After playing for two days I have already found a number of problems with the game.
Number one, after playing Carter in campaign mode it seems that no matter who my next opponents were, the newspapers always showed Carter's name And "Carter's Campaign" whenever referencing my current opponent.
Number two, it gets on my nerves to have to type my name in over and over again. Either the game isn't saving what I am typing or Pat Smith, whoever that is, is sneaking into my room and playing them game when I'm not looking.
Number three, and I've covered this is another thread. The difficulty level seems to have jumped in campaign mode because on Beginner I was able to win pretty comfortably and now I am down in 49 states by 5 points or more by the time week 15 rolls around. Yeah, Al Gore is on the 2nd level on the ladder, but I didn't expect the change in difficulty to be THIS dramatic. Once I quit the game and restarted it Al Gore started out with a political operative (the definer) and was able to get 3 campaign headquarters up (something I can't do on my stamina) before I even decided what state to go in first.
There has to be a way to adjust the difficulty level during the game, and the difficulty level of a campaign should be adjustable in between games and SAVED for future reference.
Number four, there are too few opportunites to use the national media. In any given game over a 41 week period I don't see the camera icon popup more than twice total. What was the point in making 7 different media outlets if you can't go on more than two in a campaign anyway - and its usually the same ones (I've gone on 60 seconds, joeuser.com, and hardhitter, they are the only ones that constantly keep popping up. In all the games I've played I think I also saw the Omalley Scenario once)?
Number five, you cannot save during a campaign. Even the crappiest of games from the early 90's let you at least save your progress. This is just pitiful.
Number six, it seems like you have to play 20 campaigns before you can get to some of the characters like Reagan. After 20 ordinary campaigns I think one would be bored enough not to really care about the hidden characters by that time. The only thing that keeps this game exciting is the randomization features in fantasy scenarios, and I'll be damned if I have to play 20 ordinary campaign before I can play one as Reagan.
Number seven, I can't get online to work. There just aren't any games. Maybe its cause I'm on 1.0.0 but still, I hope this game sold well enough to at least have a game or two out there.
I think that's it for now. It really looks like this game was rushed out the door before it was ready. Things like lacking a save feature and lack of being able to adjust difficulty level at times is just a damn shame. Not saving the player's name is also a major oversight and something all games that I've played do (at least those that let you type in your name). The game is really good once you're in it and after playing a few standard campaigns and a few fantasy ones I think it has at least maybe two months of replay value in it (which is more than I can say about some games), but these glitches I've outlined above really keep me from calling it a must have - even for political junkies.
