by Scott - June 6, 2004 In the lands of Etheria you are a great hero on a quest. With your men you must travel about the lands to discover the mystery of the 5th Horseman and put an end to the evil that threatens the existence of life. With the selection of sixteen different races, each journey will never be the same.

Are ye a knight or wizard?

That sounds pretty complicated doesn�t it? Well do not fret much, WB3 may have RPG elements, but it does not forget to include tactical elements as well. When you first load up Warlords Battlecry III you can skirmish or you can go for the full campaign. Each are different in their own way, as you can skirmish and try the different options such as capture the flag, fight the horde, etc. It is these types of skirmishes that doesn�t allow for an emphasis on a hero buildup, as you can organize troops and command them in such a way like Warcraft III.

However, that is not what WBIII is all about. This game is mainly about your hero, who you are, what he/she is, and what you plan to do about the problem in Etheria. The campaign will get you totally into the game and the storyline. With campaign mode you can pick your �hero�. Your hero could range from a powerful Knight, to a feeble but wise wizard, and so on. Your race also could be human, orc, dwarf, the snake-like Ssrathi and so on; there are sixteen different races so you have a lot of options to choose from. The great thing about the sixteen races is that they all have their pros and cons. The human Empire is best all around, the dwarves can build strong buildings, and the Knights have very efficient cavalry.

Now as you travel about Etheria, you are in command of your race of troops. However, you can stop at ports and taverns to recruit mercenaries, which you have to pay, but do not take your population counter when in battle. Also, when you make an alliance with another race, you can opt to lead that race�s troops into battle. In my case, my human Knight led Ssrathi against a combined enemy force of Barbarians and the human Empire. This makes for very interesting gameplay as you must be able to capitalize on the advantages of your race�s troops and the cons of your enemy�s.

Is this hard? Yes, but then again it is worth it to get involved into the game itself. The story draws you in, as it is non-linear. That�s right, you don�t go one battle to another. You see, each point you go on your map, you can check out a port, or help out in a border dispute or try to barter with a race to form an alliance. From there you can branch off to another area and meet new enemies or friends. I�ve been playing for days and I have yet to find a strict battle-to-battle continuation that most games like this have. This guarantees that each time you start a new campaign with a new race and hero, it will be different in every way.

What about the battles you say? Well first off, you�ll always have your hero. They are usually more powerful than any other unit, and your most valuable. They can create buildings, learn spells to heal or attack, or you can just leave him be and have him grow up to be a wuss, its your choice really. With your race you can build a town center, which upgrades itself to allow more building options, create peasants to build, etc. It�s not really that much different from any other RTS games on the market. However, units that you have in combat and live will go on to serve you better in your quest. Units that survive to level up high can be apart of your retinue, or �party�. I grew quite fond with this idea as I had one swordsman named Hilgel. Poor Hilgel was always leading a charge against my enemies, but he had more XP, more HP, and could deal a lot of damage. Well, I lost Hilgel in a skirmish with some Fey (yeah, don�t ask how fairies were able to kill him, it�s a touchy subject) and well, you feel a loss for units like that. Throughout your adventures, you can get new people to join your retinue, which gets bigger as you gain more experience. This allows for a very potent strategy of selecting your starting units into battle carefully. Do you want to put more into bringing cavalry units into the map immediately, or have that really great magician that can wreak havoc? It�s all up to you and I must say tread wisely or it�s your head!

All in all for the gameplay portion of WBIII, it is really great. If you�re up for some deep in depth battles that will keep you on your toes while hoping your experienced units come out alive then here is your game.

Set thine eyes on this

Okay, I know I might get some flak on this, but I have to say, games nowadays are becoming more and more detailed and WBIII looks a little behind. It looks like a cross of Bauldur�s Gate II and Warcraft II mixed with a dash of sugar. All the units and buildings and maps are done in flat sprites at the usual angle of view. While this allows older systems to play, it is hard to compare to even Warcraft III. The plus side again is that it can throw out some well-drawn magic spells and detail on the buildings.

