8 /10 1 Votes
4.5/5 GOG Producer(s) Christopher J. Foster Initial release date 1994 | 7/10 Steam Director(s) David Lester Programmer(s) Simon Bradbury Composer(s) Jason P. Rinaldi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Designer(s) Christopher J. Foster, David Lester Similar Impressions games, Turn-based strategy games, Other games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lords of the realm 2 pc classics review
Lords of the Realm is a turn-based strategy computer game published and developed by Impressions Games. It was first released on June 15, 1994, and is the first game in the Lords of the Realm series.
Contents
Summary
The game takes place in a medieval setting, with several characters warring for the right to be either King of England, or King of Germany. Players manage their armies as well as their land and population, build and lay siege to castles, and generally attempt to crush their enemies.
Battles between armies take place in a real-time environment, similar to real-time strategy games, with players able to control individual units as well as control them as a group, during which units would group into formations. Players may also choose to allow the computer to determine the outcome of the battle. The game also features a small castle-building portion.
Release
The game was published by Impression Games in the UK (Amiga) and US (DOS) both in 1994. It was distributed by Sierra On-Line Ltd. in the UK (Windows) in 1997, DMV Daten- und Medienverlag GmbH & Co. KG. in Germany (DOS) in 1997, and Axel Springer Polska Sp. z o.o. in Poland (DOS) in 2001.
In the Crucial Entertainment CD release of Lords of the Realm, the game came bundled with a 34-page PDF book of England Under Edward 1 written by Jennifer Hawthorne. This work described English history ranging from the Norman Conquest through to the reign of King Edward I.
Critical reception
A reviewer for Next Generation deemed Lords of the Realm a must-have title for strategy fans, citing the randomized events, genuine challenge, impressive rendered cut scenes, player-controlled battles, and overall diverse gameplay.
In a retrospective review, Michael House of Allgame wrote, "Whatever faults can be attributed to the game's mechanics or contents are almost uniformly minor and in most instances an error of omission. From structure to game play, Lords of the Realm has notched its own place in wargaming history." The Escapist's Stew Shearer summed up his review with "Lords of the Realm is a stellar strategy game that's more than worth the $5.99 that GOG is asking for it (and Lords of the Realm 2). It can have moments where things feel a bit too slow, but overall it's a fantastic experience that fans of the genre would be remiss to skip over".
Sequels
Lords of the Realm was followed up by several sequels: Lords of the Realm II in 1996 (which included an expansion pack), Lords of Magic in 1997 and Lords of the Realm III in 2004.