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Chess, Magic The Gathering, and fighter game all in one

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: March 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Sorcery, treachery, and strategy are combined with the attributes you'd expect from any console fighting game... but Wrath Unleashed gives you more bang for the buck than any game I've seen of this genre, though there certainly aren't many.

For gamers that have been around a while, you may remember Archon, or maybe you were one of those lucky few who happened to find Eidos Interactive's "The Unholy War" game for the original Playstation. In either case, you'd know what to expect from a hex-board type strategy game, combined with fighting and a touch of magic. Though I've seldom been impressed by Lucas Arts games, I am quite surprised that they've managed to resurrect this concept with complete success.

One of the greatest strengths of Wrath Unleashed is its versatility and replay value. This game doesn't lock you into a set mode of play. You can choose to either ONLY play on the hex board (like a game of chess, similar to the one in Star Wars: A New Hope), you can just do head-to-head fighting combat in the arena mode, similar to any console fighter game, or combine both! There are several modes of play (campaign, battle, versus, etc.), but even within those modes, you have many options you can change yourself. You can edit your team (selecting units) and save them under your name, you can set many parameters such as how many turns the game will end, or if you want the game to end when people lose their god (leader), or levels of difficulty, how quickly magic recharges, and the list goes on. Just when I thought I reached the point where I could beat the AI (computer player) and it wouldn't be fun anymore, I then realized I could choose to play against TWO or even THREE AI players, and I can even select each of their difficulty levels.

Another great upgrade to the earlier games of this nature is the maps and how they play an integral part in the strategy of combat. Similar to The Unholy War where certain creatures have strengths or weaknesses based on what hex environment they are standing on, Wrath Unleashed has the environments linked to the entire race (each race has an element they favor, be it water, wind, earth, or fire). What is even more interesting is one of the spells that you can cast is "transform land", which changes up to 4 or 5 hexes to the environment favored by your race (an effective strategy that pays off in the end when your creatures end up fighting in those areas). The maps also have different means of accomplishing objectives. The common objective is usually to occupy all of the temple hexes. However, some more advanced maps you must first occupy the spires that then OPEN UP more hexes to reveal more temples. The maps also have portals enabling you to transport yourself across the map, adding another element of surprise and strategic calculation. Once in arena combat, you can see how environment can aid or hurt your creature while they are fighting.

The sorcery elements in Wrath Unleashed remind me of the card game Magic: The Gathering (MTG) and the PC game Warcraft III. Like MTG, you need mana to cast spells and to do so you must have a creature occupying mana-generating hexes. There are many spells such as transport a unit, heal, wrath (attack), summon elemental, resurrect, etc. Like Warcraft III, you have a few important heroes that can't be bought or replicated, however, they can be resurrected.

There are four different races in Wrath Unleashed, all of which have unique creatures and abilities. For instance, the lower-grade creatures, though weak in combat, serve an entirely different strategy on the hex board. When they occupy a hex, they create a "blocking" or "slowing-down" perimeter of one hex so the enemy has to take more turns to pass or attack them. Each race gets one god (leader) who can cast all of the spells, and one other hero that can cast most of the spells.

In the strategy mode of the game (whether it be hex-board only, or hex-board and arena combined) it is turn-based, meaning a player can choose to do one thing (cast a spell, or move, or attack) and then the next player's turn begins. Unlike The Unholy War's 3 moves per turn, this makes your decisions all the more critical. You cannot choose to HEAL someone and ATTACK in the same turn, for instance. If you choose to play hex-board mode only, when two creatures occupy the same hex, they have a brief battle on the actual board and the computer determines the outcome based on hex environment and the strength of the creatures. I have found the AI to be very fair and intelligent.

Now I must share some of the cons, to be fair. The two largest complaints I would have is one, the load time between the hex board and then the arena fight is very long. Then after the battle, you have to wait and load again. The load time seems longer than any fighter game I've ever played. However, if you choose to only play on the hex board, then there is no load time needed. The other complaint I would have is though the graphics look great, the board seems a bit difficult to digest at times. It's as if the detailed hexes create a busy backdrop to see the creatures, in fact, some of them almost blend in which makes it difficult to focus. This problem can be easily fixed however by moving the camera around the board (which you can go above, around, zoom in + out).

I applaud Lucas Arts for taking this concept and offering so many options to make this game worth the money. Hopefully Wrath Unleashed will make game companies' heads turn, and produce more games of this kind.

I suggest you rent it first.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: June 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

At first, this game is pretty fun, but after playing it for a few days, the fun wears off.
PROS:
1. A unique mix of strategy and action.
2. Good to play with a few friends.
CONS:
1. Slow loading screens.
2. Repeated gameplay.
Anyway, I suggest you rent it before you buy it, but all in all, it was a tolerable game.

Archon started it all...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game! I is a 3D version of Archon. If you liked The Unholy War for the Playstation, then this game is for you. The musical score is excellent. It has a great new take on the unicorn. The graphics are exceptional. The only down side is the loading time. There is a long delay before and after battle scenes. My only other complaint is that the creatures are a little repetitive. A masterfully crafted game! The best part is, you can play up to four people! I love tactical games! I rented the game based on a review, and then ran out and bought not only the game, but the guide for it as well. It was worth the money.

Cybernet (Capricorn Programs) Game of the Week!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: September 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Would seem our "professional" reviewer for this game is a bit bias, given Cybernet has just selected this their game of the week on several criteria. Other reviews here are more helpful, more balanced and more accurate than our "pro's". Oh well...you know what they say opinions are like ;) guess that's what makes Jeremy Zoss yet another "pro".

