
	Platform PC Genre Real-time Strategy Publisher Atari / 1C Developer Ino-Co ESRB T (Teen) Released Q4 2007

- Excellent turn-based strategy design - Good graphics for the genre

- Overly difficult - Poor multiplayer online mode

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Fantasy Wars

Score: 8.0 / 10

If you like your strategy mixed with elves and orcs, this game just might be your calling. Although the story and setup have that all too familiar Tolkien feeling, this game is just engaging enough to get away with it.

This turn-based game is fairly typical of the genre in terms of game play. A standard three dimensional hex map allows the game to unfold in front of you and it’s not often that you need to mess with the camera although you can if you choose to do so. The interface easily shows you context sensitive information as you play, which makes it very easy for you to focus on the moves you need to make to progress.

At your disposal you’ll have orcs, bowmen, calvary, shamans (who wield magic), catapults and more. The occasional aerial unit can be brought in to change up

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things, which is a welcome and interesting addition.

You can take control of more than 70 units and 9 types of unique classes. You’ll participate in castle sieges, village defenses and other related operations. It’s definitely a lot of fun.

The game does get quite difficult early on.

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Even on the easy setting, by around the fourth mission you will find yourself scrambling to do better. If this type of game is of interest to you, however, you will enjoy the challenge and it will definitely keep you coming back for more.

Part of the reason for the difficulty could be the turn limit. If you like to take your time to figure everything out, you might feel somewhat stressed. This does add to the difficulty and might even make you more aggressive than you might otherwise be.

The graphics are decent for this genre, in some cases actually quite pretty. The audio is nothing special but adequate and the voice acting is actually above average.

The included campaigns will keep you busy for a while, but the issues related around multiplayer will definitely limit the replayability of the title. The LAN multiplayer has no matchmaking and it may be difficult to even find someone to play with. This shouldn’t keep you from picking up the title, but it’s fair warning if that is what you are after.

If you are still stuck on the edge of strategy games, hanging on to what you can before delving into the real-time games that seem more popular now – your are going to love this game. For everyone else, it’s above average but not stellar with a few shortcomings. It’s definitely one fantasy worth exploring.

- Syd Bolton

(March 5, 2008)


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