Review

[DJ Blades 0]

(i didnt see a BattleRealms Review)

Welcome to a Far East that never was! It is a time of shadowy ninjas, honorable samurai warriors, and "soulless" necromancers. While blades still rule the battlefield, muskets and crude cannons can be found alongside the traditional bows and crossbows. As the leader of one of four clans (Dragon, Serpent, Lotus, or Wolf), you battle for dominance of the region and the preservation of your way of life. YOU decide whether the honorable traditions of the Dragon Clan will hold sway, or if the ruthless mentality of the Serpent Clan will reign.

Battle Realms is one of the smoothest and most stylish games I have ever seen. From the way the opening menu "assembles" itself to the noticeable lack of bugs during play, it screams quality. Combine that with a well thought out game history, interesting unit-upgrading "alchemy," and a dramatic single player plotline and it becomes obvious that the game's designers poured a great deal of love and hard work into this product.

Thus, it is too bad that more attention to detail wasn't put into the actual design of the single player missions or the multiplayer game. If it had been, we'd be looking at the RTS game of the year instead of just an interesting contender.

Gameplay: interesting but not engaging

It is too bad that more attention to detail wasn't put into the actual design.

The basic gameplay of Battle Realms revolves around three elements: resources, units, and power-ups (battle gear and techniques). Mastery of any two of these aspects often results in a win, though hard scenarios will require commanding all three.

The first element, resources, should be the most familiar to RTS players. The usual "peons" (in this case, peasants) go around gathering rice and water in order to allow your clan to expand. EVERYTHING in the game, from building new structures to training combat units, consumes rice and/or water when initially created. In addition, Yin or Yang (experience earned only through combat) may also be necessary to buy power-ups and certain elite units (such as monks, ninjas, and heroes). None of these resources ever become unattainable so long as you have peasants, though you may need to water the rice so it will grow back more quickly.

The second element, units, is also pretty common to most RTS games - though it is handled a bit differently here. Peasants, the basic units, are "upgraded" in one of three primary training structures, which change with each clan. The resulting unit can then be upgraded a second or third time in the remaining primary training structures. This process, called "unit alchemy" in the manual, is not unique to Battle Realms, but is done better here than in most other implementations I have seen. No longer will you be stuck with a large hoard of useless "lesser fighters" -- fit only to be sacrificed during the middle of the game -- now, those units can be upgraded into more powerful versions of themselves.

The third and final element, power-ups, is also one of the game's most impressive features. Techniques and "battle gear" offer a huge potential for diversity and different styles of play. Techniques are attained through the spending of yin or yang and, once gained, affect all of a certain type of unit throughout the scenario. Buying the technique of Tempered Steel, for instance, will increase the damage all of a player's samurai, dragon warriors, and kabuki do. Battle gear is also available, and works on an individual unit basis. Battle gear grants a specific power or increases an attribute, and each unit can usually only have a single battle gear at a time. A dragon warrior, for instance, may only learn Chi Shield (temporary invulnerability) or Flaming Sword (sword does more damage against buildings) - not both at the same time. It may, however, be a good idea to have one dragon warrior with Chi Shield while another knows Flaming Sword.. or you may find that Flaming Sword is worthless against your opponent's strategy. Options like this add a lot of depth to Battle Realms, and go a long way towards keeping it fresh.

Techniques and "battle gear" offer a huge potential for diversity and different styles of play.

Still, while the combination of these three elements is interesting, the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired. There are almost no aspects of Battle Realms that DO NOT center around combat, so those of you more interested in social or developmental strategy are out of luck. Unit formations and tactics are also pretty lacking, meaning that most battles are decided prior to engagement by 1) what units are brought and 2) how they are trained. During combat, you'll find your options limited to activating power-ups on individual units or clicking on an enemy for everyone in your group to target (focused fire wins the day). Those expecting more options like those found in Fallout: Tactics and Jagged Alliance will be disappointed.

Single player: strong concept, flawed delivery

Much of the game's development appears to have been focused on the single player campaign. The back story and plotline it follows are extremely interesting, and made me want to play more just to find out what happens. If you enjoy movies with a lot of drama, interesting twists, and character development, you should enjoy the story you "create" during the single player game.

The tale begins as follows: You are Kenji, heir to the leadership of the Serpent Clan. You quickly find yourself in the middle of a power struggle between peasants and warriors of your clan, and step in to change the outcome of events. This sets into motion your rise to power, and you soon discover that you have become a cult of personality. Some love you, others hate you, and many will follow you it battle against your clan's foes - old and new alike. Your actions will determine which clans flourish, which will perish, and whether or not Honor or Power will rule the land.

The choices Kenji makes have a lasting affect on the game. Choosing whether to help or harm the peasants in the first minute of game play, for instance, determines whether you play the game as a member of the Dragon or Serpent Clan. Other choices such as deciding on a specific province to attack will also come up, and lead to different missions/alliances. This is a big step away from many of the traditional RTS games in which you have NO choices other than what units to build.

The number of people playing Battle Realms on Gamespy was pretty small.

The actual missions/scenarios, however, quickly become boring due to their similarity. Scenarios tend to take one of two forms: either you are sent to defend something from being destroyed or you are there to destroy your enemy. Most missions start the same way (either with a pre-made force that can not be expanded or a weak force that can), and after the first few missions you'll begin to experience deja vu every time they start anew. Since your force and structures don't transfer between missions, there's no real feeling of continuity - just a long line of similar challenges that grow a bit harder as you go. Because of this, the only reason I continued with single player was so that I could learn more about the plotline; the actual "strategy game" aspect of Battle Realms became more of a hindrance to my enjoyment rather than the source of it.

Multiplayer: So THIS is where all the bugs went

Since the single player game becomes so boring, the multiplayer game will be the focus for most players. If only it weren't so hard to get a game going, it might be worth it! But those venturing onto the internet via Gamespy (the easiest way to find another player for Battle Realms) are in for a painful experience. At the time of this writing, the number of people playing Battle Realms on Gamespy was pretty small; so small, in fact, that it was almost impossible to get a game going on my lunch break. And, when there are people around, crash bugs galore can keep you from being able to start the game a good portion of the time. Whole rooms can be frozen by a single "laggy" player entering, while at other times players seem to be randomly kicked when the game's host hits the start button. I've heard people blame this on Gamespy, while others said it was Liquid Entertainment's fault. Regardless, it all means the same thing: the multiplayer game DOES NOT work well for most people.

Quick comments

The manual, while useable, leaves a lot to be desired. After reading it, you'll be asking yourself questions like, "Which unit does more damage: the dragon warrior or kabuki?" You shouldn't have to buy the strategy guide to get basic information like that.

The cutscenes appear to be little more than scripted, slightly zoomed 3D units that you use throughout the entire game. While not terrible, it does leave a bit to be desired.

Effects like disturbed wildlife and rain are interesting to watch, and can also be very useful.

Final thoughts

Battle Realms is an interesting game that has a lot going for it. The problem is, it lacks development in a few key areas, and can't be a "superior" game until those parts are addressed. A stable multiplayer aspect and more interesting single player scenarios would have earned it a MUCH higher rating, so keeping watching the game's official web site for patches and expansions that could fix these problems. As it stands, I DO think that Battle Realms was worth the purchase price, but I highly doubt that everyone will feel the same way.

[{{clan}}UnablE 2]

cool, how long did it take before it was done?

[DJ Blades 0]

a hour and a half

[Sinophile 41]

I like it! Submit it to game review sites and spread the word of BR!

[DJ Blades 0]

will do *graps a Huges Book that says list of game review sites*XD