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Platform: PC Genre: Strategy Publisher: Sierra Entertainment Developer: Impressions Games ETA: November 2003
Related Links: Review: Shogun: Total War (PC) Review: WarCraft III: Frozen Throne (PC)
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Lords
of the Realm III
Lords
of the Realm II, now over six years old, was a sleeper hit of sorts.
There was quite a bit of noise at the time, certainly, and some warm to
hot reviews, but the game never really made the hit list. It did pick up
a huge following, though, and became something of a classic in
retrospect. Where Lords had been a resource management game, Lords II introduced some action elements which, despite initial misgivings, were well received if not always well implemented. Lords III is going the whole hog, and will feature battles in real time, with hundreds of on screen units, full scale sieges with a variety of weapons of war, and lots and lots of castles. Yes, there’ll be a nice healthy share of strategy, too, but it certainly looks as if Lords III is taking steps to distance itself from micromanagement; ‘The peasantry feeds itself, taking care of its own needs, only bothering their Lord or Lady when special circumstances necessitate it.’ Which is, of course, as it should be. Pesky peasants. As a Lord, I presume that |
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it remains your primary responsibility to have feasts, eat
minus the inconvenience of cutlery, watch people get executed for sport,
and leer lecherously at whatever buxom and black toothed wench passes
for a maiden in 1264. And also, of course, to acquire land. Land is the
be all and end all of the feudal era, and Lords
III is a game of conquest. Back in the day, a game like Lords of the Realm would probably have been compared to Civilization and its ilk, but it seems likely that the arc of Lords III passes most closely to Total War – perhaps it was the success |
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of that excellent series which
spurned the revival of Lords III;
six years, after all, is a long hiatus in gaming. Graphically, there are
similarities, but the game bears a more superficial resemblance to the
Age of Empires series, with its high definition environments, fine
detail, and deep colours. I say superficial, of course, because Lords of
the Realm III promises a full 3D engine and those gorgeous castles are
rendered, not merely painted and, presumably, can get broke good and
proper with some of the neat siege toys we’ll be getting for
Christmas. From
the pre-release blurb, it definitely looks as if there’s a strong
emphasis on real places, real weapons, and realistic castle designs. A
lot of very real history has been dug up, and the team have been trying
to figure out what worked where on the genuine battlefields of the
middle ages. There’s a bit of guesswork that will need to be done here
and there, but as long as the scales come down on the side of gameplay,
I don’t see anyone complaining.
Lords
III is reaching the end of the development stages now, and
undergoing some final game balancing changes. To quote designer David
Cook ‘Our initial tests
with ballistae showed we had invented medieval laser beams of death.’
I almost hope they decide to keep those in, as a bonus feature…
although, to be honest,
any game which lets you pour boiling oil over the top of a castle wall
is placing itself at an immediate advantage to the competition. Watch
this space. System Requirements: TBA. Probably 1Ghz+ with a decent 3D card. Lords II ran on basically anything that wasn’t a 486, and even some machines that were, which kind of goes to show where six years in the computer market will take you… - Matt BLB August 24, 2003 |
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