Battle Realms + Winter of the Wolf

I wanted to play this game so bad but is not working. It keeps crashing with the display error. I LOVE GOG... but this is disheartening. I suppose its the risk we take with old games. I will have to ask for a refund...sadly. Id rather be playing this game right now. It was among the last I wanted/needed to complete my library.

I picked it up shortly after the game came out. And i didn't regret it. It is an awesome RTS game, with unique mechanics and twists, 4 factions that each play severely different and yet feel more balanced than not, and the visuals, while dated(i mean the game IS 15 years old by now) are very charming in their unique and fitting artstyle that fits the gameplay rather well. The campaign can be a bit unfair at times, but for it's time gives you a lot of choice in how to tackle it, and even has two branching pathways that play drastically different. As a bonus, while i used to play this game a lot, i used to play it in my motherlanguage, in which the add-on, Winter of the Wolf, was never localized, at least i was never able to find it. The GOG version has it though, even in my language as well. The only downside to this game is that sadly, it doesn't support online multiplayer. The developer said they would update it for GOG Galaxy and Steam Multiplayer, but we didn't hear about that in over a year so it's probably not going to happen anymore. But it has lan play so if you feel like doing an old school lan-party i guarantee you will be having a great time with this game!

Played this back in the day. Finsihed both the main game and Winter of the wolf. The enemy is smart, just using the strongest unit in droves won't work. The graphics are a little blocky but it is old. Also there aren't many games with this kind of story. The mix of some RPG elements also makes the game more involved when it comes to the story. Each team has multiple heroes who get a bit of a back story to draw you in. Only real issue is that (as of this review) it won't run if you have multiple screens hooked up. Otherwise, a good fun game with a bit of replayability thanks to the expansion.

Unlike a lot of RTS games this one impresses me with how quickly the game transitions from base building to battle, and how customizable your approach to battle can be! There's only two resources generally (rice and water) and units spawn and train quickly but the key strategy at work is all the work that goes into crafting the right balance of melee and ranged fighters, heroes and ordinary units. Eventually you can train horses adding a whole new level with mounted archers and spearmen who can be unseated but don't die immediately along with their mounts (even Warcraft 3 couldn't manage that). I love the aesthetic: a sort of fantasy feudal Japanese flavor to things which isn't insulting or without purpose in terms of the story, mythology and characters. It's seldom to see something with this kind of aesthetic: a war game set in almost soothingly natural environments of rolling hills, rice fields, stepping stones over water falls and forests with birds that take to flight on the approach of your armies. Lots of great single player campaigns. The voice acting is a bit hammy sometimes but it's all over the place and there's a lot of dialogue so you seldom get tired of listening to your units and heroes. I highly recommend this to people who prefer faster, streamlined, and personal combat. If you like the history of feudal Japan you might also enjoy some of the analogues in the main campaign.

Release date 2014? wtf! its 2017 go play in GOG my friends! ;) cause it will never come up in steam ever!! Trust me don't fall for their trick just play in gog battle realms!