Genre: Strategy
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Infinite Interactive
Release Date: October 21, 2003

Buy 'WARLORDS IV: Heroes of Etheria': PC

Boy this one was a long time coming. I've waited for years for a sequel to one of the greatest turn-based games of all time, Warlords 3: Darklords Rising. I've waited through not one, but two RTS Warlords games, countless delays and rumors of the title's demise. Can the depth and grandeur of the previous versions be recaptured, or dare I hope, bested?

While Warlords 4: Heroes of Etheria is a turn-based strategy game, I can say with confidence that it's unlike any other turn-based strategy game you've ever played. It's a single-minded and determined battle simulation. Gone are the resource management details and diplomacy, and in their place are consistent heroes, available for your bidding and a combat system that, at first glance, doesn't seem as deep as its predecessor's. That doesn't mean it ain't fun though!

For those of you familiar with Warlords Battlecry, you'll immediately see how facets of that game have been included in Warlords 4. The idea of consistent heroes, a longtime goal of many developers (but rarely successful), has finally found a home. One of the greatest strengths of the Battlecry games is the refined tricks they use to make you feel emotionally attached to your heroes. You want to use the heroes in battle, of course, but you must keep a special eye on them to make sure you don't lose them forever. While Blizzard was just talking about doing this, SSG was actually doing it, and the Battlecry games were a success in my book because of that. Warlords 4, luckily, preserves this deferential treatment of the hero, with entertaining results.

At the start of the game, you choose a Warlord class by selecting a major and minor ability. Your choices of class are calculated from your preferences so you can play around with combos for the fun of it. There are a total of ten classes, and you should experiment with the abilities until you get a choice that makes you say "cool" out loud.

Prepare for battle, my friends. There's not much else to do in Warlords 4. You won't be focusing on resource management (that's FAR too RTS I guess), as the only resources you will be eyeing are gold (for maintenance of troops only) and mana. You don't buy units or heroes any longer; you just need to wait for a certain number of turns before you can produce one. Once you get them, you need to have enough gold to maintain them, but there aren't any grunts running around mining. Instead, you get gold and mana the old fashioned way -- from battles. Experience on the battlefield is crucial from one end of the game to another, which has both good and bad aspects. I miss the resource management and building trees of the last game, and I feel their absence has made Warlords 4 a little less deep. However, the focus on fighting is cool because fighting itself is, for the most part, well done.

Warlords 4 is all about conquest of your enemy, as you move from one map to the next with sword in hand. All diplomats have been beheaded. Be gone, bleeding heart diplomats! Your goal is to build and lead your army through each map by winning battles, taking or razing their property and defeating any creatures who get in your way. On the way to victory are many treasures for you and your fellow heroes, as well as magic spells, and of course, neutral monsters.

The battles themselves are an exercise in both frustration and addictive strategy and tactics because you're playing for keeps here. Since every battle is to the death, be prepared to lose your hero when you send him into battle! I like this touch since it gives you a serious impetus to think through your every move. There are a number of facets to consider before sending someone into harm's way. Unlike Warlords 3, you have complete control of who you send into battle and when (though you can use the auto play feature and the game will take over, if you prefer). More control over your troops is a welcome addition, as it adds to the strategy of a game that otherwise seems too bare at times. Each unit must be individually sent in to attack one of the enemy's units. While I would have preferred to be able to send more than just one unit at a time, the end result is that you have to arrange for war in a different way than you're used to. It's not only a matter of having the right army to go up against your opponent, but it's also a matter of choosing the right tactical moves with the army you have. The experience points go to the battle's survivor -- which adds another level of strategy since you probably want to make sure everyone gets to advance at one point or another.

At first, I found myself frustrated by the simplicity of the battles, but as I played through a few levels, I realized that I was not only having a good time, but I was also getting caught up in the strategy. Even though the point of the game is one dimensional (attack everything in sight), Warlords 4 does a great job of giving you enough to consider with every move. From building a new unit to moving the right units to the right place at the right time, to prepping for battle, Warlords 4 is a well-done adventure. Watching an enemy attack one of your fortresses while you strive to get your fastest units there to protect it is what you want to avoid, but the AI in the game is strong enough to throw you into this kind of a tizzy often. I felt challenged throughout and realized that there was just enough meat in this game to have fun.

Now for the problems, and there are a number of them. The graphics just don't excite me because the actual battles are essentially two wooden-looking sprites taking turns at hacking at each other until someone dies in a lame explosion or death animation. This is the stuff of Pentium 2 days, if that. The designs of the characters are similar to Warlords Battlecry, almost as if the designers just took those graphics and blew them up. After waiting for so many years, I thought the visuals and animation would be a lot better than this, and the maps themselves also look like rip-offs of Warlords Battlecry. Granted, the designs are cool, but they just feel old and not worthy of a 2003 release.

Warlords 4 is a very tight game, and it almost has a feeling of being too slick to be a turn-based fantasy game. In the final analysis, I've concluded that it lacks the character of the previous versions. Its stripped down war engine and laser-like focus on battles ends up preventing it from being a classic. Though the development of the Battlecry games helped the developers to refine their staple title, it also seems to have stripped Warlords 4 of some of its turn-based roots. I enjoyed Warlords 4 very much (and still do), but I would have liked to have seen some more resource management, building trees or diplomacy (yes I love RTS too). However, with consistent heroes, intense battles, well-developed strategic and tactical touches, and solid maps Warlords 4 delivers most of what it promised. For turn-based fans, new and old, I have to recommend you give the demo a try. If you like it, then you'll definitely like the whole game, and I recommend you buy it.

Score : 8.3/10