Best ROT3K Yet!
Imagine a world where heroes are commonplace and honor is matter of every day fact. Imagine a place where generals march with a million soldiers to conquer an enemy on his last legs, but are repulsed by a single brave warrior defending his lord who is retreating with his infant son. Imagine a country where a sorcerer raises the oppressed peasantry in revolt against a corrupt empire while hurling his dark magics against impossible odds.
You will find all of these things in the Chinese history based Romance of the Three Kingdoms saga of games. In this, the eighth game in this series, you take control of a historical officer and fulfill destiny, or create your own officer to throw into the mix and alter history. There are several modes for you to play in which were not available in previous titles, and a few which were. Here, you may play as a ruler, a vassal, the captain of a roaming army, or as a simple free officer.
As a ruler, you have been invested with the responsibility of seeing to the stability of your corner of China. You must make sure it is well developed domestically, well defended militarily, and well thought of diplomatically. Your task is to direct your officers to oversee these tasks for you, while you plan a way to fulfill your ambition. Conqueror enough provinces, you can become a governor. Conquer more, and you can declare yourself an independent kingdom. Will you use the pen and invite other lords into a coalition against a powerful lord, or will you use the sword and conquer him yourself. Allies are important, but only until you don’t need them any longer….
As a vassal, you serve the best interests of your lord. You perform the tasks set out for you by him, or his appointed prefect in order to further his ambitions. If you perform your tasks well, you may be promoted which enables you to command more troops on the battlefield and carries a higher wage. Perform you tasks very well, and you may be given a province of your own as a prefect. If you are intelligent enough, and trusted enough, you may be made your ruler’s warlord, advising him on matters diplomatic, domestic, and militaristic. Should you become dissatisfied, and you think you have the support of your fellow officers; you can plot a coup and seize the reins of power for yourself.
As the leader of a band, you send your roaming army to whatever part of China you wish, acquiring officers, soldiers, and more importantly, wealth as you go. If you are in good standing with the local ruler, he may ask you to involve yourself with an upcoming battle with the promise of a reward should he succeed. Support a ruler if you like, or merely build your power to a sufficient level to seize a free province. If you gather enough power, you may even unseat a local lord and take his province from him.
As a free officer, you may float through life as you wish. Would you like to make friends and acquire new skills and tactics? You can. Do you wish to immediately attach yourself to a lord? That is your option. The question becomes, which kind of lord will you serve? A powerful one who is assured of victory or a weaker lord who needs legitimate officers to succeed? The choice is, you guessed it, yours. As long as you are free, the troubles of China, are of no concern to you.
Your ultimate goal is to unify China under one flag, yours. How you go about this is up to you. The pen of diplomacy or the sword of war? Both are your tools and you must use them both effectively to survive and become the last standing lord.
Now then, let’s discuss game performance. The graphics are not the selling point for this game, or indeed any game in this series. They are dated and they are grainy, but again, you didn’t get to enjoy Romance of the Three Kingdoms by demanding state of the art graphics. I do enjoy the officer portraits, the cityscapes, and the battle fields which all look well done. I also enjoy the slightly washed out tone the colors have which lend it a venerable feel. The music is very nice and soothing within the city, just what a ruler with a difficult decision to make needs to clear his or her mind. In battle, the music becomes tense and dramatic lending a feeling of just how serious the consequences will be if you lose. Game play is much as it has been in prior games, menu driven and not to difficult to figure out. One game play feature that I think sticks out is the battle sequence. I think these are the most realistic of the series and the most enjoyable. You have control of each of your units and you decide the overall strategy of each battle you prosecute. Replay ability is unlimited. Seriously, I don’t think it’s physically possible to have the same game twice.
Enjoy!