Battle Realms

"An excellent RTS game with minute room for improvement..."

Battle Realms, made by Ubi Soft, was released in Fall 2001. It uses old elements which have driven the RTS genre in the past, as well as incorporating new elements, such as 3D sprites in a 3D world. The setting is similar to that of the Medieval Orient, including units such as Archers and Samurai. My brother purchased this game in December 2001, and we've come to find it to be particularly entertaining. Having played games the likes of WarCraft/II, StarCraft/Brood War, Diablo/II, LOM, CNW, RA/2, and TS/Firestorm, we feel confident in giving Battle Realms an 8 out of 10, due to the following factors:

Visual: [+2 Points/Out of 2] The graphics in BR exemplify the pinnacle of game development in the beginning of the 21st century. All units have unique passive/active stances, death sequences, and magic animations. There are also dozens of cinematics between missions, as well.

Audio: [+2 Points/Out of 2] The auditory effects in BR help in settings the RTS genre apart from other gaming genres. There must be literally hundreds, perhaps over a thousand, different audio files packed into the game. Music tracks accompany you for each mission, rainfall produces its own soothing sound effects as it beats against the rice patties on the battlefield. Soldiers run through lakes and forests, splashing through the water and disturbing a nested flock of birds nearby. Battle sequences are marked with dozens of sound effects, as well.

Gameplay: [+2 Points/Out of 2] This is the shining gem of BR, by far. The gameplay is what truly makes the RTS game great, and BR has one of the best gameplay systems I've ever seen. Towns are limited to 20, 30, 40, or 50 units, which start with peasants as the basic staple to all towns. A town only grows as fast as the peasants which build it, and armies are limited to small, confined groups. Hence, this game forces the players to use real strategy, as opposed to those RTS's which give victories to the player who can build the most Tanks and run over a base in 30 seconds, as so many games do today. Another innovation of the BR gameplay is the manner in which soldiers are created. Peasants train in different military facilities, and may even combine their previous training with new training to become entirely new units with a new set of abilities.

Difficulty: [+1 Point/Out of 2] I have a theory about video games having difficulty settings. For example, BR has the settings Easy, Normal, and Hard. I believe Easy should truly be easy, and Hard should be difficult to complete. However, every difficulty setting in BR is moderately difficult to practically impossible to complete. Perhaps the AI could have been less aggressive on the lower difficulty settings.

Replay Value: [+1 Point/Out of 2] Early in the development of this game, Ubi Soft was considering whether they would include a Map Editor with the final version of BR. Somewhere along the line, this idea was dropped. Hence, only maps included with the original copy of the game or distributed through Battle Packs (Service Packs/Updates/Patches) may be used in the Multiplayer area of BR, which, by the way, was done very well compared to other Multiplayer modes I've seen.

Battle Realms: [8 Points/Out of 10] Excellent graphics, great sound, innovative gameplay, slightly too difficult on Easy and Normal difficulties, and lacking a map editor for use in a well-done Multiplayer mode. Currently, BR can be found in Retail Stores for about $50. For those who have never played a RTS game before, I wouldn't recommend you start with this game. The same applies for those who don't care for RTS games. BR is a RTS game, and there isn't anything in here along the line of a FPS. However, I'd definitely recommend it for those who enjoy RTS games. It'd make a nice addition to your game collection.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/28/01, Updated 12/28/01