North & South from 1989 was one of my favorite Amiga games. A simple strategy game with small action minigames, I loved to play it against a friend. It was really something special at that time. I even read the comic series after playing the game. Ah, those childhood memories!

The first remake for the PC was called The Bluecoats: North vs South and developed by Little World Studio. It was released in 2013 and was a mobile port of the game from 2012, and unfortunately not the game I have been waiting for. It lacked a local 2-player mode (it only supported 2 players via LAN) and controller support. The visual presentation was nice, though.

Last year The Bluecoats: North vs South was silently removed from Steam, and replaced by this game... called The Bluecoats: North & South. This remake was made by Appeal Studios, and it comes with a local 2 player mode (yea!) and support for gamepads. That's the way to go!

While the strategy game is the same as in 1989 or 2013, the field battles are now far better than in the (touch control optimized) 2013 version, and the minigames (fort attack and train robbery) are completely new. They are now first-person shooter games in split-screen. Nothing too spectacular, but with different maps, ammo and health boxes, AI controlled buddies, melee attacks... not bad. I miss the old platformer minigames from the 1989 version, but the new fps is more evenly matched and also fun.

I noticed that the negative reviews are because the game was only using the French keyboard layout at release. Surprisingly, the French developers actually understood that the whole world (except France) is NOT using this layout and implemented an option to configure the keys - problem solved.

Conclusion:
Playing against the computer (3 difficulty settings) may be a bit boring, but playing against a friend is still a blast - like it was in 1989. Finally a good remake!

"This new version will delight fans of the original game"

Maybe if you hadn't turned the train and fort attacks into a clunky FPS...

UPDATE: Changed to 'recommend' because the latest update addressed my main issue (default keymap was inappropriate for English language keyboards) and the game is now playable with a QWERTY keyboard.

This is a fun little beer & pretzels type game about the US civil war using the cheerful, bulge-nosed characters from the graphic novel series "Les Tuniques Bleus". There is a very simple strategic layer in which armies are moved around a US map, but the heart of the gameplay is a series of fast-paced minigames (specifically, an FPS for raiding trains and attacking forts and a 2D top down battle map in which each player moves one unit type at a time). There are different scenarios representing the different stages of the war.

I find games last 30-60 minutes each. It's not very deep but is good for a quick gaming session.

The control scheme is messed up and no option to change keybinds. A shame. A great game back in the day on the Amiga but now? Not worth it

People who will like game:
Old people who enjoyed the original but aren't too precious
New people who want a quick, fun strategy game based on the American Civil War
People who won't like the game:
Old people who enjoyed the original but are too precious
New People who don't like retro style games with ropey mini games
Thoughts:
I really enjoyed it for 2 hours solo playing through the 4 campaigns (yes they are short) but there is a 2 player local mode and different difficulties to try. The FPS modes can actually be fun despite the hate. They just haven't been balanced right. They should depend on the size of the armies involved and the player should have the same amount of hits as AI but ability to take over new soldiers when you die. Also it shouldn't be wave based but a full blown battle eg 12 on 12 etc. with more use of the walls and cover.

The game is full of bugs, errors, AI should be improved a lot, keyboard commands are not always comfortable, the map is quite uncomfortable.
But it was my favorite game on the Amiga and that's okay then

UPDATE
After 24 hours of gameplay the thing I find most annoying during the assault on the forts is the lack of footsteps in the enemies and the spawn behind them

Got this from a humble bundle and was feeling nostalgic. Was really expecting something close the original Amiga 500 version but just updated for today. The controls are the most confusing ones that I've ever encountered and everything feels like it was made a decade ago, with no actual play testing or asking if the players would even enjoy playing this game. This is just a really really bad version. The devs should really be ashamed of themselves.

The original was great, this is not. The controls are atrocious, the AI is bad and the user interface is overloaded with bad graphics. Don't buy, don't take for free, just avoid. Would refund if it wasn't from a bundle.

Great game and they fixed the keyboard WASD problem now the game play as expected.

I like the graphics and sound and gameplay.
It feel like i remember the amiga version ( in the big battles ) and in the fort you run arround like an fps game and shoot the enemy and once you killed everyone you win.. it feel like a classic north and south game.

