Warlords Battlecry III further expands the Battlecry tradition of featuring persistent RPG-like fantasy heroes with its retinue of loyal followers fighting massive battles in the Warlords' world of Etheria. It is a true sequel to Warlords Battlecry I & II, featuring many familiar races and troop-types, while also adding some new ones into the mix. Warlords is a video game published in 1990 on DOS by SSG Strategic Studies Group Pty Ltd. It's a strategy game, set in a fantasy, turn-based, rpg elements and wargame themes, and was also released on Mac. Expanded Gameplay: 4 campaigns and 15 stand-alone scenarios, plus the original campaign and 13 scenarios from Warlords III Reign of Heroes. Advanced AI: The highly adaptable, challenging and aggressive AI counters every move and devices its own complex and dynamic counter strategies.
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Description of Warlords
Warlords is a video game published in 1990 on DOS by SSG Strategic Studies Group Pty Ltd.. It's a strategy game, set in a fantasy, turn-based, rpg elements and wargame themes, and was also released on Mac and Amiga.
Community website for the Warlords series: http://www.warlorders.com/
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Screenshots from MobyGames.com
Comments and reviews
Beatus2019-11-302 points Mac version
Good luck....
Probably for a hand full of dollars almost no one will play it anymore. It's not the money that bothers me. The only way how I could play was directly online. Now I have to download and install additional program and it never worked... Thank you. Just will not play anymore.
sad2019-11-270 point
I just played this yesterday! How come it's not free anymore? Booooo! People can be so greedy. Takes all the fun out of life.
Pappy2019-11-250 point
just as exiting as the first time
Bonobogiraffe2018-01-058 points DOS version
The first game i played with my father when i was little.
Never thought i would find it again.
Thanks for the memories, dad.
Seleuki2014-09-233 points DOS version
Far better than its sequel in that the map is fixed and balanced. You can't just min-max and customize all your cities to build griffins you have to make do with resources available.
arcadeFUN2012-02-012 points DOS version
Great game. I had endless fun in its day and just played it again! Thanks!
collector rob2008-07-242 points DOS version
game works good thanx ill add this one to my dosbox collection xD
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Game Extras and Resources
Some of these file may not be included in the game stores. For Warlords, we have the following files:
Other Releases
Warlords was also released on the following systems:
Mac
- Year:1992
- Publisher:SSG Strategic Studies Group Pty Ltd.
- Developer:SSG Strategic Studies Group Pty Ltd.
Amiga
- Year:1990
- Publisher:SSG Strategic Studies Group Pty Ltd.
- Developer:SSG Strategic Studies Group Pty Ltd.
Similar games
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| Warlords III: Reign of Heroes | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Strategic Studies Group |
| Publisher(s) | Red Orb Entertainment |
| Producer(s) | Gregor Whiley |
| Designer(s) | Steve Fawkner |
| Programmer(s) | Steve Fawkner |
| Artist(s) | Nick Stathopoulos |
| Writer(s) | Steve Fawkner |
| Composer(s) | Steve Fawkner |
| Series | Warlords |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | July 31, 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Computer wargame |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Warlords III: Reign of Heroes is a computer wargame released in 1997, and the third release in the Warlords video game series. In 1998 it was followed by expansion Warlords III: Darklords Rising.
Warlords III was a critical success but failed commercially, a performance that some commentators attributed to the rise of the real-time strategy genre.
Gameplay[edit]
After a four-year hiatus, SSG developed Warlords III: Reign of Heroes.
The game was released for Microsoft Windows and used new system capabilities to dramatically improve graphics:[1]
- animated armies' movements
- several landscape options
- more advanced city graphics
The heroes acquired the ability to cast spells to receive the temporary benefit. Each spell has its price expressed in mana points, which became the second (after gold) resource in game.
The campaign system also became more advanced: the heroes from the previous game of the campaign followed the user to the new game, keeping their experience and items.[2]
Another new feature of the Reign of Heroes is the flexible races concept: every player had a number of pre-defined units he was able to produce, and an additional number of units that could join him. This allowed for more consistent storyline in the campaigns and made players' advancement more challenging, as the natural production of the further cities normally wasn't matching the player's race.
Unlike the previous versions Reign of Heroes provided several hero classes. Each class has its own upgrade paths and costs of upgrade options. The upgrade options themselves became user-selectable, giving the player more control over the heroes' development.
The city levels in Reign of Heroes became more important, as in battles it equaled to city bonus. The players received ability to promote cities to next level for a fixed amount of gold.
The units received hit points, making more powerful units the harder targets for the weaker, and bringing more diversity to the army sets. The increased number of army bonuses led to more complicated battle outcome calculation. Furthermore, several army bonuses allowed respected armies to kill the more powerful enemies from the first attack, which made the battle outcome yet less predictable.
The concept of diplomacy was further refined by adding new state of diplomatic relations: Treaty. This state allowed players trespassing each other's cities and winning the Allied victory exterminating all other parties. Another diplomacy-related feature introduced in Reign of Heroes was the ability to bribe enemies, thus influencing their diplomatic decisions. The amount of bribe was fine-tunable; the more substantial bribe was, the greater chances of needed decision were.[2]
In addition to the previously available multiplayer modes (hotseat and play by email) the Reign of Heroes introduced the ability to play over network.[3]
The game CD included the soundtrack in CD-DA format.
