Warlock: Master of the Arcane

1. Chobeat

   May 14, 2012

   10

   Absolutely amazing, one of the best games of this year. Deep, balanced, intuitive and with awesome graphics. It has a really good AI and oneAbsolutely amazing, one of the best games of this year. Deep, balanced, intuitive and with awesome graphics. It has a really good AI and one of the best unit list in the history of videogames. There are really a thousand units and each of them is heavily customizable. You will never run out of new stuff and probably they will expand it later.
   
   All of this costs only 20$, you must buy it now.… Expand

   • 2 of 5 users found this helpful
2. Syzygy

   May 9, 2012

   10

   Does anyone remember the combat in Civilization 4? Yeah, it was pretty tedious and annoying, wasn't it? Thankfully, Warlock: Master is aDoes anyone remember the combat in Civilization 4? Yeah, it was pretty tedious and annoying, wasn't it? Thankfully, Warlock: Master is a civ-style turn based strategy game all ABOUT the combat! Gameplay revolves around the 4X style of gameplay (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) and while the game RIGIDLY follows that formulae, the way it does so, combined with a friendly user interface, fantastic graphics and a variety of units with distinct appearances and situational modifiers allows for tons of replayability, completely nailing the "just one more turn" aspect of these civ-style games. The most interesting feature I found in this game, however, is the ability to allow for multiple "worlds" to exist in the maps you generate. These "worlds" are basically separate maps you can access via portals on the main starting map. These additional worlds provide unique or rare resource nodes as well as monster dens that, if destroyed, yield very powerful spells. These worlds, are of course absolutely TEEMING with powerful monsters, to the point where they often overflow into the main map, so they aren't exactly something you can just claim unprepared.
   
   Now, time for the breakdown, this score is based on a 10 point system:
   
   Presentation: 8. Graphics and art style manage to be both cartoonish AND badass, but nothing really unique or too interesting.
   
   A.I.: - 2. The A.I. is sort of all over the place, no matter the difficulty. Making the game harder seems to just give the A.I. a resource advantage rather than making it play smarter.
   
   Gameplay part 1: - 4. I'm knocking 4 points off for the hideously bare bones diplomacy system. Or, lack thereof. Every so often a rival player will attempt to extort money or mana out of you, and your ONLY two responses are "WAR!" or to capitulate to their demands. I suppose this was the developers way to try and foster a cut-throat mindset in the players, by attempting to make war an inevitability rather than something that can be avoided. If you aren't currently attempting to murder the crap out of an opponent, stealing their land to add your glorious war machine, you're plotting how to.
   
   Gameplay part 2: +3. I'm giving 3 points back due to the aforementioned "glorious war machine" thing. Because while combat is the sole focus of this game, it manages to be DAMN GOOD. Every battle, every personal campaign I have launched or fought, every one of them has felt like an epic siege. The developers took the combat system from Civilization 4 and 5 and made it actually fun and interesting. For one thing, you can't stack units on the same tile. a single squad of units is a significant time and resource investment, which means you'll be handling a siege consisting of maybe 3-5 squads at any given time. That may seem like weaksauce weakness at first, but combine that with the spellcasting system and suddenly you've got 2 squads of black minotaurs with VAMPIRIC AXES and immunity to ranged attacks, leveled up and specced for city attacks laying waste to your enemies defensive fortifications while your shamans constantly heal them to full health while you're waiting for your Apocalypse spell to finish charging. And yes, there IS a spell called Apocalypse, it's basically the nuke from Civilization 4: Beyond the Sword, except in this case it actually DESTROYS CITIES and is a GUARANTEED one hit kill to any and all units in a 3-hex diameter radius from the epicenter. The only reason I didn't give all four of those points back is because naval warfare is really... lacking at this point. There are only 2 naval units at this point, as far as I know, and none of them are any good at damaging the various sea serpents that plague the oceans (which incidentally are capable of killing your ships in 1-2 hits) Transport ships are a non-issue, as moving a land based unit onto a water hex automatically spawns a transport ship for them.
   
   Music/Sound: 0. No points given or taken away for this, as the sound effects and music are exactly what you would expect, nothing spectacular but nothing horrible either.
   
   Graphics: +1. Looks pretty without bogging down my computers framerate (I have been playing this game on a 2011 Acer Aspire laptop with AMD Radeon HD 6650M graphics card)
   
   Mics. : +0.5. I'm giving a bonus 0.5 due to the fact that I can skip my opponents turns by clicking the mouse repeatedly. Final Score: 7.5
   
   So close to perfection, but a few nagging problems keep this game from being perhaps the best 4x turn based strategy game I have ever played. Hopefully the negative elements can be fixed through either patches or expansions. I mean c'mon, as much fun as I have duking it out against the other empires on the field of battle in this game, it would be nice to be able to ally myself with another empire so I don't feel like it's just me against the world all the time.… Expand

   • 16 of 17 users found this helpful
4. Patacorow

   Jun 18, 2012

   9

   This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. ­it be a pretty cul gaem. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­… Expand

   • 1 of 2 users found this helpful
5. kilwar

   May 10, 2012

   9

   Great game! While you get the feel of Civ 5 with the grid layout, the comparison ends there. The focus of the game is combat and everythingGreat game! While you get the feel of Civ 5 with the grid layout, the comparison ends there. The focus of the game is combat and everything you do is related to this. I love how the city management is focused. You can't build every single building in every city you build. You have to focus on which resource your city with produce. And this can change depend on which resource tiles you have in your city limits. This game has hooked me better than both Civ 4 and 5 did. The low price is also a big +.… Expand

   • 4 of 4 users found this helpful
6. Evesath

   Oct 4, 2013

   8

   Haven't played so simple yet addictive turn-based strategy for quite a long while. Without any unnecessary plot it toss you right into theHaven't played so simple yet addictive turn-based strategy for quite a long while. Without any unnecessary plot it toss you right into the realm, when you rule your little kingdom. What I do also love about the game, is narrator's voice have you noticed? Same actor as in my beloved Majesty. Game performance is a little bit odd, noticeable slows down after few hours of playing restart helps.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
7. Rygar

   May 13, 2012

   8

   Warlock is a very enjoyable game. It's approach is very similiar to Civilization in terms of city building and combat. Unlike Civilization,Warlock is a very enjoyable game. It's approach is very similiar to Civilization in terms of city building and combat. Unlike Civilization, you quickly get to combat with neutral units, and while not groundbreaking, it is fun. The game has a wonderful selection of units, many of which are beautifully rendered. The game shifts away from Civilization style city building, in Warlock you place buildings on the tiles, which does force you to make choices as you build your cities.
   
   The negatives are that the game could've used a bit more in the way of documentation and/or ingame screens to show you what the various spell paths and buildings open up as you progress. Overall, especially for it's price, I'd recommend it to any fan of turn based games and/or civilization.… Expand

   • 3 of 3 users found this helpful
8. Zonzai

   Jun 30, 2013

   0

   Might have been a good game but it is so bug-riddled the world will never know. Even the most basic interface controls, such as clicking aMight have been a good game but it is so bug-riddled the world will never know. Even the most basic interface controls, such as clicking a ground tile, fail to work. A game that doesn't work, doesn't get any points from me.… Expand

   • 0 of 12 users found this helpful

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