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Warlords Battlecry III Review - PC

The Warlords Battlecry series is one of those series that seems to slip past almost unnoticed. Despite its addictive gameplay and lush graphics, many gamers flock towards the giants of the Real-Time Strategy genre such as the Warcraft and Age of Empires series. If you haven't played any of the Warlords Battlecry games you're missing out, and I'm sure those who have will agree. Having previously owned Warlords Battlecry II, I had high hopes for Warlords Battlecry III - and they were delivered.

At heart, Warlords Battlecry III is essentially one of those standard fantasy Real-Time Strategy games played from a birds-eye view in which different races such as humans, elves and dwarves battle for power upon vast, barren maps. However, it contains many great little features that set it apart from most other similar games - most prominently, its Hero system.

Gameplay

Before you begin any of the modes in the game you'll need to create a Hero - think of this as a main character that you take into every battle of every mode that you play. Your Hero can be given a name, assigned to a race and even given a portrait so that you can define what they look like. Then, as you play through the game, your Hero will gain experience points and will level up at certain intervals. Each time you level up you can upgrade your Hero's skills, such as their Strength and Intelligence, but you're only given a certain number of points to do so. The Hero system is definitely a wise addition to the game, and surprisingly fits very well into such a genre; it makes the game more fun on the whole and motivates you to play more often and build up your ideal fantasy warrior.

The meat of this and other Real-Time Strategy games, despite being one of the most least-played modes of all among many gamers, is the Campaign mode. Following the superficial storyline relating to 'the mystery of the Fifth Horseman', you'll play through many different missions, each with a different objective. Upon first entering the mode you're presented with a tidy little map that displays the names of various locations. Clicking on different locations moves your Hero to that location and offers you a list of missions to undertake, each of which can be attempted in any order. As well as these missions you'll encounter a couple of other features that help to give the game's Campaign mode more of an adventurous feel. For example, you are often ambushed by small groups of enemies and thrown into a battle; fortunately not a full-scale one in which you'll need to build up a base, but a small one in which you simply have to eliminate all of the enemies littered across the small map. At some locations in Etheria, the world of Warlords Battlecry III, you'll come across outfitters. Here you can buy new weapons, armour and the like for your Hero, and (continued next page)