I think this game is better than the "old north vs south" game that they sold a few years ago and that was removed from the shop page to make way for this version.

ps.. I dont quite agree with all the negative reviews the game is good

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The Bluecoats: North & South:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was in the middle of my teen years when the original version of The Bluecoats: North & South game was released for Amiga and Atari St. I still remember the excitement at the gaming shop where I was working on the day the game was actually released. You see, back then in the Francophone world, Les Tuniques Bleues (The Bluecoats) were very well known, and I was (and still am) a massive fan of this iconic comic series (62 comic books published) from the Belgian publisher, Dupuis! On that day, I was working and couldn’t wait to see 5.00 pm so I could go home and play the game on my Commodore Amiga! So, you can imagine my enthusiasm when I was given the opportunity to play the 2020 remake of The Bluecoats: North & South!

The Bluecoats: North & South is a turn-based strategy The Bluecoats: North & South with action and First-Person Shooter elements developed by Appeal Studios and publish by Microids on the 6th of November 2020 on the Steam platform. The game is also available on PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.

The game consists of a campaign mode with four scenarios and a free mode, which you can play solo against the AI or against a friend. After selecting your saving slot, you’ll have to choose who you’ll be fighting for; will it be the Yankees (North) or the Confederate (South)? You’ll also have a few game options settings, such as the level of difficulty (easy, normal or hard) if you play solo. If you like to take control of the battles, have the Mexican and Indians attacks activated as well as the reinforcements and storms. In the campaign mode, you’ll initially only have the first scenario available, and you must win each of the scenarios to unlock the next one.

The game starts with the strategic map, which is the main screen of the game. The map will be divided into 26 territories and will also include five forts, which are linked with a railroad which usually crosses a few territories between each fort. One state, on the right-hand side of the map, will have a lighthouse and on the opposite of the map, you’ll have two states, one with Indians and the other with Mexicans. Depending in which scenario you are playing, both armies will have a certain number of units at the start.

Your main goal is to capture and retain more forts than your opponent. It is the main way to generate money. If you have three forts, the train will pass by each of these forts, and you’ll receive three bags of coins and the start of each turn. You’ll also receive an additional bag of coins if you have a larger number of territories than your opponent. With these bags of coins, you can buy new units and a couple of perks.

Each turn equals a month and the North will always start first! Each unit on the map consists of six infantrymen, three cavalries and one cannon, and you can stack up to three units together. But remember they can only move once per turn. To capture a territory, move one of your units on an enemy state. If there is no enemy unit on that state, you’ll capture it straight away, but if there is an enemy unit, you’ll start a battle.

In these battles, you’ll be using the Q,W,E,A,S,D keys and your mouse or gamepad. Keys Q & E will enable you to switch between the infantry, cavalry and cannon and the other keys to move your units. The right mouse button is used to change the unit’s formations and the left to fire muskets and cannons or swing swords. They are fun, quick combat phases, and tricky as you have to swap from one unit to another to avoid being hit by cannonballs while you are trying to do the same to your opponents.

The fort and train attacks are also very fun and, in this version, you’ll be fighting a mini first-person shooter stage. To trigger the train attack, you must own at least one territory where the railroad will travel between the enemy forts. Then you’ll have up to four minutes to kill all the enemies on the train and reach the locomotive. Do that in time, and you’ll keep the bags of coins. If you defend, its the other way around!

For the fort, if there is an enemy unit in the territory, you’ll activate a battle first, and if you win, you’ll be able to take on the fort. They are a lot of fun to play as you can run around the fort and buildings while killing enemies. There are light-hearted FPS stages, and it’s enjoyable playing against a friend.

Beautiful graphics, the game runs well, and the developers really did an excellent job to keep this version close to the original and add a few improvements. In terms of the controls, I prefer playing with the keyboard and mouse. I had one issue during my playtime, which was a freeze when I tried to buy a unit at the shop while playing the confederate.

Positives:
~~~~~~~

+ Great graphics
+ Faithful to the original with a twist of FPS
+ Campaign and free mode
+ Auto savings
+ Achievements

Negatives:
~~~~~~~~
- Froze once
- Not trading card as yet

The Bluecoats: North & South: It’s fun, easy to get into and true to the original with a twist of FPS.

8/10

Key provided by the developer/publisher for review purposes. Any opinions expressed are entirely my own!

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