System: PC
Genre: RTS
Developer: Black Cactus
Publisher: Empire
Players 1-8 (online)

Every once in a while a game drops into your lap that you can realistically see yourself playing in months, even years, to come. This is one of those games. We here at news0r were privileged enough to obtain some advanced copies of the game from our good friends at Empire Interactive and this reviewer was personally blown away… So naturally I shut the window and stuck the game in.

The Background
The game is set in medieval times with the primary combat based around knights, pikeman and so on. However as with a lot of RTS games the more you progress through the game the more advanced your civilisation becomes and the more weaponry becomes available to you. The campaign missions are based around the quest for dominance of a continent not dissimilar to Europe, and surprisingly enough the first campaign takes place in a small island country called Angland. Noticing any similarities yet?

As you progress through the continent you are awarded bonuses for completion. These range from population increases to advancement where in the next campaign you have access to new buildings and units. The other main game is the skirmish game which does exactly what it says on the screen. This is where most of the online play takes place although there is an option for the lonely gamer who can partake in skirmish battles against a number of challenging AI computer generals across an array of landscapes.

The Way of Truth and God or Devil Worshipping?... Oh the Choices
The limits of combat in WK:B are almost endless. There are three main paths you can choose for your civilisation. Renaissance, Pagan or Imperial, each holding their own positive and negative points. Pagan and Imperial are the two main routes, both very different and exciting to follow. Renaissance can be followed alongside either of the others or by itself. The route you choose depends wholly on the buildings you create for your townsfolk to worship at.

With the Pagan route comes the summoning of Abaddon whilst the Imperial route gives you the option of summoning the Sword of God. These are the strongest combat units that can be created in the game; neither can be controlled by the player. They merely seek out your opposition and utterly obliterate anything in their path. Of course they are stoppable but you need a lot of men and a lot of Religious Units to banish them, and even then sometimes that just isn't enough. However if the creation of a practically unbeatable monster doesn't appeal then do not despair! With a population limit that can be increased to 800 in the skirmish mode the option of creating an army of mass destruction and invading the person you just allied with is very much alive.

As with the Abaddon and SoG the variation of units you have to select from varies depending on which path you have chosen. And that without even touching on what units can beat others. There is a method within WK:B whereby the perfect army can be constructed using the strengths of each unit to protect another and therefore making the army almost invincible. Anyone who finds out the strategy and gets it working successfully can feel free to email us at the usual address.