Warlords Battlecry II

"Nothing Short Of Perfection"

Warlords Battlecry II is one of those rare games that seems to suck you in whenever you pop in the CD. Hours seem to fly by when engaging in epic struggles for world domination. But I'm getting ahead of myself and not really discussing the bread and butter of the game. Let's begin shall we?

General Overview: Warlords is an RTS, or real-time strategy game. You build buildings and train soldiers in order to conquer enemy territories. Your eventual goal is to conquer the entire continent of Etheria. This will be no easy task, as hoards of enemy armies will oppose you at every step.

Features: Warlords has many innovative and interesting features that will satisfy anyone. For starters, there are twelve different races that you may choose to play, from the barbaric minotaurs, to the sinister undead, and even vile daemons, there is a race for everyone. The game also features a hero system similar to Warcraft III. However, unlike Warcraft III, you spend more time buffing up your troops than training your hero. Your hero is still quite powerful, no doubt about that, but he is not a necessity to win like in Warcraft III. There are over 100 different spells with twelve different types, ranging from pyromancy to nature. There are 24 different jobs that your hero can learn with many unique skills to customize to your liking. Over 100 unique troops and scores of diffrent building structures for each race. The game also features a skirmish mode, a map editor, and multiplayer capabilities so I reiterate, there is something for everyone here.

Gameplay: Ah yes, not since Diablo 2 have I been so absorbed in a game. It is quite long, but never seems tedious. You choose any adjacent map to conquer and set off to destroy enemy troops there. Think of it like the board game Risk in a sense. There are four different resources you use to build troops and buildings, but you do not need to send lowly peasants any longer to gather them for you. Your hero can convert resource mines to his side and they will automatically start filling up on their own. You can even convert mines and buildings owned by the enemy! But ware, your foes can do the same thing to you. There are four different modes of difficulty, each with great rewards at the end. I won't say what though, you'll have to play through and find out yourself. Did I mention that you can gain powerful generals to your side as well? These generals are great, as they are extremely powerful, can convert buildings, and the best part is you can save them and use them for upcoming battles, providing they survive the current one of course. Not only does your hero gain levels, but your generals and troops gain levels as well, making them even tougher. Plus, most maps are randomly generated, so each playthrough is different.

Replayability: With 12 races, 67 countries to conquer, random maps, skirmish mode, and the 6 ancient artifact sets to find that add great power to your hero, this is one game that will not loose its charm so easily.

Buy or Rent?: Well, obviously, you can't rent PC games, but if you are a fan of swords and sorcery games and like a little strategy instead of mindless hack and slash, I suggest you give this little gem a try. At $10, you can't go wrong.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/28/04