It needs some work, but it is still a well-made indie game.

User Rating: 7.5 | Iron Grip: Warlord PC
It was only recently when I began to take an interest in what Independent developers had to offer. I almost made a terrible mistake by first trying Tale of Tale's 'The Graveyard' because that game had so little to offer that I would have just about given up if I did not try their other game 'The Path'. After being intrigiued by that particular game, I looked at other stuff like the shallow yet addictive 'Guns of Icarus' and then this game. Although IG:W still needs some things fixed, it does show plenty of promise.

If you want to know the story, look on wikipedia or the developers website, because I will not be talking about that. All I'll say is that the objectives are mainly for you to defend your stronghold in a city you choose against a certain faction. Now, I'll explain things in more detail.

GAMEPLAY 9/10: This is the most important thing about this game. It combines FPS and RTS gameplay and it does this extremely well. It does not feel like the two genres are just combined to attract more people. They are really neccessary in this game. You play in FPS modes to fight your invading foes, but change into RTS when you want to buy weapons/upgrades and set up defense perimeters and traps like turrets and supply spots. The best bit about this is that if you set up well, then you will not even need to take part and can simply observe the carnage your MG posts and turrets inflict on the advancing battalions. Energy, which is earned permanently throughout but expands more by killing foes, serves as the currency in this game. All these things combined together make the action addictive and replayable.

GRAPHICS: 5/10: This is the weakest point in my opinion, and even though the animation is good and the visual's lack of detail makes the system requirements low, I still feel that they could have been better. Probably because the game uses the old ID tech 3 engine (meant for Quake 3) it was simply not meant to be eye candy. However, because I saw pretty good graphics in other indie games like 'Dogfighter' and amazing visuals like in 'The Path' I thought these developers will at least try, but unfortunately not. Luckily, it does not stop the experience from being enjoyable, but I still think it would have been better if the developers put a bit more work. You'll see worse, but you definitely will see better.

SOUND 7/10: There is not much I can say for the sounds. The ambient and battles are a treat for the ears. The guns give you just the right feeling and the explosions are believable so nothing I would complain about there. The music is pretty decent, although nothing special and it could have been better.

So overall, the game is a solid achievement at innovation in gaming. The game still needs a bit of work in music and graphics, but otherwise this is well worth it's US$10 on steam. Despite all misses, Isotx is showing some promise and hopefully this game will inspire other developers to try this new procedure in future.