The danger for 4X strategies is that, inevitably, they'll be compared to Civilization. Although, to be fair, many games are openly inviting that comparison. Galactic Civilizations, which yesterday released its own set of screenshots, contains the word "Civilization" in its title, for instance. Then there's the fantasy 4X, Warlock 2: The Exiled, which has successfully differentiated itself by name, if not entirely by look. Judge for yourself, by browsing the game's first selection of screenshots.

First though, here's a sample of the game's feature list:


"Spelling Counts – Over 150 spells to add to your tome, allowing command over powerful enchantments, nasty hexes, and elemental forces
"A Crass Menagerie – Hundreds of different mythical and magical beasts to deploy on the battlefield with distinct tactical uses, from giant rats and dwarven prospectors to werewolves with hats on them
"Friendship is Magic – A multi-player experience as robust as the single-player experience, including PvP, Co-op PvE, and every combination in between
"Warlock 2: The Playstyles – Fight your way through the shards to reclaim Ardania in new ‘Exile’ mode or dispatch opponents the old-fashioned way in ‘Sandbox’ mode."


With that information seared into your eyeballs through arcane magicks, here be screenshots.









Okay, to be fair, Civ 5 doesn't have Polar Giants.

And, if the game's anything like the first Warlock, it'll be a much more combat focused 4X, with its fantasy trappings increasing the chances for violent conflict and destructive spells.

Warlock 2: The Exiled is due out Spring 2014. For an earlier look, check out the Paradox Twitch.tv channel, which will be livestreaming the game from 7pm tonight.

And so it was that August 30th, 2013 did come to be known as the Day of The Deals. Internet denizens bravely descended on their stores, dodging pay-what-you-want here, and 75% off there. Could any make it through this budgetary gauntlet with their wallets unharmed? That, dear reader, is for you to find out...

Look, basically what I'm saying is there are a lot of cheap games today. The first of which is a staggeringly good Humble Weekly Sale featuring entrées from the Paradox plate.

Here's what's inside:


War of the Roses: Kingmaker
Warlock: Master of the Arcane
Leviathan: Warships
Dungeonland
The Showdown Effect
Europa Universalis III Complete


And, if you beat the average (currently at $5.80):


Crusader Kings II
Magicka


Taken as a full bundle, it's an absurdly good deal. Of the games that I've spent much time with: Crusader Kings II is an excellent strategy centred on lineage and intrigue, Magicka is a satisfying and funny co-op wizard-'em-up, and Warlock is a quick 'n light action-focused 4X. All of the others have reviewed reasonably well, too.

Alternatively, you could get "The Big Kahuna", which costs a flat $125, but comes with 48 games - essentially, all of the publisher's games, with the exception of Europa Universalis IV. The downside of that deal is that you also get Gettysburg: Armored Warfare, but it's okay, you can just ignore it.

The sale runs for another six and a bit days.

Half the world was coloured the, um, turquoise of my undead armies. My war with the Anubislike dog-mage Sol looked set to bring more territory under my control. Things were going well.

End turn.

Rjakh is demanding 900 mana or he’ll declare war. Well, no, I need it. Sure, history has proven it’s bad to fight a war on two fronts, but history didn’t command a two-headed poison spitting dragon. War it is.



Anna the Benign is demanding 900 mana or she’ll declare war. Really? Anna the Benign is giving ultimatums? I could be in trouble.

Warlock: Master of the Arcane isn’t without its problems, but it has what I always look for in a turn-based strategy game: the ability to generate stories. From your first forays to the final climactic (if grind-heavy) wars against fellow mages, there’s plenty of drama along the way.

You start with a city, a couple of basic units and a whole lot of uncovered land to explore. The first turns of each campaign are about sending your small scouting force out across the hex-tiles of the map to battle monsters and find resource tiles for future cities. So far, so Civilization-with-werewolves, but Warlock streamlines its empire management, sacrificing grand strategy for more immediate tactical experiences.



The real meat is in planning and upgrading your forces. Do you construct a Palace on the Minotaur caves, giving you access to a new unit, or a Labyrinth that toughens existing ones? Each unit can be upgraded to fearsome death bringers, and the investment encourages you not to needlessly waste the armies of goblins, skeletons, vampires and ratmen you’ll command.

When numbers aren’t enough, you can cast spells that directly affect your battles. These are researched, and provide bonuses, healing, direct damage, or summoned monsters each turn – provided you have the mana reserves.

It’s here Warlock’s simplicity starts to feel restrictive. The lack of a tech tree means there’s no logical progression to the spells you research, nor are they related to character choice. Most of all, the AI just isn’t savvy enough for you to need more than a handful.



Diplomacy is barebones: you can trade gold for mana (or vice versa), make an alliance or start a war, but that’s about it. There’s no personality or consistency to the behaviour of the other mages you deal with. Their bluster, disdain and booming voices seem silly when they’re offering you all their resources for peace.

Warlock is at its best when you’re exploring the unknown, raiding the numerous neutral cities that occupy the map, or fighting respawning monsters in the hunt for treasure. This is taken to the extreme with portals, which lead to other worlds filled with powerful monsters. There are great rewards in these alternate realms, but they’re never truly needed because it’s so easy to keep your empire running efficiently.

In most places, Warlock’s lack of complexity isn’t a major problem, rather a design choice that makes it easy to get to the main draw of building a terrifying force of beasties. But the AI soon become tiresome. They rarely send enough troops out to threaten your own borders and, with no multiplayer to nullify their stupidity, Warlock’s most interesting ideas go underused and its campaigns start to drag