen) in a specified number of turns, and while it won’t do anything for your chess skills, it seems like it could make for some fun mindless time killing. There’s even a story mode in the form of campaign mode, and it consists of 12 missions for each side. As might be expected, the white pieces acted as the good guys and looked more angelic, while the black pieces took the role of the antagonists and appeared more demonic.

The one that’ll probably stand out most is Battle mode. Each piece has its own lifebar, and each time a piece attacks another, the perspective switches to a closer view of the action. You then take control of your piece (accompanied by a group of soldiers) in a hack and slash battle akin to those in a Dynasty Warriors game, although the battles in this game take place on a smaller battlefield. Pieces lost during battle are out for that game. They get weaker as the battle goes on, so you can’t rely on just one piece to win. As you might be able to surmise, this enables you to button mash your way to victory, making the game accessible to those less than adept at chess.

Features:

* A Challenge for Chess Players of all Levels: Uses the famous Fritz11! chess software, with 10 distinct levels of difficulty

* An Action Twist to a Classic Board Game: The innovative fusion of professional chess software and the deathmatch “Action Mode” result in a strategic action experience unlike anything before

* Primed for Multiplayer Competition: Engage friends and foes via local head-to-head matches or online (select platforms only).

* Vibrant visuals and Exciting Fantasy Setting: Richly crafted army sets and six immersive gameboard environments to choose from with stunning HD visuals and particle effects

* Cinematic Animated Sequences: adding another dimension to the gameplay, the cinematics will pull players into the action of the game

System Requirements:

Intel Processor - Celeron E1200 Dual-Core 1.6GHz

AMD Processor - Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core QL-60

Nvidia Graphics Card - GeForce 310 512MB

ATI Graphics Card - Radeon HD 3600 Series

RAM Memory - 1 GB

Hard Disk Space - 1.5 GB

Direct X - 9

* Predicted System requirements are based on recommended system requirements. If you disagree with our predictions then we encourage you to login and let us know. Send an email or post a message on our forum. We really want to know! Through your help we can advance our predictions.