
The sound, too, is best described as efficient, with the exception of the vocal taunts and phrases that the different units have, which are horrible. It's not exactly an attractive game, but then it's hardly an FPS. The graphics do a good job of conveying information clearly and cleanly, but they are certainly functional rather than pretty. Mixing good and evil-aligned troops in the same army can lead to morale difficulties and combat penalties, though. This can often be important, as you'll get access to their racial benefits in addition to your own. If you take over a city belonging to another race, you'll be able to construct some of their more low level units there, rather than your own. After a mission is complete, you can choose a handful of units (usually high-level heroes) to accompany your warlord to the next game.Įach race has its own selection of troops - six each, counting heroes. You can choose which of their attributes to improve when this happens, and while they won't rival more powerful troops, a level four or six basic unit is a significant improvement over their initial potential. Once you're done with the battle, the victor's troops will gain experience and level up, once they've accumulated enough. Your warlord can also cast certain kinds of spells to affect the progress of the fight.

Some units have healing abilities that will restore some hit points from damaged allies in between rounds, and others have special attacks that cause extra damage to certain types of enemy. Then the losing player picks a replacement unit, and the battle continues until one or other player is out of troops. You each choose a unit to fight, and they duke it out in the middle of the screen until one or the other is killed. Your forces line up on one side of the screen, and the enemy troops are arrayed on the other. Once you're actually in combat, most of the tough decisions have already been made. Much of the strategy in Warlords IV comes from creating effective combinations of units - many troop types have passive bonuses that can greatly improve the potential of the others in the group. Your armies can then roam around the map, attempting to capture enemy (or neutral) cities, exploring ruins, completing quests, or fighting enemy armies that are attempting to do the same thing. The troops can then be organised into armies, which can consist of up to eight different units, or be left to defend your cities in case of attack. Each unit under your control also requires gold payments every turn, so if you build a huge army, you'll end up bankrupt. You can also recruit mercenaries from the groups that will come calling from time to time, or use magic to summon new allies.

They don't cost any resources to build, but more powerful units take more turns to build. These fall broadly into the categories of general combat units, support troops like archers or siege equipment, and heroes. He doesn't move, but can be used as a powerful defender if your capital ever gets attacked.Įach city you own is capable of producing troops. Your warlord starts the game in your capital city, together with some supporting troops. Whereas the Warlords name might be more familiar to today's gamers from the two excellent Warlords Battlecry real-time strategy titles, Warlords IV is a turn-based game, and is very similar in style to the original titles. Warlords do gain experience after battles, though, so a character you've used repeatedly will become more powerful. You can research new spells over the course of a game, although these can't be carried over into new encounters. You can choose his race and major and minor professions - these include various types of magic and combat skills, and can be mixed and matched at will. Your game starts with the creation of your warlord, who is your representation in the game.

She's summoned up a bunch of demons to help her, and is sending troops to raid libraries all round the world for information. Now, another dark elf mage, Aravein, is trying to recast this spell, which if successful will bring the whole world under her control.
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It backfired, killing him and unleashing a torrent of magical energy on the world, in an event that became known as the Sundering. 3,000 years before the game begins, a dark elf noble called Prince Mordaine attempted to cast a new and powerful spell. Like the other games in the series, Warlords IV has quite an in-depth plot.
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Fawkner has obviously decided the world is ready for another turn-based strategy game, so after a five-year hiatus, the series continues with Warlords IV. Created by Steve Fawkner and Australian developer SSG, they were responsible for many bleary-eyed late nights.
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If you think of yourself as a PC gaming old hand, you might remember the Warlords series of turn-based strategy games from the late 90s.
