"A Well-Made Strategy Game"

Preface

Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX is the most recent installment of Koei's now long running series that spans over several different platforms. The basic premise behind the game is to bring one particular faction to unify the country of China during the turbulent Three Kingdoms Era of the late 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. How well a ruler can manage the military and domestic affairs of his kingdom will determine his success or failures.

Gameplay

Over the course of the series, the game has made several dramatic shifts in gameplay, and the ninth edition is no exception. In this case, the designers have decided to return to the more top-down approach of Romance 2-6. Instead of controlling single character in a particular kingdom of disunited China (as was the style in the 7th and 8th installments), the player is in charge of an entire faction and all its armies and officers. As a result, gone are the options to swear brotherhood with another officer, assassinate a sworn enemy, or take a woman to be your character's wife. At the same time, however, a great deal can be said to the value of the increased emphasis on military strategy. One of the most improved arenas here is the move towards a less rigid system of diplomacy. No longer are there ironclad alliances between factions, but rather a more flexible system of relations that describe your status with another ruler on a scale from ''trusted'' to ''hostile.'' The system of coalitions against a powerful (or hated) ruler from Romance 8 remains in this installment, but without the rigid obligations to send x amount of units every time a battle breaks out.

Almost all gameplay takes place on an overview map that can be moved to follow a particular army as it moves across the land or to whisk around your empire to give orders to different cities. Control of a faction is split into two parts: a strategy phase and an action phase. The player gives orders to an officer in the former, and in the latter, these are carried out in real time. This adds an interesting aspect of human resource management, since an officer can only be in once place at one time, and it takes time to send him elsewhere and even longer for him to move with an army.

Battles take place on the same map, and are primarily determined by the formation you put your men into and the tactics you assign to their officers. Using the proper tactics with the proper formations allow for their greater effectiveness, and sending the proper officers allows for powerful chain tactics that can be very effective. A variety of siege weapons are also available to help conquer even the most strongly defended city. A final interesting aspect to note is the ability to construct different outposts, camps, or barricades between cities. Correct use of these facilities can help set powerful staging grounds for assaults on enemy cities.

Overall, the gameplay has changed dramatically from the two most recent prior installments, but at the same time the designers have added a great deal of depth and new features. Although some players might miss the ability to play as a single character, most people who have played the earlier instances of the series certainly won't be disappointed; nor will anyone who enjoyed the strategic elements of 7 or 8.

Graphics

To be blunt, the graphics stink, but at least they don't detract from the overall goal the designers had for the game. For the most part, it seems as though the developers had little more than functionality in mind during production. There is relatively little detail in armies moving between cities and little too on the towns themselves. The only time this becomes a problem in playing, however, is when more than 3 armies are engaging each other in the field, because it is almost impossible to distinguish one army from another once they are thoroughly overlapped. This problem is even worse when the armies are engaged around a city, but since you don't actually issue orders in real time, it does not detract too much from the game. One real disappointment for me, however, was the job they did on some of the character portraits, which have actually decreased in size from Romance 8. Also, although it is an exceedingly small point, I really feel like they have ruined Sima Yi's portrait in this installment. Overall, however, most people who like strategy games won't be turned off by the graphics, as the gameplay thoroughly outshines them; but it is also important to remember this game is certainly no Halo.

Sound

Romance IX probably has the best musical score of any game I have ever played. All the music is done by a large orchestral arrangement and suits the game very well, without being overly repetitive. As for sound effects, well, they are pretty standard and certainly nothing amazing, but they do the job. Overall though, this is one of the game's strongest points.

Difficulty and Replay Value

For someone who has never played a game in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, picking up and playing this game can be somewhat challenging. Although there is an in game tutorial (and actually a very well done one at that), strategy games of this depth can take a while with which to become completely comfortable. The fact that many of the names and places in the game are very likely unknown to a western audience only serves to compound this problem. Outside of these constraints, the AI in the game is actually quite impressive in my experience and provides a real challenge, especially when playing as a less powerful faction.

Since there are a variety of different scenarios to choose from (including some challenge and ''what if'' selections), anyone who likes the game will probably not run out of options until the tenth installment comes out next year. On top of this there are a plenty of hidden characters and items to unlock, as well as several movies that are played out if the player meets specific conditions. All told, Romance IX has very strong replay value.

Concluding Remark

In the end, I would give Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX an 8.5/10, but, since I am limited to an integral scale, I have to go with an 8. The overall gameplay is quite strong and certainly the series has come a long way, but it still isn't for everybody. I personally would have liked to have seen just a little more effort put into stepping up the graphics and probably would have given the game a 9 if they weren't worse than eight's . And finally, although I like the ''faction only'' control method of this and earlier versions of Romance, I still think something can be said of the ''play as anyone,'' RPG-style approach. There just seems to be something romantic about controlling a single officer and interacting with the political and social maelstrom of the Three Kingdoms period that this ninth installment has lost.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/09/04