three-dimensional
boards. However, some problems have remained exactly the same from version to
version, the most obvious being the chronically cluttered interface. The numerous
necessary windows that provided the player with the information they needed to
play and understand the machinations of the game, their own moves, and the AI.
With Chessmaster 10th Edition, the permanently choked-up
interface has finally been cleaned up, a fact that practically smacks you in the
face when you first boot up the game. Rather than the clogged "take your pick
from these dozen options" approach of previous editions, this new edition instead
offers you three main jumping points from which to launch your chess experience:
Play, Fun, and Learn. This doesn't mean that options from previous games have
been trimmed, however; rather, they lay nested within these three choices. It's
an approach that's used throughout the bulk of the game, offering you even more
choices and options, but using less screen real estate through the use of nested
options and slimmer windows. There is still frequent use of windows, mind you,
and there are still some moments where you'd wish that you could somehow wrangle
a bit more screen space, but the problematic aspects have been minimized, and
windows now take up less room, and display information much more efficiently.
This may sound like a minor point, but when you consider that the Chessmaster
series has spent a great deal of its history within Interface Hell, this is actually
a vast and incredibly welcome improvement.
Initially, having Play and
Fun as two separate section may seem a little redundant. After all, why Play if
it's not going to be Fun? However, a closer look reveals that the Fun segment
is basically the Kids' section from Chessmaster 9000, right down to the
tutorial set, which is a direct port of the one used in that section in previous
years. However, the assistance provided here is much more clear and basic, and
the interface more cartoony and kid-friendly. As in regular games, you can have
the AI clearly indicate on the board which moves are "capture" moves, "pin" moves
and "check" moves, using a combination of shaded squares and colored arrows. It
sounds confusing, but actually is very clear and should help younger players pick
up the game much more quickly. Again, these improvements are directly related
to the interface, but are an example of how a game like chess can benefit more
from this type of improvement than fancier bells and whistles.
As one
might expect, the Learn segment is dedicated exclusively to instructing players
on how the game works, as well as how to develop and improve their own approach
to chess. This section is almost entirely made up of tutorials recycled from previous
versions, and initially seems as though it has nothing to new to offer, though
they are handily organized. Even the advertised IM Josh Waitzkin's Academy seems
to be a repetition of tutorials he's done for previous editions, but this too
is deceptive. Thankfully, three whole new sets of Waitzkin tutorials have been
added to the ones that he's already done, thus fleshing everything out into a
cohesive, comprehensive course on chess. For starters, there's a new Introduction
set, where Waitzkin presents and explains the core concepts of the game from his
unique perspective. Arguably, his introduction tutorials are much stronger and
more informative than the "Your First Chess Lesson" of previous Chessmasters,
and offer the player with a much better sense of understanding of the underlying
ideas of the game, rather than straight-up game mechanics. There's also the new
Arsenal tutorial set, where Waitzkin introduces and expands upon crucial chess
techniques such as forks, pins and skewers. For the casual player who's never
picked up a book on the subject but seeks to take the game more seriously, this
set is absolutely invaluable, as it lets you delve deeply into the building blocks
of chess success at a comfortable if not challenging pace. Finally, there's the
new Strategy tutorial set, which discusses opening principles, pawn structures,
and the like. It's the perfect way to round off the new aspects of the Academy,
since it is just as helpful, insightful and accessible as the other new additions.
In fact, along with the spiffy new interface, these new tutorial blocks are reason
enough for undecided chess buffs to pick up the game.
As if these new
tutorials weren't enough, GM Larry Christiansen has been recruited to discuss
his take on the style of Attacking Chess. Using actual games as his examples,
Christiansen explains the concepts behind this style and elaborates on his own
strategies. It's all rather interesting, and although it's not as helpful as the
Waitzkin tutorials, it still offers an interesting if not a somewhat advanced
perspective. What's perhaps most interesting about his series of presentations,
however, is that it includes a fully annotated series of four games that Christiansen
publicly played online against Chessmaster 9000 - a series that he lost,
incidentally. To hear a Grandmaster discuss how the Chessmaster program
mercilessly, tenaciously outplayed him is a true testament to how strong the game's
chess AI can truly be, and how its sheer strength has something to offer to everyone,
from the freshest beginner to the experienced Grandmaster.
