ith the slew of RTS titles released over the past year, you’d think that reviewing another one would fill me with nothing but loathing. However, Warlords Battlecry III manages to overcome its deficiencies and deliver a worthwhile old-school romp through the world of Etheria.

Right from the start, you’ll be astounded by the amount of content in WBC III. 16 races, 13 schools of magic, and 28 hero classes make for a staggering number of options. They’re anything but mere cosmetic differences, too – playing the same race with another hero can result in a completely new experience. As you progress through the campaign, you’ll be faced with plenty more choices: which battles to fight, where to go, what items to equip on your avatar, and which units to accept into your retinue for future combats. This RPG-like structure accounts for the lion’s share of the enjoyment here, as leveling your hero up to be a one-man (or woman) invasion force is as compelling as it always is.

Gameplay is textbook RTS, but with some nice additions that would be awesome were they more consistent. The ability to set formations is great, but too clunky to do on the fly. Telling your forces what attitude (aggressive, scout, etc.) to cop is a wonderful idea, but many of the scripts don’t work like they should. Multiplayer is serviceable, though not up to the standards of the genre’s heavy hitters. Additionally, friendly unit AI is sometimes soul-crushingly stupid while enemy AI is very reminiscent of WarCraft II, and the normal difficulty setting is a total joke for anyone with a lick of RTS experience.

None of these shortcomings, however, get so obnoxious that they kill the fun factor. If you’re more of an offline gamer, and are looking for the satisfaction inherent in kicking your enemies up and down the map while developing an ever-more-invincible hero, Warlords Battlecry III is for you.  

ANDY MCNAMARA   7 It would be easy to write Battlecry III off for the simple reason that the graphics and most of the interface, while acceptable, are nowhere near the standards of today’s biggest and best real-time strategy games. From the 2D look and unimpressive models to the annoying lack of camera control, Battlecry has its fair share of problems, but it also has some solid gameplay mechanics. The ability to create your character from a wide variety of races and classes gives the game a nice personal touch. Unfortunately, the in-game model doesn’t reflect your creation as much as I would like. Overall, Battlecry III is standard RTS fare with mediocre graphics, but like the previous editions there are some cool things you can do, like level-up and outfit your hero with items, which I find to be the most endearing part of the series.