More often than not, close melee combat becomes the key to success, since the butt end of a rifle is a more effective way to prevent getting your face smashed in than slowly pouring gunpowder into your rifle. Thankfully, every once in awhile you'll stumble onto some cool Gatling guns and cannons, which can be fired for your explosive pleasure.
Just like the accuracy of your antique weapons, the game's audio and visual stylings are hit and miss. The battlegrounds look decent enough, but the ridiculous death animations of stricken soldiers and repetitive orders from your commanders and fellow soldiers will wear on you quickly.
Strangely enough, there's a complete lack of any multiplayer component. At $50, it could be considered a "budget" next-generation title (although in our minds fifty ducats ain't budget for any game). Too bad - we would have loved to see if we could've had fun capturing Rebel flags or defending Union forts from a Confederate assault. A functional online aspect would've helped tremendously, considering there's only about 6 hours of mission content in the campaign.
