Gaming Review

The design is perfect, but the melee is a bit Benny Hill Lowering your visor prevents insta-kill headshots

1415 and all that Archers are lethal against lightly armoured troops

RELEASE OUT NOW

War of the Roses T

VITAL STATISTICS
Price 25 Developer Fatshark Publisher Paradox Interactive Multiplayer 64-player DRM Steamworks Web www.war oftheroses thegame.com Recommended specs Quad -core CPU, 4GB RAM, GeForce 460/Radeon HD 5870

Historically inspired rather than historically accurate, but the brutality is spot on
he consequences of death in most games are minimal a respawn or checkpoint restart and youre back in business. In MMOs there might be a minor debuff or loss of XP for dying, and in Counterstrike you have to sit out the rest of the round. But in Fatsharks medieval combat simulator War of the Roses, failure in combat leaves you writhing on the ground incapacitated but not dead. Death only comes when an enemy player feels secure enough to take the requisite ve seconds to kill you. And then death is horrendous from a prone rst person perspective you see your enemy smash, stab and bludgeon your avatar into an early (blood)bath. Given that War of the Roses is a multiplayer-only game, mostly bot-free, that enemy is going to be another human being. Players ght on two teams (Lancaster and York) in two game modes a simple deathmatch and a capture-the-ag variant across seven maps. Up to 64 players use the brutally inventive gear of the era plate armour, horses, maces and so on to pummel the other side into submission. Subtle it isnt and yet it is. Because where you swing your weapons, when and for how long makes a big difference. The more damaging weapons are harder to use (for example, hammers are only effective at the business end), and as players are armoured in different locations and can parry in different positions, combat can go on until someone slips up. Or gets piled on by respawning enemies. WotR isnt as skilful as the nearest alternative, Mount & Blade, but it has that Team Fortress joy of the chaotic melee. Sadly, it never reaches the latters stages of tactical awareness. this isnt it. Though it has the eras brutality, the team has researched the period well enough and the levels are all based around actual battles, its not attempting to be a perfect sim like Neal Stephensons forthcoming CLANG. It wants to be just good enough to sit in that spot between Battleeld 3 and Mount & Blade, and the historical era is a handy theme. Its also missing a single-player mode, beyond some training levels. Though War of the Roses is bloody good fun, and creating such customisable units is a huge step forward for multiplayer games, this lack of long-term content is its biggest aw. Youll probably play all the levels and the four base characters in your rst hour, then be left grinding to unlock all the weird weaponry, armour and upgrades. Youll still get fun out of trying out new stuff, but the actual game doesnt change much once Dan Griliopoulos you do.

Joust the ticket

As you play the game, you unlock both experience and gold. The game drip-feeds you four basic classes to start with, then unlocks custom slots as you level up. Using gold (gained from knockdowns, wins and executions), you can unlock new weapons, armour and perks, and then customise them. You might take a bastard sword and give it a new blade, handle, edge, design and metal, until you have something thats quite your own, specied to your playstyle. Or you might buy a horse and lance, and ride around the battleeld insta-killing archers. You can also customise your coat of arms, your helmet plumes and more. Its worth noting that if youre looking for a historical simulator,

Great fun but less of a War of the Roses and more of a squabble of the posies. Lacks long-term content too.

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Christmas 2012

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10/25/12 3:34 PM