Development[edit]
Warlords III was announced in August 1996.[4]
By the time of Warlords III games' releases the real-time strategy game genre was in full-swing, so there was less of a market for turn-based games. The oncoming rush of first person shooters and first generation MMORPGs also didn't help the popularity of the series. The turn-based strategy genre in general would take a hit during this period.[5]
Reception[edit]
In the United States, Warlords III debuted in 15th place on PC Data's computer game sales rankings for September 1997.[6] It was absent from the following month's chart.[7] The game was commercially unsuccessful, with sales in the United States of 27,387 units by April 1999, according to PC Data. The Learning Company's K.C Conroe reported that the publisher was 'baffled' by its performance. CNET Gamecenter's Marc Saltzman attributed the failure of Warlords III to 'the real-time strategy explosion' at the time of its release.[8]
Next Generation rated it four stars out of five, and stated that 'Warlords III takes many of the best aspects of tabletop wargaming and adapts them nicely to a PC environment, even offering an extended campaign mode for the first time in the series.'[9]
Reign of Heroes was a finalist for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' 1997 'Strategy Game of the Year' award,[10] which ultimately went to StarCraft and Age of Empires (tie).[11] The editors of Computer Games Strategy Plus named Warlords III the best turn-based strategy game of 1997.[12]Warlords III was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World's 1997 'Strategy Game of the Year' award, which ultimately went to Myth: The Fallen Lords.[13]
Legacy[edit]
Expansion[edit]
Shortly after releasing Reign of Heroes, SSG followed with Warlords III: Dark Lords Rising — a stand-alone expansion pack on 31 August 1998. It featured the new maps and units and contained the sample graphics to facilitate development of alternative tile, army and city sets. The plot of the main campaign continued where the previous game had left off.[3]
Warlords III like Warlords II had a campaign editor and realistic terrain model.[3]
Next Generation reviewed Warlords III: Darklords Rising, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that 'Whether playing the game as designed or creating your own worlds, you'll find Darklords quite mesmerizing. Old-timers should feel right at home with this version, and newcomers will quickly become enchanted.'[14]Darklords Rising was a finalist for Computer Games Strategy Plus's 1998 'Strategy Game of the Year' award, which ultimately went to Railroad Tycoon II. The editors wrote that Darklords Rising 'continued the Australian company's well-deserved reputation for quality games.'[15]
Card game[edit]
Warlords is an out-of-print collectible card game published in 1997 by Iron Crown Enterprises based on Warlords III.[16]Warlords is a simple multi-player fantasy game. The objective is to become the first player to become the supreme Warlord. This is achieved by exploring, finding treasure, or waging war by assembling followers, gathering armies, and building citadels.
Follow-up games[edit]
Warlords III was followed by the Warlords Battlecry series of real-time strategy games.
Reviews[edit]
- Computer Gaming World - Oct, 1997
- CD-Action - Nov, 1997
- PC Games (Germany) - Aug, 1997
References[edit]
Warlords 3 Virtual Machine
- ^Sengstack, Jeff (7 February 1997). 'Warlords III: Reign of Heroes Preview'. GameSpot. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
- ^ abKasavin, Greg (2 September 1997). 'Warlords III: Reign of Heroes Review'. GameSpot. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
- ^ abcShamma, Tahsin (18 September 1999). 'Warlords III: Darklords Rising Review'. GameSpot. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
- ^https://web.archive.org/web/19970101093424/http://www.cdmag.com:80/news/0813961.html
- ^Wojnarowicz, Jakub (22 February 2001). 'Editorial: What Happened to Turn-Based Games?'. FiringSquad. p. 6. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
- ^GamerX (November 6, 1997). 'September's 30 Best-Sellers'. CNET Gamecenter. Archived from the original on January 17, 1999.
- ^Staff (December 4, 1997). 'MS Flight Sim Tops PC Data Charts'. Next Generation. Archived from the original on February 4, 1998.
- ^Saltzman, Marc (June 4, 1999). 'The Top 10 Games That No One Bought'. CNET Gamecenter. Archived from the original on June 16, 2000.
- ^'Finals'. Next Generation. No. 35. Imagine Media. November 1997. p. 204.
- ^'The Award; Award Updates'. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on June 15, 1998.
- ^'The Award; Award Updates'. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on June 15, 1998.
- ^Staff (January 19, 1998). 'The winners of the 1997 Computer Games Awards'. Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on February 6, 2005.
- ^Staff (March 1998). 'CGW Presents The Best & Worst of 1997'. Computer Gaming World (164): 74–77, 80, 84, 88, 89.
- ^'Finals'. Next Generation. No. 47. Imagine Media. November 1998. p. 152.
- ^Staff (February 11, 1999). 'The Best of 1998'. Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on February 3, 2005.
- ^Miller, John Jackson (2003), Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide, Second Edition, p. 631.
External links[edit]
- Warlords III: Reign of Heroes at MobyGames
- Warlords III: Darklords Rising at MobyGames
- Warlords at BoardGameGeek