Warlords Battlecry II
A real-time strategy game with role-playing elements and a non-linear campaign.
Warlords Battlecry II is a real-time strategy and role-playing game developed by Strategic Studies Group (SSG) and released on March 12, 2002. It is the sequel to Warlords Battlecry and is set in the world of Etheria, where the player creates a Hero and must conquer all 67 regions of the land in a non-linear campaign. The game received an average score of 82/100 on Metacritic and was followed by Warlords Battlecry III in 2004.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Strategic Studies Group
- Publisher
- Ubi Soft
- Producer
- Gregor Whiley
- Designer
- Steve Fawkner
- Programmer
- Dean Farmer
- Steve Fawkner
- Mick Robertson
- Artist
- Alister Lockhart
- Series
- Warlords
- Released
- March 12, 2002 (NA); April 5, 2002 (EU)
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Warlords Battlecry II is primarily a real-time strategy game where the player builds a base and army to defeat enemies, with a game typically ending when all but one player is eliminated. Resources are used to create most buildings and units, though some can be summoned by certain units. The game features twelve playable races, each with distinct strengths, weaknesses, and resource dependencies, and roughly 140 controllable units that can fight or construct buildings. Role-playing elements include leveling up characters and completing optional quests. The player controls a pre-created Hero unit that can fight, build, cast spells, and receive quests; the Hero gains experience and levels up based on battle outcomes. Two main game modes are the non-linear campaign, which aims to conquer the continent of Etheria, and skirmish mode against computer or human opponents. A level editor is also included.
Development
On October 4, 2001, SSG announced that a sequel to Warlords Battlecry was in beta-testing, featuring a non-linear campaign, nearly 140 unit types (60 new), 12 races (9 returning, 3 new), 20 hero classes, and over 100 spells and abilities. A new official website launched on October 10, 2001, with feature summaries, screenshots, wallpapers, message boards, and army information; later it offered patches, custom AIs, scenarios, and tools. On February 5, 2002, SSG released a 100MB demo with two maps, two races, and two spell spheres via the German Ubisoft website. Ubisoft announced on February 21 that the game had gone gold, and it was released on March 12, 2002, across the U.S. at $39.99.
Critical reception
GameSpot named Warlords Battlecry II a runner-up for its March 2002 PC Game of the Month award, rating it 8.2 out of 10 and noting it was a solid real-time strategy game that did not take a big leap forward. UGO praised the AI for seldom using a tank rush, instead feinting, spying, and harassing the player, and for effectively using the Fog of War. The game's official website listed three Editor's Choice awards from PC Gamer US, Computer Gaming World, and Computer Games Magazine. Computer Games Magazine ranked it the fifth-best computer game of 2002, stating it combined elements of Total Annihilation and StarCraft to create something that worked better than most of its influences, and also gave it a Best Interface award. Warlords Battlecry II was nominated for Computer Gaming World's 2002 Strategy Game of the Year award, which went to Freedom Force; the editors called it a perfect example of role-playing strategy but noted its relative lack of innovation kept it from winning.
More in Ubisoft Games of the 2000s
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