Before they gave us STALKER, they made a cult RTS. Cossacks sparks a real explosion of nostalgia today

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These games often appear quite alike. Generally, they involve establishing a base, gathering resources, and then either strategically defeating your opponent or winning through sheer force with a large army. Sometimes, campaigns also include specific goals to accomplish.

That’s why it was always thrilling to see developers try different approaches. Games like Original War, Kingdom Under Fire, and Warcraft 3 blended in role-playing elements. Others, such as Sudden Strike and Blitzkrieg, streamlined the experience by skipping base construction and emphasizing strategic attacks. Released in 2001, Cossacks: European Wars built on the foundation of games like Age of Empires, but truly stood out with its massive scope and immersive feel. While not perfect, the game’s strengths ultimately made it a success.

With fire and sword

The Ukrainian GSC launched their game at the perfect time. People were still very enthusiastic about real-time strategy games, and the genre was poised for significant growth – the major successes like Dawn of War, Company of Heroes, Warcraft 3, and Starcraft 2 hadn’t yet defined the landscape.

The game Cossacks transported players to the battlefields of the late 1600s and early 1700s. The original game offered four campaigns – including one focused on Russia and another in the Caribbean – alongside numerous individual scenarios, smaller battles, and multiplayer options. The Art of War expansion added a complete campaign where players took on the role of a Polish nobleman and hussar. Surprisingly, despite not being heavily focused on story or role-playing, the game occasionally allowed players to make choices in conversations. This small feature added to the game’s interactivity and enjoyment, and felt particularly impressive when the game was first released at the turn of the millennium.

War games

The original Cossacks plays like a classic real-time strategy game, but it quickly reveals some interesting differences. You’ll build and defend your base, manage your villagers – making sure they have enough food to survive – and gather resources to create an army. I particularly enjoyed the detailed resource management, which added a layer of challenge and made you consider your spending carefully. Thankfully, you never completely ran out of resources, which kept things manageable.

Inspired by the game Age of Empires, we added a system that allowed players to advance through technological eras. Once certain goals were met, players could jump from 17th-century technology to 18th-century technology, opening up new units and strategic options.

While not as intricate as games like Settlers or as feature-rich as Age of Empires, this game was still captivating. The ‘fog of war’ was initially frustrating. Before unlocking the scouting technology, the fog would reappear whenever you moved your view, forcing you to memorize the map. The scouting tech itself, though, made the game a bit too easy by revealing the entire map and enemy positions permanently, effectively removing the challenge of exploration. For a short time, scouting was helpful, but ultimately it wasn’t a long-term solution.

The most exciting battles were those with massive armies – not just dozens or hundreds of units, but thousands. Similar to the scale of the Total War games, these battles were often chaotic. While we tried adjusting the game speed, it didn’t really fix the problem. The action could become overwhelming, with troops frequently attacking on their own or sometimes freezing up. Usually, the first thing our soldiers did when they saw the enemy was open fire.

Keeping everything under control required quick thinking, especially when organizing your soldiers – which was actually quite enjoyable. The enemy AI was unforgiving; even a small mistake could severely punish your troops. Successfully utilizing each soldier type and formation was crucial, but despite your best efforts, the battlefield remained chaotic.

The battles felt surprisingly realistic, capturing the unpredictable and chaotic nature of historical warfare. That is, if you don’t focus on things like how quickly soldiers reloaded their guns! While cavalry struggled against infantry, seeing a 2D charge of hussars was still visually impressive, reminiscent of games like Age of Empires, Metal Fatigue, or Starcraft. The units looked historically appropriate overall, even though gameplay considerations sometimes took precedence over complete accuracy.

Colors of war

Let’s talk about how the game looks. Even now, it still holds up surprisingly well. You can definitely see it’s an older game with pixelated graphics and simplified terrain, typical for a real-time strategy game, but it’s not distracting. The units move smoothly, the buildings have good detail, and the overall color scheme is warm and reminds me of The Settlers. However, that art style doesn’t quite match the brutal setting of 17th-century warfare. Still, it has a certain classic quality! The music was great then, and it remains good today – RTS games have always been known for their strong soundtracks.

How to play Cossacks: European Wars today?

The game is currently running smoothly and is easy to play on modern Windows PCs. You can find Cossacks in the Anthology edition for a low price – the base game is around $4.99 on Steam, and the Anthology is $5.99 on GOG. No modifications or extra downloads are needed; simply purchase and enjoy!

If you’re looking for a good experience, consider Cossacks 2, which improved the gameplay and made it run more smoothly. The third game is also worth a try, although some players found it too similar to the original. Even if it wasn’t very original, it’s a reminder of how enjoyable a classic real-time strategy game can be, even with its imperfections. It’s particularly great when an RTS feels comfortable and familiar.

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2025-11-24 01:04