Don't call yourself a strategy gamer if you've never played this game!
The premise of the game is quite simple enough. Your father died in the hands of a huge orcan army and you are now in charge of the backward town of Aladda. Your father's dying wish was to sit your arse on the throne of Tradela. Piece of cake as I scanned at the known world map and it looks small enough for me to knock this game off and maybe learn a few tips on the way. Approximately 12 plus cities dotted the landscape with mountains, rivers and whatever else. I can even see Tetrada as it's only a boat across a small inlet from my backward town of Aladda...
Thirty plus hours of game play and finally sat down in Tetrada! Rule number one: Small maps does not mean short game play. There are plenty of activities to do ranging from macro-managing towns like keeping morale up, taxes down, developments, fortifications (for those pesky orcan invasion and the occasional giants), recruitments and attrition. Then it comes to managing your armies, diplomacy and exploration: What cities to conquer or maintain? Should you take up a vassal? Do you trust your allies? What army to buy and equip? And there is battle tactics: Placement of armies; what tactics to employ? What spells to use? Who is the best commander for the job? And damn there are no boats!!! There goes that ferry trip to Tetrada.
Considering that you are the next heir of the throne, in the beginning there are five main characters to choose from. They are the fighter, knight, priest, ranger and mage. Depending on the hero you choose will determine the actual game play. For example, a fighter will attract infantry (and conversely cheap to buy) whilst say a ranger will attract bowmen. Of course any hero can grab any types of soldiers but there is one big issue...hardcore cash; and without cash means the end (unless you die first).
There are definitely more than a handful of critters to encounter. You have your orcs and giants however special guest appearance can be other heroes, demons and what's a fantasy setting without the dragon. So rule number two: be prepared.
The highlight of this game is the options you have on the battlefield. SSI are known for detailed simulation and the battles in Sword of Aragon are turned-based so be prepared as some can take beyond the half hour mark. Several of the choices you can make are employing troops (bowmen cannot see through trees regardless of what you have read), elevation, terrain and of course tactics. So for a person with a tactical mind, this is your ‘castle in the sky’.
Considering the amount of effort placed in tactical simulation something has to give way. In this case it's the graphics and sounds. Again SSI is not the master in these departments. In saying that, the graphics even though it's not cutting edge you can still recognise what they represent (well most of the time anyway). Sound wise is a shocker. The opening page has a very short musical score (if you can call it that) and that's it so expect lots of blips and buzz. So rule number three: the good will come with the bad.
Overall being a typical SSI game, strategically and tactically the game is superior, even for it's time. There are lots of choices to be made and a high replay value equal long game play. However being a typical SSI game, don't expect 7.1 surround sounds or super graphics. If you are willing to make this trade-off then you will have some serious fun. And for me, time to move on to Shogun Total War. I've learned enough.