Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon - PC Games

The first surprise came with the opening movie. Simply put, it kicked much ass, recapping a period of Chinese history that lays the foundation for the story of three warlords trying to reunite all of China under a new Han Dynasty. It's also well done from a visual standpoint, keeping the theme in mind, by mixing Chinese ink drawings with CGI and using camera stops to enhance climactic scenes. In fact, it was so impressive we watched it twice.

The next surprise came in the gameplay. Yeah, it's 2D and resource based, but it's also quite a bit different from the big three. The resource model is both more complex and easier to control. Neutral villages are beneficial for their taxes, but a burden to defend and assist in times of cataclysm. Military units need a supply of food and wine or they gradually become less effective. The map is divided up into city maps and larger territory maps. The game is almost a city-building game, almost a turn-based strategy and almost a board game. Combined together the possibilities have us excited.

The resource model at first seems much more complex; for instance; there are seven resources instead of three, and certain resources can only be made from the basic ingredients. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's more difficult -- if anything, it's simpler. Instead of constantly having to reassign villagers or queue farms, once assigned a job, the workers continue to work on that job without having to be attended every five minutes. Farms are replanted, swineherds slaughter, woodcutters hunt for new trees and miners dig. Not only that, but in many cases if an idle villager sees something happening -- for instance, others constructing a building -- the villager will automatically jump in to help. These are some of the smartest worker units we've seen in an RTS, and the ability to set up an economy and then let it run itself is a natural extension of what Ensemble Studios was addressing with farm queues in The Conquerors expansion of Age of Empires. If the economy goes out of whack, it's simple to reassign units to balance the needs of city.

The only resource that isn't gained from workers is gold, which is raised from taxing the city and the surrounding villages loyal to your city. This, of course, fuels conquest; villages need to be subjugated and then protected for the tax benefits they represent. Overall, once comfortable with the resource model, the player can safely forget about it and get to work on the military.

The military aspects of the game are familiar to anyone who has played a 2D RTS before, albeit with a few interesting exceptions. The biggest noticeable difference is the need for supplies; as soon as a soldier leaves the city walls, he starts using up the food he's carrying. When out of food, units' strength decreases, making them less effective on the battlefield. Mobile wagons can supply the warriors in the field, but will need to be stocked with additional food and wine brought out by villagers. If a camp is destroyed, the food is lost. The supply aspect pushes players towards either a careful well-ordered approach or lightning attacks designed to get into and out of battle before supplies run out.

The second noticeable difference for military conquest is the way the map is divided up. It's comprised of two maps: a large territory map that includes all the cities and villages and a different map that represents the interior of the city. Building, raising troops, harvesting, etc is accomplished within the city's walls. Right from the start the player's base is protected behind large walls, making early game rushes almost impossible. When attacking another city, units will actually enter the city map of the enemy, destroy the gates to the city and invade. It also allows time to set up the early economy, then later become more concerned with the military. Playing the game feels less rushed than the typical RTS.

The list of features could continue, but we don't want to bore you with every detail; suffice to say the game also features Hero units, multiplayer, single-player campaign, single player skirmish, technology trees, random events and a lot more. If you're interested, check out the demo from December. Eidos said the title will be released in early April, so the wait time is pretty minimal. A multiplayer demo is said to be in the works on the game as well; expect that in the next couple of weeks. --From DailyRadar.com --This text refers to the [Link removed - login to see] edition.

In the confusion following the collapse of the Eastern Han Dynasty in 2nd Century China, rival warlords take control of their respective territories and set up their own kingdoms, splitting China into three parts. As one of these three warlords, you must build your own regime, develop new technologies and create a mighty army in an attempt to control The Three Kingdoms and reunify China.

Fate of the Dragon is a real-time strategy game based on the 14th century historical Chinese novel entitled Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Known to be one of the most famous and turbulent periods in Chinese history, the story has been passed down the generations throughout Asia through books, plays, puppetry and storytellers. Now, Eidos Interactive brings the story of The Three Kingdoms to a worldwide audience with the release of Fate of the Dragon on the PC. --This text refers to the [Link removed - login to see] edition.