Lords of the Realm III

"A great game, especially for the price!"

A great game, Lords of the Realm III is held back by its lack of advertisement and the fact that many people seem to dislike changing from Lords of the Realm II. However, being released at $19.99 will help, and it’s a good, solid game with few flaws to hold it back. On with the review:

Graphics: 7/10
The graphics of the game seem to be well drawn. Admittedly, they aren’t top-of-the-line, but they have about the detail you would expect from an RTS. The strategic level consists of a map, and soldiers to represent armies. The map itself is fairly detailed, with houses and farmland appearing as the land is improved, but a more 3D look would’ve improved this part of the game. On the battle level, the graphics definitely could have been improved. The characters, when zoomed in, have the look of being drawn for the Sega Saturn; unless you’re playing on full zoom, however (which I wouldn’t recommend), you most likely won’t notice this at all. The maps themselves in battle are well drawn, with good texturing for the trees and castles. Summing up: these aren’t groundbreaking graphics in the strategy industry, but they do the job well enough.

Sound: 8/10
Sound really isn’t a huge issue, at least in my opinion, in strategy games, however this game did impress me; listening to some of the unique voices of the knights giving orders can be a funny at times. Battle sounds are good, but standard, with all the battle cries, grunts, and weapon clashing you would expect from a medieval war game. The music fit the theme, but seemed to lacking; however, usually you’ll be so busy telling your cavalry who to charge next that you won’t even notice it.

Control: 9/10
The controls of the game are fairly simple, with all of your management as well as battling being done on a point-and-click, drag-and-drop basis. The controls are generally easy to learn, and are presented in an in-game tutorial which teaches them well enough.

Gameplay: 10/10
Here’s where Lords of the Realm III really shines! For those of you who remember Lords of the Realm II, this is completely different. This game is based on army maneuvering and battle. Something here, which you generally don’t see in a lot of RTS games, is the lack of micromanagement; the only management you do is assigning ‘vassals’ to pieces of land. These vassals then provide you with your gold, your armies, food to feed them., etc. Once that’s done, you begin the task of maneuvering your newly raised armies in conquests for more land, which will in turn make more armies. Here’s the catch: everything happens at once! While you’re managing a siege in one territory, your other armies (and those of your enemies) are all moving and fighting, so you can’t just be sitting around in a battle for an hour; most battles, however resolve fairly quickly, allowing you to continue on to the next battle or go back to the view of your kingdom. All of this moving in and out of battle is done through a multi-level interface; this means that you can jump to a battle, then leave and let the computer take over while you jump back to your kingdom and find another battle to check on. The frosting on the cake is the diplomacy feature, which allows you to form alliances, declare crusades, etc.
Replayability: 8/10
This game will keep you entertained for quite awhile with all of the campaigns available. And if you get bored of those, there’s the multiplayer option which lets you go head-to-head with up to 7 other people online.

Overall: 8/10
This game could have been a true contender in the industry with a bit more graphics work and a good soundtrack, but even as it is the game is great. And factor in its cost of only $19.99, and you have a great game that will provide hours of fun, but won’t set you back much! I would definitely recommend buying this game!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/19/04