Runequest: Warlords

I was offered the opportunity to review Runequest: Warlords, and the most fascinating thing about this title was that I was initially unfamiliar with the universe. I love tactical turn-based strategy games, and I had a lot of fun with Warhammer 40K: Battlesector, which uses a similar combat system to this title. When I started this game, I had difficulty orienting myself as to what Glorantha was, or why the three factions Talastar, Chaos and Lunar Empire were fighting over the world. There was a lot I didn't know, and it required some research on my part to better understand what I was about to experience.

We are spared yet another interpretation of medieval fantasy and instead encounter something that draws inspiration from antiquity and the Bronze Age. The troops resemble hoplites, spearmen, legionnaires, and there are even monsters. There are many sources of inspiration, such as Celtic and Persian history and mythology. The universe borrows heavily from many mythologies around the world. The Lunar Empire, for example, looks like a mythological interpretation of Alexander the Great's empire after he conquered Egypt and the Persian Empire. You have phalanxes of spearmen, heavy cavalry, and magicians. The Talastars look like a mix between Greeks and Celts. The last faction, which is despised by everyone and hates everyone, is Chaos. I found Chaos to be the most recognisable as I play Warhammer Fantasy a lot. They feature monsters similar to Beastmen and are downright brutal in this adventure. They also have large scorpions and snails.

Runequest Warlords is not only about the world of Glorantha and its future, but also about the heroes you meet along the way. This is a story-driven game, and you will spend a lot of time with the campaign. There is also a skirmish mode and a multiplayer mode. However, these are only battles without context. If you liked the battles in Battlesector, you will surely like the battles here. However, I think the campaign is the star of the show, especially considering that you get to follow characters and experience a reasonably decent story that still makes you want to continue and see what happens next. Although the voice acting sometimes leaves something to be desired, the missions are long. Battlesector felt balanced for Warhammer, and I still think Virtuos manages to differentiate the titles despite the same combat system.

It took me a little over 30 hours to complete the campaign on harder difficulty levels and test a little on other difficulty levels. That's a pretty reasonable length for a campaign. However, some missions could be quite a war of attrition and take up unnecessary time. Other missions had a good pace, and I felt that as a player, you had the opportunity to experiment and try out different strategies. Whether you relied on mages, cavalry, monsters, fast troop types or infantry. The key to winning, however, was almost exclusively the use of all troop types. Although the missions vary in design, such as sieges, ambushes and battles in the forests, it is still about troop placement, choice of troop type, how you upgrade your heroes and what you do on the battlefield. It's almost identical to Battlesector. However, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's a texture flip of that title. It's clear that time has been spent creating a story, exploring the universe, breathing life into the hero characters and creating a good combat system.

The battles work just like in Warhammer 40k: Battlesector, you position your troops. You have a few points to move, attack, or both. Your troops can be rotated and have weaknesses; if you attack from behind, they do more damage than from the front. The unique rune system allows you to perform powerful magical attacks. Once you have moved all your troops and heroes, you stand over your turn and the enemy moves and/or attacks you. You won't find anything unexpected with this combat system, but it works. Sometimes you need to think carefully about whether you can complete the main and side missions without too many losses. However, it doesn't solve any of the flaws in the original system, but keeps it relatively intact. I have very little to complain about as I liked this system.

One advantage of playing against the computer is that it can offer resistance. Especially when they have access to more troops and reinforcements than you, which they almost always do. However, it never becomes a real challenge if you are comfortable with the genre. You will probably want to fight other players for a challenge. This is also what determines how long you will play the game. If you enjoy the campaign, there are 30-40 hours to get out of it, and considerably longer if you like playing the skirmish mode and/or against others. However, I would not dare to say that there is as much replay value as the experience suggests. Once you've finished the campaign, there's no reason to return, as the story and missions aren't interesting or varied enough for that. Even though you can upgrade your heroes and troop types in various ways, I felt done with the game once I'd finished the campaign.

Visually, it looks acceptable based on the standards of the genre. Effects, fire, and textures look good. I haven't encountered any major bugs, only a few minor ones that don't ruin the game. Some examples are textures that don't load correctly and occasional sound issues. Sometimes the characters' voices stop or the background music disappears. However, this happened so rarely that I didn't consider it a major problem. I liked the music and thought it was well balanced for this title. It is not so pompous or loud that it takes over the experience, but contributes well to scenes and battles. When it comes to the characters, their voice acting is clearly acceptable. Unfortunately, it never gets better than good, either in terms of music or voice acting.

If you like Runequest, you might find something to appreciate in this turn-based strategy game. It offers a stable and proven game system with elements of magic. You upgrade your heroes and can tackle many of the missions in different ways. Despite this, there were no gameplay or story-driven surprises. What you see is what you get if you choose to try this game. There are no lavish cutscenes, but you do get 2D videos with voice acting, and it works. In terms of performance, it runs smoothly and the music is acceptable and used in a good way. If you love Runequest, you can probably add a point to the rating. I think this is a good title, but it lacks something that really lifts it beyond good in my opinion. I must admit, though, that I enjoyed exploring all the background information about the Runequest universe via various websites. If you crave a robust, turn-based tactical strategy game and appreciate this universe, Runequest: Warlords might be for you.