When I was first asked to review Civil War Bull Run: Take Command 1861 I was a bit skeptical. I had seen games put out by the likes of the History Channel before. They had always been high on content and low on game play. The pricing also made me wary. When a game comes out for under $20 it usually means it?s a piece of junk and the publisher is just trying to get the cheapskates that won?t put out $39.95 for a real game to buy it. I have been pleasantly surprised by Bull Run. No! Actually more than pleasantly surprised, the game has eaten into some of my Battlefield Vietnam playtime and I am seriously addicted to BFV.

Bull Run is a 3-D real-time regimental level game. Amazingly, just two gentlemen produced the game.

Game System

The system lets you play out a number of scenarios of the 1^st Battle of Bull Run. The intriguing thing about the game is that you can play at 3 different levels using basically the same mechanics. You can start out playing scenarios that have you in the role of one of the Brigade commanders where you command from 3 to 5 regiments. From there you can move to playing a divisional commander commanding several brigades and finally move to an army commander where you have command of the entire battlefield.

I really like the fact that you start out with a small number of units to command and then can move up in complexity. It?s also interesting to watch the battle progress as peer elements fight along side of you. In fact the ?living battlefield? is one the more appealing aspects of the game for me. I felt like I was on a battlefield in the middle of something bigger. During one of the scenarios I looked across the battlefield and saw Jackson ?standing like a stonewall.?

One of the unique elements in the game is couriers moving around the battlefield. Division commander?s orders do not happen immediately; instead a courier is dispatched to give the order to subordinate units.

AI

AI is a big part of the game. You are loosely in control of your subordinate units. Each subordinate in the game will react to your orders but they will carry them out according to their own characteristics and react to game events. You can override the subordinates and give direct commands but you do so at your own risk as the units will not react as well to game events when you are in direct command.

Even more interesting is that each individual soldier has a bit of AI. Individual soldiers don?t just shot at the opposite regiment as a group but pick out other individual soldiers to target.

Graphics

The graphics are true 3-D, mea