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(More customer reviews)Sorcery, treachery, and strategy are combined with the attributes you'd expect from any console fighting game... but Wrath Unleashed gives you more bang for the buck than any game I've seen of this genre, though there certainly aren't many.
For gamers that have been around a while, you may remember Archon, or maybe you were one of those lucky few who happened to find Eidos Interactive's "The Unholy War" game for the original Playstation. In either case, you'd know what to expect from a hex-board type strategy game, combined with fighting and a touch of magic. Though I've seldom been impressed by Lucas Arts games, I am quite surprised that they've managed to resurrect this concept with complete success.
One of the greatest strengths of Wrath Unleashed is its versatility and replay value. This game doesn't lock you into a set mode of play. You can choose to either ONLY play on the hex board (like a game of chess, similar to the one in Star Wars: A New Hope), you can just do head-to-head fighting combat in the arena mode, similar to any console fighter game, or combine both! There are several modes of play (campaign, battle, versus, etc.), but even within those modes, you have many options you can change yourself. You can edit your team (selecting units) and save them under your name, you can set many parameters such as how many turns the game will end, or if you want the game to end when people lose their god (leader), or levels of difficulty, how quickly magic recharges, and the list goes on. Just when I thought I reached the point where I could beat the AI (computer player) and it wouldn't be fun anymore, I then realized I could choose to play against TWO or even THREE AI players, and I can even select each of their difficulty levels.
Another great upgrade to the earlier games of this nature is the maps and how they play an integral part in the strategy of combat. Similar to The Unholy War where certain creatures have strengths or weaknesses based on what hex environment they are standing on, Wrath Unleashed has the environments linked to the entire race (each race has an element they favor, be it water, wind, earth, or fire). What is even more interesting is one of the spells that you can cast is "transform land", which changes up to 4 or 5 hexes to the environment favored by your race (an effective strategy that pays off in the end when your creatures end up fighting in those areas). The maps also have different means of accomplishing objectives. The common objective is usually to occupy all of the temple hexes. However, some more advanced maps you must first occupy the spires that then OPEN UP more hexes to reveal more temples. The maps also have portals enabling you to transport yourself across the map, adding another element of surprise and strategic calculation. Once in arena combat, you can see how environment can aid or hurt your creature while they are fighting.
The sorcery elements in Wrath Unleashed remind me of the card game Magic: The Gathering (MTG) and the PC game Warcraft III. Like MTG, you need mana to cast spells and to do so you must have a creature occupying mana-generating hexes. There are many spells such as transport a unit, heal, wrath (attack), summon elemental, resurrect, etc. Like Warcraft III, you have a few important heroes that can't be bought or replicated, however, they can be resurrected.
There are four different races in Wrath Unleashed, all of which have unique creatures and abilities. For instance, the lower-grade creatures, though weak in combat, serve an entirely different strategy on the hex board. When they occupy a hex, they create a "blocking" or "slowing-down" perimeter of one hex so the enemy has to take more turns to pass or attack them. Each race gets one god (leader) who can cast all of the spells, and one other hero that can cast most of the spells.
In the strategy mode of the game (whether it be hex-board only, or hex-board and arena combined) it is turn-based, meaning a player can choose to do one thing (cast a spell, or move, or attack) and then the next player's turn begins. Unlike The Unholy War's 3 moves per turn, this makes your decisions all the more critical. You cannot choose to HEAL someone and ATTACK in the same turn, for instance. If you choose to play hex-board mode only, when two creatures occupy the same hex, they have a brief battle on the actual board and the computer determines the outcome based on hex environment and the strength of the creatures. I have found the AI to be very fair and intelligent.
Now I must share some of the cons, to be fair. The two largest complaints I would have is one, the load time between the hex board and then the arena fight is very long. Then after the battle, you have to wait and load again. The load time seems longer than any fighter game I've ever played. However, if you choose to only play on the hex board, then there is no load time needed. The other complaint I would have is though the graphics look great, the board seems a bit difficult to digest at times. It's as if the detailed hexes create a busy backdrop to see the creatures, in fact, some of them almost blend in which makes it difficult to focus. This problem can be easily fixed however by moving the camera around the board (which you can go above, around, zoom in + out).
I applaud Lucas Arts for taking this concept and offering so many options to make this game worth the money. Hopefully Wrath Unleashed will make game companies' heads turn, and produce more games of this kind.
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Wrath Unleashed is a cross between intense fighting action and thought-provoking strategy, where you'll control monsters who are warring for the right to become gods!
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