My biggest gripe however is that some of the units walk like their shoelaces are tied together. My hero, the mighty Attion Sigma, walks like a duck. Quite mighty indeed�. Another problem that crops up is that your units will sometimes hide behind towers or buildings. This sometimes becomes a huge problem, as you can�t find your hero or that special unit you need in the time of need. There should have been an inclusion of a �ghost outline� for units behind objects so you know they�re there, hiding from you and your mouse pointer. The final stab for this part is that you can�t select through the building, you have to hope to catch their leg or head and such.

Other than that, the game does look beautiful for it�s graphical use. It does give it a RPG look, but then again, I don�t play much RPGs so to me, that feels like an RPG look. Lighting will flash in a dramatic way during the rainy maps. It does add to the atmosphere of being on a great adventure. Magic spells will dazzle your eyes and blood will spill. An added plus is the small movies that will play after completing certain parts of your quest. However they look somewhat stretched and sometimes are patchy looking.

My final gripe is that there are no animated sprites. The water is frozen in movement, the buildings don�t light up or animate, and trees don�t blow in the wind. Other than a night look on some maps, sometimes it will have nicely done rain sprites but that is the only sprite that is animated on the map. Not even magma will move about, stewing as it performs it magma duties.
 

Thine ears will be pleased

Nowadays games are bringing better and better quality sound to the table, or the speakers for that matter. WBIII�s sound quality is very well done as you can hear galloping cavalry, ground-pounding troops, clanging of swords on shields, magic spells, cries for help, etc. My all time favorite was the clomping of cavalry hooves as they really put a good amount of bass into it. However I found that the unit sounds get repetitive quickly as you click and move them about. It seems they only have about two or three different calls and order given sounds and they don�t get funny like Warcraft�s troops when you click on them repeatedly.

However, it does the job and it doesn�t deter much from the fun of the gameplay. As an avid supporter of Harman/Kardon speakers, go out and get some great speakers to enjoy the sounds of battle and the enthralling musical score. Apart from the game, the score of the music if quite professional, with even a choir singing some dramatic songs during battle.
 

Ye fun for thee layth ahead

The RPG feel of this game does not detract from the tactical sense of WBIII. They combine seamlessly to form a game that will attract anyone. Like I mentioned earlier, they can go in using their hero and others with magic, or rely on building units to create an army.

Multiplayer is fun as well. You can bring your hero to show off or help an ally. There are many different types to play, which I recommend trying all as they are all rewarding in their own right. My personal favorite was Assassination, where your goal is to kill the enemy hero. This can result in a duel between hero�s that will be like a cataclysmic battle between Superman and Doomsday.
 

Sixteen races, Twenty-eight classes

That�s right. Sixteen races. Twenty-eight classes. That equals�.aw heck I�m horrible at math. Lets just say you can spend a long time trying each class and your hero being a different race. Just remember, each has their advantages and disadvantages. Know what you�re getting yourself into and read up on your strategies and tips!

For beginners, I say get familiar with the human Empire race. There are a host of others that include the two human races, Orcs, Dwarves, the Undead, Fey, Ssrathi, Barbarians, Minotaurs, High/Dark/Wood Elves, Daemons, Dark Dwarves, Plaguelords, and the interesting Swarm. Yeah that�s a mouthful right there guys and with that, it should be able to keep anyone busy for a while trying out different races with the campaign or skirmish modes.
 

A worthy adversary

Overall I was impressed. The gameplay was right on for a RPG/RTS gamestyle like this and the story is still keeping me intrigued. But there are some quirks that a majority of die-hard players and loyal gamers to the Warlords Battlecry series will be able to overlook. As someone who was mind bent on strategy and action games, trying WBIII opened a new window for me. It made me want to try RPGs for their adventure feel. I might even go out and find a copy of Bauldurs Gate or dig up my ol� SNES and play some Super Mario RPG. Hey, a RPG is a RPG right?