Lords of the Realm II

Lords of the Realm II is a real-time and turn-based strategy game for Windows and Mac OS from 1996. It was developed by Impressions Games . It was released by Sierra Entertainment . It is the second computer game in the Lords of the Realm series. The predecessor is Lords of the Realm from 1994. The sequel Lords of the Realm III was released in 2004.

action

The plot of Lords of the Realm II takes place in the Middle Ages in the second half of the 13th century . The game starts in 1268. The English King Edward I is dead and had neither left nor determined an heir to the throne before . Thus, the throne is orphaned and the nobility and a clergyman will from now on fight for the claim to the throne and fight each other.

Gameplay

Game world

The player chooses a card before starting the game; In addition to historical maps (e.g. England , France , the Holy Roman Empire , Crusades ), there are also abstract shapes and country maps (e.g. geometric patterns, China , America and the like) to choose from. The opponents controlled by the AI are “the knight”, “the baron”, “the bishop” and “the countess”.

popularity

At the start of the game, the player receives a county and must take care of its population, economy and defense. The population must always be satisfied with low taxes, beer ( ale ) and enough food in order to stimulate population growth and to avoid peasant revolts . If the population of a country is dissatisfied for several rounds and there is an uprising, the peasants band together in an army , devastate the surrounding area and wander through the country until the uprising is put down.

Economic system

First the player has to set the tax rate and the food rations, consisting of bread and cheese, for the farmers. Then you have to divide the inactive farmers from the village square to work such as: chopping wood, milking cows, growing grain, stone carving, collecting iron ore and forging weapons and armor. If fields are damaged by opponents or storms, the farmers can also be assigned to renew them, which takes a few rounds. Maces, bows, swords, pikes (actually halberds ), crossbows and knight armor can be produced as weapons in the armory with enough iron ore and wood , which come to the armory after completion.

military

If enough weapons and armor are available, the player can set up and equip an army, which must be at least 50 men strong. How many peasants are drafted into the army affects the happiness of the land. If too many farmers are called up, the satisfaction rate drops rapidly and there are fewer workers available in the village square until the population gradually rises again by itself. Once an army has been set up and equipped, it can either be quartered in the castle as a garrison to protect the land, or it can be sent against your enemies to conquer their lands. If the enemy has a castle in the affected land, the player must besiege it in order to take it, whereby he must build siege devices such as battering rams, catapults and siege towers in order to storm the walls and the gate. After a few rounds, the siege devices are ready and you can storm the castle, while the game switches to a real-time battle in which you can command your troops and war machines against the AI.

extension

The add-on Lords of the Realm II - Siege Pack offers a new battle editor with storage space for 20 maps you have designed yourself, in which you can lead sieges and field battles directly in real time. The add-on also includes 20 new battlefield maps, 10 new castles, improved AI, a new campaign, new animated video sequences, and more randomly generated events.

criticism

“The first part of Lords of the Realm was released a good year ago. Even then, the game of Impressions caused a sensation with its interesting mix of genres from business, strategy and real-time. However, it suffered from poor technology, especially the graphics were second class. The king is dead, long live the king! But what happens if the rightful ruler has not appointed an heir to the throne before his death? Intrigue, war, hunger and plague plague the kingdom as every aristocrat tries to usurp power, no matter what the cost. It is completely irrelevant whether France, Germany, England or Italy is in the post-war. As a player, your only goal is to ascend the throne yourself. Four other lords stand in your way and must inevitably be persuaded by force of arms that they are not worthy of the royal throne. However, military superiority can only be achieved if you are ahead economically. Those who exploit their lands, do not care for the well-being of the farmers, cultivate fields and raise cattle have, firstly, no money for weapons and, secondly, no people to call up for military service. So the subjects want to be assigned to cultivating fields, milking cows, felling wood, mining, armory and building castles. At the same time, you set the food distribution and tax rate. Sufficient food, good health and low taxes raise morale and increase the population. Brutal tax rates, famine, epidemics and wars lead to a loss of morale and, if something is not done about it in time, uprisings by the peasants and the loss of the land. Overall, the economic part has been simplified slightly. Furthermore, the complexity can be set in a user-friendly manner when the game is started. "

- Alexander Geltenpoth, PC Action Issue 1/1997.

Press review

Reviews in PC game magazines :

PC Games , Issue 1/1997: 71% fun
PC Action , Issue 1/1997: Game fun 74%
GameSpot : 7.6 out of 10
Metacritic : 77/100

Web links

Lord of the Realm II at MobyGames (English)
Lords of the Ream II on Steam (English)

Individual evidence

[1] Rating by GameSpot

[2] Rating by Metacritic