Gameplay

Building blocks

Empire management requires the same sort of careful attention, conversely because of its slow pace. The economy is much larger and more intricate than that in most other RTS games today. Four resources must be gathered—food, wood, stone, and gold—by assigning peasants to their respective locations, and the materials must also be ferried from villages to the manor (later keep, castle, and palace) fortress where they're needed by carts. The extra step isn't that big a deal, and it does add the intriguing possibility of waging economic war on rivals by hijacking these supply carts, but some players will no doubt be frustrated by the way this features adds complexity. Also, Black Cactus has taken the intriguing step of linking food production to the military. They clearly use to old axiom that an army marches on its stomach, although they have left in the ability to overreach your food limits and crank out the troops…if you don't mind the attrition you'll suffer when the eats run out.

But Socrates said Know Thyself

A very warped map of Europe

A provincial description

Building is more straightforward, though again there is a lot to look after here in terms of the many different types of structure and the tech that needs to be researched in order to construct them all. Cost, however, is extremely high for everything beyond the basic structures. You get the feeling that even shacks are made with roofs of gold in Orbis. This really slows down each mission, as you need to devote huge amounts of time to simply getting your manor established, developing villages, making peasants, and collecting vast stocks of wood, stone, and gold. Trying to rush through the beginning processes only amounts to an early exit. Of course, if you concentrate solely on building your economy, the enemy's scouts will discover your growing riches and send for backup. Soon enough, you'll have small groups of enemy archers slaughtering your resource-gathering peasants. Maps are massive, however, limiting the ability of the enemy to harass your early efforts at putting food on the table and building a standard army.

Family values

Skirmish and multiplayer modes are similar to those offered in the first Warrior Kings. The AI generals can be customized to provide different levels of challenge when you're not online. And the new Valhalla game type forgoes the economics for a straightforward clash of armies over map locations that you conquer to score points. These options are available online as well, though it can be hard to find opponents.

The sky's the limit

A thrilling horse buggy

Fort Todd, Brett Todd

Presentation values are generally fairly high, though everything is just slightly below par in comparison to other modern strategy releases. You can see this in such things as the awful artwork illustrating enemy generals and the camera that slowly scrolls across the map, and hear it in the amateurish peasant voice acting. But unit and building design is quite detailed. Most are on the odd side, with a particular character that sets them apart from the typical medieval RTS. Many of the fantasy creatures—such as the Pagan-Renaissance Gibbering Horde and the Behemoth—have no comparisons in other games and frankly look a lot like dinosaurs. If nothing else, Warrior Kings: Battles is one of the more interesting RTS titles on the market.