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Sultans, Kings and Czars fight for medieval glory in this world-building, alliance-forging epic from Gameloft

Sultans, Kings and Czars fight for medieval glory in this world-building, alliance-forging epic from Gameloft

Vote: (2 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: Gameloft

Version: 2.8

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(2 votes)

Free

Developer

Version

Gameloft

2.8

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • An MMO strategy game with a surprising amount of tactical depth
  • Emperor system adds a sense of social intrigue to the game

Cons

  • Long build times may turn off impatient players
  • Requires players to learn to navigate a variety of complex systems

March of Empires: War of Lords offers a higher level of tactical options than many of the other mobile strategy games on the market, but the actual gameplay can get heavy on the number crunching. If you're the type of strategist who enjoys the precise micromanagement of overseeing an army's advances, you'll find plenty to love here. But it may be overwhelming for players who aren't used to this more detail oriented approach to strategy.

While March of Empires may look like any other number of strategy games at first blush, there are a lot of interlocking systems to unpack here. You start by picking the type of kingdom you prefer, with each offering their own perks. These aren't game changing, but they do allow you to tailor an experience that suits your style. Tsars, kings, and sultans are all available, and each comes with their own unique unit types. They also have different bonuses for their troops and buildings.

This sort of attention to detail permeates every aspect of March of Empires, but you might not realize it for a while. From the start, March of Empires doesn't seem that different from any number of other massively mobile online strategy games. A city building experience sits at the heart of March of Empires, and you have a huge number of buildings to choose from. They affect everything from your resource and unit production to upgrades for your city and soldiers. March of Empires is generous with its various currencies at first, but you'll learn quickly that you have to find a suitable balance between growing your city and providing it with adequate defenses. Real world build times combined with the slow flow of resources provide choke points in your production, but a bigger threat comes in the form of other players.

When players launch the game, their city is created in an already populated server. Countless other players are vying for resources on the map, and one of the best ways to acquire new resources is by launching raids on your neighbors. March of Empires offers a battle system that's sophisticated in comparison to much of the competition. Instead of sending wave after wave of soldiers to neighboring cities, you have control over your unit formations. The right mix of different units and smart formations can make all the difference in the field of battle, and that adds a level of challenge that's rarely seen in games like these.

Also separating March of Empires from the rest of the competition is the presence of global politics. While many of these games employ in-game clans or alliances, March of Empires actually assigns an emperor to each server. The emperor is allowed to make rules for the server, assign titles with special powers to individual players, and launch games that players can engage in for special rewards.

Pros

  • An MMO strategy game with a surprising amount of tactical depth
  • Emperor system adds a sense of social intrigue to the game

Cons

  • Long build times may turn off impatient players
  • Requires players to learn to navigate a variety of complex systems