Strengths: Warlock: Master of the Arcane has a tremendous amount of different units, all with considerable flavor components. The ability to gain different buildings / units through conquest is incredibly fun, and will have players starting a minor war just to take a border town. The ability to send forces through portals to different planes made the map considerably larger than it would normally seem. While I struggled to keep a town on another plane, the ability to establish a foothold in other dimensions considerably changed my strategy. The bright colors and differentiation between types of units made for a more varied strategy, while legendary units allowed for threats to be quickly banished.
Drawbacks: There are only a few minor issues when playing a campaign on Warlock: Master of the Arcane. I feel that the end-game spells could be expanded; while there is some end to any added buffs on these titles, the game was still very lively by the time I started running out of spells to research. Movement on Warlock: Master of the Arcane was solid, but needed to allow specific units the opportunity to move through tiles containing a mystic portal.
Available on Steam, Warlock: Master of the Arcane is one of the best strategy games that we have reviewed this year. I would love to see an expansion to this title; I feel that there could be additions to the types of buildings and overall dangers that would keep players interested in the title. Pick it up on Steam today for under $20, and see what Paradox is releasing through the end of the year.
Rating: 9.3/10
/ 2012 Paradox Interactive / http://www.warlockmasterofthearcane.com/
John Sargeant, writing on NeuFutur as Sargeant, is the founder and editor-in-chief of NeuFutur Magazine, where he has covered independent music, PC hardware, consumer tech, and gaming culture since 1998. With over 25 years of continuous digital publishing experience, he has written thousands of hands-on game and record reviews, conducted in-depth hardware field testing, and analyzed digital media monetization trends. His work prioritizes first-hand evaluation and long-term product testing.
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