I have spent many a night with friends huddled around the table in a darkened room: dice rolled around the table as we took turns battling for our plastic men's lives.  With any luck, the attack proved fruitful.  Battles were won or lost with outcries from opponents.

Many will realize that I am referring to the board game Risk and will know the thrill of a strategy becoming successful or going south all together.  There is a joy to be found in forming a strategy used to make moves and plan attacks.  To top it all off, trading up for the one piece to higher ones, almost felt as though I was leveling up a character. 

If you were to make a sandwich with strategy, role-playing and layer on a medieval world you would have a game called Fantasy Wars.  In this game, you battle your way though missions and campaigns fighting against monsters and anything else that stands in your way.  It is truly a board game come to life on your PC.

Graphics – 80%
Even if you were literally thrust into this world, you would have no trouble identifying it as a land where knights and swordsmen rule the battlefield.  The graphics pull you into the environment and give an overall sense of the land that you are exploring.  In fact, most of the art work is well done including the characters while engaged in battle.  These battle animations are smooth and enjoyable to watch.  The graphics aren't high end, and while they are not poor, they certainly are not top of the line.  This is particularly evident during character close-ups shown in cut scenes.

Sound – 80%
The sound quality is acceptable: it's enough to not cause insanity or grief.  The constant ambient fanfare adds to the overall sense of the world.  Battle sounds are absolutely what they should be.  It is nice to hear the bow of an archer bends and twangs as the dull thud of the arrow hits an Orc.  These sounds are really what garnered an 80% for this category.  Additionally, hearing the voices of characters instead of just reading what they have to say is a real plus.  It also gives a certain sense of reality to the story during cut scenes.

Gameplay – 95%
I simply adore the setup of this game.  Movements are based on a hexagonal grid and it is not left up to you to guess as it visually shows you where you can move each unit.  It's nice to not have to keep track of those types of things. 

Be aware, it is beneficial to go through the tutorial to pick up strategies that just aren't obvious during regular play, but even then, the learning curve is high for more complex strategies.  I assume that if we were all able to pick it up so easily we'd all be generals of armies in real life.  Fantasy Wars' gameplay is a long laborious battle fueled by strategy and power.  At the end of a mission, I would often let out an exhausted, "Whew!", as I did not expect to win.

Cutscenes/Videos – 80%
Although I initially thought of giving a lower score for cut scenes, I took into consideration that this genre doesn't generally lend itself to them.  The ones that are present, generally only play when something significant has occurred.  For example, one often utilized scene was simply a character shaking his head, after which the game would return to the usual type of dialog that is utilized.

The one area where I wish there was some sort of cutscene was while loading a mission as I am fairly sick of watching a loading bar while I wait to play.  However the tips given during the loads are useful and key to success.  The king of any cut scene would be the battle animations, that is if you consider them a cutscene as I do.  It is a quick step away from main play and really gives the fantasy feel an edge.

Controls/Interface – 95%
Fantasy Wars' interface is all click-based and is easy to navigate.  The camera can be rotated, zoomed, and even moved.  Selecting troops, upgrading men, and deploying new troops is a little tricky at first, but becomes second nature over time.

The interface's clean look and style fits the feel of the game.  It is effective at conveying important information without obstructing the view.  In all, it does its job and it does it well.

Summary – 86%
Overall, this is a fairly decent game.  It has all the qualities you would come to expect from a strategy board game and some elements we all love about role-playing games.   And don't forget about the great medieval feel to it.  I mostly concentrated on the Human campaign, but if you tire of that, there are also Orc and Elven ones.  I suggest starting with the difficulty set to easy, and working your way toward more difficult play.

The game's replay value is high: after finishing campaigns you can check out the multiplayer mode, both via the Internet and also local play on one machine (board game style). 

Again, I really enjoyed this game.  There is enough of a thrill to get my heart racing just that little bit for me to have a great time.  Simply, Fantasy Wars is a good game.  Battle On!

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