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4X Games are one of the most enduring strategy genres out there. Games like Civilization and Sins of a Solar Empire have fans that are legion. Heck, I doubt I’m the only person on MMORPG.com who appreciates this sort of strategy. But one thing I’ve always wanted is for a little more RPG to make its way into the 4X (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) pantheon. Stardock tried this to some success with Fallen Enchantress, and now ups the ante quite a bit with the excellent Sorcerer King.
Read more of Bill Murphy's Sorcerer King - A RPG Fan's Ideal 4X Game.
Comments
Thanks for the write up Bill, I was wondering about this one. Do units stack or is it one unit per grid? I have to say I like the hex map system more than the square grid system though.
Civ4 had a great fantasy mod(forget the name and CivFanatics is down to look it up) and was waiting on Civ5 to do the same, so saw this and it really peaked my interest. It's on my wishlist for now until I hear more about it and a sale. Can't see the 40 bucks yet though, ya feel me?
check out the youtube series from tokshen
Bill, something I noticed a lot of gaming sites don't do anymore is provide links to the game website or the dev's page in or with the article. Since it's fairly consistent and has been like that for a while, is it just something that has fallen by the wayside or is there a reason for it?
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
I had mixed feelings during the beta but it turned out to be a pretty decent game.
You can find it via Stardock's website or on Steam.
Seaspite
Playing ESO on my X-Box
Nice idea for the game but the result is utter crap.
Absolutely shallow and boring after the first turns.
- no different factions to play/same units over and over again)
- too much useless units
- equipment is limited at the beginning at a huge pain in the ass once you have more units(no general design for unit types, every unit has to be outfitted manualy + ui for that is horrible)
- different sovereigns have a few different skills but still play pretty much the same
- spells lack real impact
- tactical battles are anything but tactical compared to other games
- a lot bugs
- cities are extremely limited and one dimensional
- AI is crap
SK is my go to 4X game since I found Civ BE as boring as watching paint dry.
Your choice of sovereign significantly impacts how the game will play, both in your choice of sovereign skills and abilities and your starting hero group.
Quests can reward you with new units or heroes, push the Doomsday clock up or cause it to pull back, cause your status to improve or decline overall or with certain other minor factions. Questing is a key part of the game and how you choose to handle the situations presented will determine a lot about how the game will play. (This is where you save each and every time before going into that ruin!)
Crafting and acquiring crafting materials to improve your heroes and your army units is another major part of the game. You only have so many units. You need to nourish, cherish and protect them, allowing them to level up so that they can take down the ever increasing number and strength of units thrown at you by the Sorcerer King. You'll find that you will carefully analyze the abilities of the opposing army and attend to positioning on the battlefield in order to take the best advantage or your troops and put your opponent at a disadvantage. Learning this early on is key to winning the war and taking down the SK. If you lose even one of your high level units, you could lose the war.
Game is great to dig into.
I have pretty much given up on anything from Stardock software. I have most of their games because they always seem to get great reviews, but when it comes to down to playing them, they all just always lack the fun factor. They can't write good AI to save themselves. In this day and age there is just no excuse for poor AI.
So my thought here is, don't have your hopes up if you buy it, that way you won't be disappointed.