A trip back to the old school RTS formula with a few fresh ideas in the mix.
To cut things short, this game is another Warrior Kings game, meaning if you played it you already know whether to hate it and move on or love it and buy this as well. But for those who might be just casually looking then read on. Warrior Kings: Battles (or WKB from now on) is the 2003 sequel to the 2002 Warrior Kings real-time strategy game for the PC (well duh) so the first thing going through your mind is how does it stack up given it being many years old? Personally, it's good and rationally still good, as the base management is less than conventional while still retaining much of that to.
The game takes 100 years after the events in the first Warrior Kings and being an RTS the story is less than most games and is barely mentioned that there were even events before those in WKB. The plot unfolds in the world of Orbis, which is basically a heavily fictionalised Europe… and that is an understatement. In the campaign you take the role of a general from Angland (my spell checker is quick to tell me a spelt you know what wrong) in order to reunite the Empire of Orbis that has fragmented after the thrown was usurped by a Duke Ignis Hagens. And that's all you get, there are no cut scenes (except for the battle hungry opening cut scene) or dialogue exchanges, but only the voice of an unknown narrator who may or may not be the guy who does voice-overs for UK trailers. He acts more as an adviser *cough*tutorial*cough* to your military campaign and he serves it up in an acceptable dosage and buggers off ASAP! Now of course you'd think what's the point of playing the campaign without any substance? Better yet why play if all you do each mission is just to destroy the enemy's base? Well let me explain this as I go into the gameplay as each mission is a real challenge and doesn't play out the same each time, plus each has a general with a heap of backstory if you're willing to read it all and it has non-linear Risk style map structure where certain provinces provide certain bonuses next game. Its been done before and since then but hey its a good formula still... just don't expect the Total War experience here.
While the basic RTS mechanic of build base an harvest the usual suspects of food, gold, wood and the non-conformitist fourth resource that actually conforms given that it's a noticeable trend in the RTS genre (in WKB's case it's basically mana but called otherwise depending on your faction). The difference here is you don't get to you the resource once you've farmed it, no first you drop it off at the nearest village, which is then transported by cart to your main base, only then is it usable. Now this might seem like a bit of a chore to get your armies up and running… and I won't lie to you, it is BUT its still fun as the enhanced realism of it all makes your development, along with another gameplay aspect I will explain in the next paragraph, once you get to the warpath stage you feel a great sense of achievement as opposed to the simple assembly line of troops. This of course turns up the challenge and that's not mentioning the food consumption and most buildings requiring to be built by your starting main base. This is a hardcore gamer's game to be blunt so if you're more casual then you're now asking me why I didn't highlight this earlier like I did with the original Warrior Kings fans? Mostly because I'm writing as I go along like many reviews to be honest and so you don't feel to robbed I'll recommend you buy one of the mainstream titles and play it on the easiest difficulty (no that's not an insult so don't be offended but you should know that most hardcore gamers don't like you).
Anyway back to the review. The much advertised point of this game is the fact there are no default factions. Everyone starts as a basic peasant like community and through construction of certain buildings and troops you develop into a unique faction. There are three prime alignments to take along with two hybrids being Imperial, Pagan, Renaissance, Imperial Renaissance and Pagan Renaissance. The Imperial are a bunch of overly religious zealous knights while the Pagan are their obvious rivals being well… Pagans but unlike the countless real world Pagans that were slaughtered in the Dark Ages, these defend themselves with black magic and demonic hordes. The Renaissance on the other hand rejects faith both ways and put instead have put their minds to science and thus harbour slow yet heavy-duty gunpowder siege weapons. The hybrids on the other hand are just like the Imperial and Pagan but with a few different unit choices. The development process is intriguing at first as there isn't much help to begin with so you might find your play style and favoured faction but accident. This calls for less than predictable games and all units are nicely designed so you aren't stuck with the super effective warrior who's great in battle but dressed like a clown. Tactics are also important as ammunition can and will run out without supply carts nearby and tree and hills need to be used to their advantage. And besides the many clashes of troops that will ensue there's also espionage like setting buildings on fire which is amusing actually as you get to see villagers run over with buckets, in most cases being feeble attempts hehehe! Magic also plays a small but important role. It can turn battles in an instant such as helping your economy, raining fire down to give you foe a bloody nose long enough to gather yourself up or even convert the next charge of opposing enemies to your side. You get a great sense of triumph when you perform this and a quick need for revenge if it happens to you. And of course due to the different play types that come with each you'll want to play as all of them throughout the campaign. There's also skirmish with custom AI generals and a Total War scale capture the flag esc game mode to boot. The multiplayer? Empty… sorry about that. But hey I bet you could find someone on a forum… or a friend… erm… nah, just plain sorry again. But the AI is so brutal at times its makes up for it, if not more so given the more generals and maps you can unlock throughout the campaign.
Graphics are outdated, that's a given being it 2008 and the game first being released in 2003. Yet even 5 years down the line it still looks good due to its retro charm. Play Age of Empires II or any WarCraft game and you'll know what I mean. Sound on the other hand is great in terms of soldiers yelling out as swords and spears clash and where volleys of various projectiles rain down of soldier and structure alike. The voice acting on the other hand is so so… not dramatic or emotive but no really cheesy. Loading times are fairly slow but not to the extent of the Sims 6th add-on or Mark of Chaos, plus it comes with an epic battle drums and horns soundtrack which comes in nicely during the larger scale fights. Until those however you get a warm light-hearted chime as you gather build. It's not epic but it fits the mood. There are patches now so any little bugs previous reviews b*tched about far less but the formation and AI path finding is still a little off. It doesn't degrade the gameplay much; it's just something I could see being easily fixed.
All in all, WKB is a challenging experience but not an unfair one (unless on the hardest difficulty but who really plays on those?) along with the unique alignment system and variety in play, it comes together as a nice rekindle of the good old RTS days while still providing some freshness to the worn out genre… and while its not perfect and far from totally unconventional, for 5 years old its holds up nicely.
Pros:
- Variety in units and tactics
- Alignment system allows a change of pace and play
- Long campaign
- A real challenge, and a fair one
- Great soundtrack, both epic and calm
Cons:
- Empty multiplayer
- Some technical issues
- Resource management and base development might be to slow paced for some