Romance of the Three Kingdoms III

"An excellent strategy game based in an equally excellent setting, all done by Koei."

Romance of the Three Kingdoms III (RTK III) - A strategy/wargame set in ancient China

Premise / Story - 10/10: The game is based in the famous era San Guo Zhi, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Set in second century China, during a chaotic period of China, at the fall of the Han empire. The young Han emperor is powerless and warlords view for power, ruling their own seperate kingdoms on China and bent on uniting the land.

As time moves on, three rulers rise up above all others:

There is Cao Cao, an ambitious, intelligent, ruthless, and rather paranoid man who becomes master over the vast northern section of China, his lands known as Wei.

Liu Bei, a man who would like nothing more than to restore the Han Dynasty in which he is a member of. He rules the southwestern portion of China, and his lands are called Shu.

Sun Quan, the son of Sun Jian and brother to Sun Ce. He, too, would like to unite China. He holds control over the southern portion of China, the lands of Wu.

Who will prevail? This, you can decide.

Gameplay - 10/10: Koei is always great at making strategy games! You play as one of the many rulers that took part in the era of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and control officers who set out to help you unite China. This game is turn-based, as you govern each city, setting tasks to every officer in the city. These tasks vary from developing economy to training troops to looking for a doctor to heal wounded officers. Each officer has stats like War, which helps in duels, and Politics, which affect development of cities. You can have an advisor in each city than can give you tips and help you in all your endeavours, and those with a 95+ Intelligence are always right. To find more officers to work under you, you must search for them. Battles between opposing armies happens on a battlefield, a sea territory, or a city in a top-down view. Armies clash as little 2D soldier sprites, and when you attack (or are being attacked) little swords appear between opposing armies. You can ally and trade with other kingdoms, and joint attacks on mutual enemies are a possibility. AI is very competent, and can run cities pretty well. You can play a sort of hot-seat multiplayer game.

Graphics - 7/10: The graphics in RTK III are appropriate though not eye candy. Most officer portraits are not unique, but those who are important do have a unique look.

Sound and Music - 9/10: I like the music, I think you will too. Most of the sounds are alright, though not spectacular.

Replayability - 10/10: Replayability in this game is great, no games are ever the same. You never know who in the AI kingdoms will triumph. You can always play as someone else that you find more challenging or unique to play.

Overall Score - 9/10: An excellent game for those who are into strategy.

Lookover Scores:
Premise / Story - 10/10
Gameplay - 10/10
Graphics - 7/10
Sound and Music - 9/10
Replayability - 10/10
Overall Score - 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/21/01, Updated 11/21/01