Great take on battle chess

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: March 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I played a few demos on PS2 and Xbox and finally played the whole thing. It DOES take some time for load screens before AND after each fight but that's the only problem I had with it. The strategy aspect is a nice addition due to environmental fighting can give different characters advantages. learning different combos with light and hard attacks is key in winning the battles.

You can win by taking over temples too. If you take over enough of them, you can win. Or do it my way. Just take out their entire team.

A guy told everyone on here to rent it, don't buy it and then procceded to give the game 5 stars. HUH???

If you can get a demo, I suggest you try it first but I bought it and liked it.

A good concept gone horribly bad.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Wrath Unleashed seems to be an attempt to capture the magic that was known as Adept/Archon on the C64 ages ago. It's a simple formula but you'd be surprised by how badly they mess it up.

The load times are atrocious, considering the content the game spits out. The battle maps are adequate at best with little graphical candy to spice it up. Strategy is also severely hampered since the only variables are distance and terrain type. It's really not too complicated, and yet it takes 20 seconds to load it after EVERY fight. The fights themselves take 20 seconds to load and you are confined to the smallest arena of any kind of fighting game. Considering that the PS2 can pump out much much more than what Wrath Unleashed does, the load times and puny arenas are a crime.

The battle themselves lack depth. Everyone has a projectile. Everyone has the same chains of melee attacks. They just have different animations and even those aren't very impressive. The special magic attacks are pathetic. Everything boils down to light melee attacks because everything else will be too slow and you'll be hit instead of doing your move.
To sum it all up, you have maybe 4 types of moves that everyone does. The same. Different animations don't equal depth or variety in gameplay. Neither does it lend itself to any real fighting strategy. PSOne games have shown more substance.

On top of this you can add some seriously unbalanced play. Certain monsters are vastly more powerful than their supposed counterparts from other sides. For example, the Ogre Mage is available to only one side and the reach of it's sword and the power behind that reach makes Cyclopses, Demons, etc. weak in comparison.

There are only 4 campaign missions for each of the 4 sides. The variety in strategy is limited. You can either kill the opposing demi-god, capture the temple spaces and.. well since wiping out all the monsters means wiping out the god as well... there isn't much actually going on in this game. It is an excercise in boredom.

If you absolutely must, just rent it to toy around with it for a few hours. There isn't enough gameplay behind this game to warrant any further investment of time or money.
Even if you are a fan of Adept/Archon, avoid Wrath Unleased.

OKAY

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 10
Date: December 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Don't buy it but rent it. The graphics are good and the sound is horrible. The idea of the game is another story. The plot is actually accountable. This might actually be another genre starter. It isn't worth fifty but I'd buy it for 40.00

Pitiful

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: March 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I rented this game and thought it was crap. Gameplay isn't any good; Sound and music is the same as any other Lucas game; Graphics are ok, and some of the creatures are nifty looking. Controls aren't very good either. 2 player mode is kinda fun. Might as well take your 50 bucks somewhere else. So thanks, Lucas, for another pitiful game.

This is NOT Archon

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've seen this game compared to Archon over and over, and finally I decided to buy it. I tried renting first (good advice), but no local place had it, so it was buy or pass. And I loved Archon.

In Archon, you had the opportunity to cast more than one spell per game, and the spells were a legitimate element of high strategy. In Wrath Unleashed, not only do the spells have terrible range, but the only spells worth it use up the entire magic bar by themselves. With magic as a one-time deal, it puts the majority of the strategy upon the actual combat system.

The combat system is bad. A huge amount of loading time (read: 30 seconds for each and every combat, one level requires 10-20 combats, adds up quick).

The combat controls have a terrible learning curve, because what the buttons do is not in the instruction manual. Figuring out how to block took me forty five minutes and an internet search. Partially because the characters you are fighting with are hard to control. Once an attack chain starts, you cannot stop it.

One of the better things about the original Archon was that ranged attacks never ran out, so it was possible for a weaker unit played skillfully to defeat a superior foe. In Wrath Unleashed, you have in combat magic bars... once those are gone, you are basically at the mercy (read: you will lose) of the melee combat system. This is another layer of strategy that has been removed, much like the variable terrain advantages (switch between light and dark with the turns) of the original Archon.

I still plan on playing through Wrath Unleashed. Eventually. However the first hour of playing the game disappointed me on many levels.

My recommendation: try it first, do not buy blind. If you can't find a video store with this, DO NOT buy it. You aren't missing much.

maybe i just don't get it?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

this is a strange game. i expected something different- not sure what, but definitely not this!
in a single sentence, it's almost chess (or checkers) with REALLY slow animations. you start with your 'pieces' on one side of a 'board' and the opponent advances towards you. in the event of a 'conflict' you have to fight their piece. i've played a LOT of fighting games and again, unless i'm just not paying enough attention, the fighting is HORRIBLE! the characters move very awkwardly and most of the time, i found that it's close to impossible to beat another creature on the same level as you! i've only been able to beat lower level or already injured characters?
anyway, definitely NOT a good game to buy if u're into action rpg's like champions, gladius or final fantasy types.
i'm gonna try and sell my copy on amazon, but it doesn't mean it's all bad- it just isn't for me :(
i give the game one star, because there was obviously a great deal of thought put into the strategy behind the gameplay, but as my title suggests...i don't get it?

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