Warlords Battlecry II

"My Power Unfolds" This Game's a Keeper."

Warlords Battlecry II is a long and rewarding game, even for one with standards as high as mine. it Offers many elements of gameplay epic challenges, making it the first Strategy War Game I've kept and enjoyed since Battle Realms. In the following I will attempt to do it justice and describe it as fairly as possible.

While there is no true story to the game, it is much like Warcraft III in respect to the fact that gold must be mined (along with three other resources) and massive armies can be built. The Max number of units allowed grows as your main tower or keep is upgraded, as far as level 5, and a diverse and interesting number of buildings can be created, as well as a number of new and interesting units, as the main structure is upgraded. There are heroes as well, and they grow in experience as battles are won, this is perhaps the most addictive and rewarding aspect to multiplayer combat. Unlike in Warcraft 3, Warlords Battlecry 2 offers many classes and great flexibility with hero units, allowing one to select from 12 different races, select from over 30 portraits, train as four different classes including the Warrior, Rogue, Mage, or Priest, and you may also master one of 21 powerful subclasses, extensions of one's original class. Heroes may range from a humble merchant (who can afford almost any unit) to an unstoppable Death knight(who can slay titans), a simple (but powerful) Barbarian Fighter to an incredible and mystical Archmage Wizard with 10 powerful schools of magic to be mastered. With all this said, I will now cover the basics of the games quality.

Gameplay: 9 of 10 - The gameplay of Warlords Battlecry II is rewarding and innovative, offering many modes of gameplay amd am addictive Campaign mode with over 70 realms to conquer. Even once a Campaign is completed one may still encounter duels and uprisings when checking the map of Etheria to view one's realm, and the gathered Tributes from one Campaign can be carried over into the next, including the powerful prize, the Orb of Etheria. Other tributes taken from the land itself, such as income +3 and Improved dragons, can be re-won with the new and improved power gained from previous campaigns.

Story: 2 of 10: There is no true story to this game, and if that's what you buy it for then you'll be dissatisfied. The main idea of this game is that you're a great leader or warlord, and you want to rule the entire land or at least most of it, gain powerful items, grow very wealthy, destroy everything, own everything, become very skilled at trade or assassination, or become a god of some kind. These are simply personal objectives you may gain while playing, as there is no story to base it around.

Replay Value: 9 of 10 - With over 20 classes to choose from, and such a customizable stats system, Heroes make this game worth playing again and again, simply to try a different class or race. Most will find that it's fun to have two characters of each race in single player mode, and two fighters and two mages in multiplayer mode. The game only gets old after hours of gameplay on campaign mode, and multiplayer mode never gets old. The progress one can make is near limitless, and units can be kept from one battle to the next so it's fun to train elite units of your favorite class. Quests can be played and replayed for items and power, and the spell book and stats screen provides great flexibility with any race.

Graphics: 7 of 10 - While there is nothing too spectacular about the graphics, there are rather rewarding cinemas, very detailed pictures, and fairly well detailed landscapes. Each unit has it's own unique animations, each race has a distinctive hero model, and most of the units are pretty detailed and well animated for a strategy war game. The game isn't a system hog and most computers will run it fairly well even in fast mode, which is a plus, but the Graphics are pretty good for the type of game it is.

Sound: 5 of 10 - Each unite has something to say it seems, and the sound often sets the mood for the type of army you're building. If you choose to create an army of demons, not only will they look evil but they will sound evil as well. The music isn't too great, but it can fit the environment at times. The best part about the sound is hearing unites die, the crushing and screaming may not be too realistic, but the moans and roars are fairly interesting.

Multiplayer Value: 10 of 10 - While the single player game is very good, multiplayer games can be far more intense and rewarding. Even on Ironman Mode the computer is limited in some ways, but fighting another human being is very chaotic, you never know what to expect. Alliances and clans make gameplay interesting, and some clans are hero race/class exclusive. In games players can work together, sharing resources and defending each others forts. Sometimes one will mine and give the some of the earnings to an allie in exchange for protection and a massive army, other times teams will divide and conquer, and sometimes produce endless waves by taking turns in their attacks. While the weak soldiers are good to soften the enemy, unlike Warcraft 3 stronger units are often required to counter the winged hoards of bats and destroy the towers.

Game Value: 10 of 10 - This is a truly great game. If you're any fan at all of strategy and war games you will love it. It's on the PC, and can't be rented, but believe me it's worth every last cent to buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/11/02, Updated 08/11/02