Warlords I

"Only one may rule Illuria..."

This game was a pioneer in its time. Brilliant then, it's still great now.

The premise is very simple. Eight Warlords each want to rule the mystical, yet war-torn land of Illuria. Obviously, only one may do so.

The game starts off simple - a hero arises from each of the castles, of which each warlord controls one. Heroes are not as important as they are in, say, Heroes of Might and Magic. Nonetheless, they're an integral part of the game.

There are eighty cities to conquer. And there are eight warlords. Logic says that, on average, everyone's going to have ten. But of course, it's hard to be satisfied with only ten...

Gameplay: 48/50

The formula is beautiful in its simplicity - you need to conquer cities. Cities build more troops. More troops let you conquer more cities. Of course, each city can only produce certain types of troops, and there's ruins to explore, and other factions to fight.

But, in essence, that's what it boils down to. Troops capture cities, and cities build troops. But, that's not all of the iceberg. Your heroes are the only type of unit that may explore ruins. Ruins are, as the name indicates, ruined buildings, and temples, and the like, which yield quite the number of things.

Some ruins have your hero fight a monster - this is risky, as he may die. But the treasures gained by such endeavour are well-worth it. Then again, some ruins give your hero monster allies. Monsters are immensely powerful, ranging from the wraiths, and wizards, to the mighty and near-invincible dragons.

Furthermore, you may gain items. Each item gives you a bonus to 'command', or to 'battle'. Battle bonuses are applied directly to your hero, making him stronger. Your command bonuses are applied to your troops, making those your hero command more powerful.

In truth, the only real problem with the gameplay is the inequality of the factions - some are much weaker than others, and are simply located in worse areas. For instance, pitting the Sirians against the Orcs of Kor will inevitably end in Korian victory, provided that there aren't any major spates of luck.

But even this is not truly a major problem - you can pick the faction you wish to be, and you may pick the difficulty level of the factions you face. Lord Bane losing in every game? Jack his difficulty rating up to Warlord, and you'll certainly see him slaughter the hapless Knight-ruled nations.

The fact that you can play any faction, change the difficulty rating of different factions without any effect on the rating of the others, and even have a massive eight-player bash is enough to tell us that, on the basis of replay alone, the game is magnificent.

Graphics: 7/10

Although not *good*, as such, the graphics certainly aren't bad. They're certainly not shinyriffic, but I've never had trouble telling two units apart, nor two factions. The graphics in this game are more than acceptable, especially considering it's from 1992.

Sound/Music: NA/10 A brief note here, but my Mac's speakers AND headphone plug are useless - there hasn't been sound coming from that machine for some years. As such, this won't be counted in the final rating.

Replay Value: 20/20

The replay on this game... *swoon*. The replay is endless. Although it may only be the one map, you can play any of the eight factons, have a two-player war, create every faction as a Warlord one, perhaps wait ten turns before you attack.. the capability you have for replay is literally neverending.

Multiplayer: 10/10

The game is seamless in multiplayer, with new players added without issue from the game. Since there is no true diplomacy, there are no complicated switches back from player to player - the game plays as it does with seven computers, albeit with two humans taking their turns.

Overall: 94/100, or 9/10. Warlords is a gem of an offering, and a game that will see future gamers enjoy it, despite the somewhat dated graphics, and the single map. As a wonderful strategy game even today, if you're in possession of an older Mac (heck, even a newer one), I'd advise going and getting this game sometime. It'd certainly be worth your while.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/09/06