Another major
addition to the series are the new animated boards, which are clearly the star
of the show here. Not merely 3D, these three new boards feature pieces that run,
skip and jump across and over squares and enemy pieces. Though the types of animation
vary widely between the three sets, all three are quite fantastic, with equally
excellent colors and peripheral effects. The childlike gnomes, pegasi and sleepy-eyed
kings that grace the Fairytale board are cutesy if not somewhat charming, while
the Rubber set is much more neutral, with bouncy, elastic pieces that seem to
be made of, well, rubber. Fans of Battle Chess may be glad to see that the third
set, entitled Clash, features humans and orcs violently duking it out on the battlefield
of chess. A human knight will run his sword through his orcish pawn opponent as
he captures it - a showy and strangely satisfying sight to witness. Though it's
the most appealing of the three sets, the Clash set is not without its own problems:
its character models are fairly muddy and much less clearly defined than on the
goofier ones, which can make initially difficult to discern which piece is which.
Still, with a good eye and some practice, you can make each one out in no time,
and relive Battle Chess memories within the modern skin of Chessmaster.
There are some notable disappointments with regards to the other types
of chess sets, however. Unfortunately, many sets from previous games aren't included
here - namely, the newspaper style from Chessmaster 9000 - and the game
provides you with far less sets than its predecessor. Whereas Chessmaster 9000
had a true wealth of sets, ranging from 2D options to Fixed View options (and
you had to love the African set), Chessmaster 10th Edition is much more
sparing, especially with regards to the 2D sets. It's as though the inclusion
of the animated sets was made at the expense of the previous collection, which
is a terrible shame. What's more, the game restricts you from using a handful
of sets, and offers you incentives to play ranked games by barring you from using
certain sets until you've met certain requirements. For example, you can't access
the Classic Old Wood set until you have 25 victories in rated games. This approach
is an interesting one, and lends a certain goal-oriented perspective to using
Chessmaster. This would perhaps be more acceptable if more default sets
were offered, but as it stands, the selection is somewhat of a disappointment.
Now, to be fair, the game's developer has begun to offer a number of new sets
through the official website and forums, not to mention that one generous and
enterprising forum member (here's looking at you, misimatt) has figured out how
to read and recode the default boards so as to provide a wide variety of different
types and colors of boards. This helps to remedy the issue, though the question
remains as to why these weren't included with the game to begin with.
One should also consider Chessmaster 10th Edition's online capabilities,
which is an important aspect for a game that was meant to be played with other
people. Although Chessmaster 9000 featured online play, it was problematic
and failed to offer a reliable number of opponents, and used the same cluttered
interface as the game itself, almost always making Yahoo Chess a preferable alternative.
With the cleaned-up interface, a reliably steady stream of online opponents and
an incredibly strong Teaching Mode - which allows stronger players to use various
indicators and examples to give instruction to others - Chessmaster 10th Edition
stands to be a worthwhile online experience. There's just one problem: a major,
fatal flaw in the game prevents a great deal of users from being able to watch
or play other people online, even though they may still be able to connect to
the servers. Though a beta patch has been released, this often fails to solve
the problem. The only truly simple solution is to go into your OS' Device Manager
and disable various network adapters until the proper ports open up.
What's particularly mystifying is that this information can only be gleaned by
cruising through the official forums and poring over the many frustrated posts
regarding this issue. Although Ubisoft's online support section lists exactly
which ports must be open, it does not offer any kind of layman's approach on how
this can be achieved. Given, computer-savvy individuals can achieve this without
too much difficulty, but casual PC users will likely be left mystified and frustrated.
That being said, the online portion is well worth whatever initial hassle there
may be, as it is a strong and incredibly engrossing experience, complete with
any number of ongoing games and tournaments. One can stand by and watch games
as a spectator, or participate in ranked play in either Bullet, Blitz or Standard
game types. As previously mentioned, it's a truly engrossing experience, and the
majority of online Chessmaster players are as gracious in victory as they are
in defeat, with many offering helpful suggestions on how to improve one's game.
If a future patch can truly address the fatal connectivity problem, this online
mode will likely see an explosion of new players, and will remove the only thing
that mars an otherwise wonderful online mode.
Overall:
8.5/10
When all is said and done, Chessmaster 10th Edition's appeal
is ultimately going to depend on two things: one, if you already own Chessmaster
9000, and two, if you didn't mind its interface. If the answer to both those
questions is a yes, then chances are that you aren't likely to feel that this
new edition is worth the extra money. However, for anyone who doesn't already
own a copy of the previous version, or for dedicated fans of the series who are
dying to see improvements to an already excellent title, this release proves to
be a worthy and ultimately satisfying offering. With a considerably less claustrophobic
interface, stronger (though initially problematic) online options, a new and insightful
chess course courtesy of IM Josh Waitzkin, and a great trio of animated boards,
Chessmaster 10th Edition proves to be a worthwhile addition to the series,
and to any chess fan's collection. [
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