Disciples: Sacred Lands

"Very nice fantasy-strategy game"

This is my first review here, so forgive me if I do anything wrong.

To begin with: This game has appealed me, since i first saw some screenshots and played the demo! For it's time it had pretty good graphics. The thing that i found the most captivating from this game were the drawn pictures. I found them really atractive.

An original feature of this game is the way to develop your army. In other games you would buy more expensive and better units as you progressed. In this game, you'll buy, for example, a wyvern. When it has aquired enough experience in combat it will upgrade to a doomdrake. When the doomdrake has aquired enough xp it will upgrade to the powerfull deathdragon. I like this system, cause this way an opponent with much gold doesn't always has the more powerfull troops.

Different factions:

Empire: their god is the Highfather. His servents are (mostly) human and formed a nation called Empire. Their god cast one of his angels (Brethrezen) out of heaven, because that angel misused his gift. That angel created the faction Legions of the Damned and these two factions have been sworn enemies since.

Mountain Clans: their god is Wotan. His minions are the dwarfs. They live high in the mountains (duh!). Wotan has battled two other gods: Gallean and Mortis. These two were lovers, but Gallean and Wotan fought each other and Wotan tore Galleans heart out and cast it into the sun (bloody!). Mortis tried to retrieve the heart, but failed and lost her divine flesh in her attempt to retrieve the heart. Wotan and Mortis have been enemies since.

Legions of the Damned: Brethrezen, the outcast angel, and his companions had made an devilish army. Brethrezen was locked up by the Highfather and now he almost has broken free. His goal is to crush the Empire and to revenge his pains.

Undead Hordes: once there was an ancient civilization called the ''Alkmaar''. They were accomplished magicians. When Mortis lost here husband and her flesh, she went to this race and killed them. Then she revived their bodies and she now uses them to wreck havoc on the Mountain Clans.

To become more precise:

Graphics (9/10):

The ingame graphics are pretty OK, the intro movie was nothing to get excited about, but, like i said, the drawn pictures are perfect! Just take a look at some screenshots of this game to know what i talk about! Every unit has it's own drawn picture and that makes up for the other graphics. If you're into fantasy i'm sure you like them.

Sound (7/10):

Pretty ok, in my opinion. Nothing special (that i remember), but nothing irritating too.

Gameplay (8/10):

Great! Works very good. Has a decent enough story. Captivating sphere.

Overall (8/10):

Very, very nice game. Using the different strategies of the different factions (four in total: Empire, Undead, Mountain Clans (a dwarf nation) and the Legions of the Damned (hellish hordes types) you'll have much replayability. To bad that there are not so many maps with the game, altough there are more given with the Gold Edition and you can download and make more (check this fansite: www.danval.net).

Conclusion:

Very nice game. Although it's a few years old now i recently buyed the Gold Edition and i must atmit i like it very much. If you're a fantasy gamer and you like turnbased strategy, you'll certainly like this game!
Also check part two: Disciples II: Dark Prophecy.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/21/02, Updated 10/21/02