Last year, the studio Desura Online Games, which once gave us the "Code of War" and Majesty 2, managed to revive the faded genre of global strategies about magicians. Game Warlock: Master of the Arcane has absorbed many ideas from to Master Master of Magic , of Age of Wonders and Elemental: War of Magic , but dressed it's own flavor and interesting findings. Great magicians here fought with each other, conquered cities and gathered armies in the unique world of Majesty(that is, in Ardania), and the player was offered a choice of three really different races, many paths to victory and the ability to travel and fight in parallel dimensions. However, there were also problems and shortcomings. The developers decided to fix them in the sequel, Warlock 2: The Exiled , all the details about which were told to StopGame.ru by the leader of Desura Online Games Plus Alexey Kozyrev.
It is interesting that initially no one planned to make a full-fledged second part. “This decision was made a few months after the original was released, while we were still busy with additions to it. There were a lot of ideas, their implementation did not fit at all into the framework of the concept of developing add-ons. At the same time, both we and the publishers felt that there were still resources to expand the game and its audience, ”explains Alexey.
Moreover, the authors were not entirely satisfied with the results of their work. As our interlocutor admits, the first part at the time of publication was damp, there was a lack of content, there was no multiplayer, and several errors in AI algorithms made it difficult to perceive computer opponents as dangerous opponents. The multiplayer was added later and for free, but the sediment, as they say, remained. “With the second part, we approach the release more carefully and try not to step on the same rake again. There is now twice as much content, we have worked on the multiplayer thoroughly, and there are a lot of other things, made both at the request of the players and without them," - Alexey Kozyrev promises.
Overall in Warlock 2everything is the same: on the global map, magician heroes study and use spells, capture and rebuild cities, gather and develop armies, and battles take place directly on rough terrain. However, new rules and nuances have been added to all this. So, now the population in the cities can be dissatisfied with something, and when the dissatisfaction in the empire reaches a critical level, some nasty thing is bound to happen. “And if at the beginning of the game it is still not so critical, then in a large country the mood of the subjects will have to be monitored very carefully and try to keep the situation under control. This purpose is served by specialized trade, military or temple cities in which no one complains about anything. If you wish, turn any settlement into a specialized one,” explains the head of Desura Online Games Plus.
Among other innovations in the strategic part, we note the ability to build sanctuaries for some god - this allows you to interact with the Almighty early enough and consciously and receive various bonuses from them.
And in tactical battles, rivers now play a special role, playing the role of natural defensive lines. In addition, many support troops will now provide cover for allies in battle. Finally, a group of interesting tactical spells appeared, giving, for example, a temporary ability to levitate.
In Warlock 2: The Exiledwe will see not three, but six races: these are people, monsters, undead, elves, wanderers and Swarths. The last two races are completely new. Descendants of the lost united army of the great King of Ardania, the Wanderers are an alliance of humans, monsters and undead who have learned to live together and harness each other's strengths. The Swarths skillfully combine magic and mechanics, which allows them to create special weapons, war machines and the toughest armor.
Accordingly, new, extremely interesting "units" have appeared. So, wanderers have minotaur-healers - a kind of hefty orderlies and surgeons, descendants of minotaur-shamans. And on the side of the Swarts, a flamethrower in a flying mortar fights. Here you immediately remember about the corporate humor of Ardania: making, perhaps, the most serious strategy in this setting, the authors are forced to recoup the appearance of the "units" and their descriptions.
The number of mage heroes available to choose from will also increase. We will meet several new lords, including one genius sorceress, the true heiress of her great and famous parents, a certain unique and talented half-blood, as well as a former Great Magician who decided to look for another fate for himself.
The bestiary has also grown considerably. The authors wanted each small world that the player encountered was unique in terms of climate, landscape, and its inhabitants. In the desert worlds you will meet huge scarab beetles and sand golems, and in tropical worlds - clouds of midges, fire-breathing turtles of various ages and other living creatures.
However, the main achievement of the sequel will be the new Exile mode, where there is a full-fledged plot - after all, it was it that many lacked inWarlock: Master of the Arcane . Here your Great Magician starts the game in a separate world far from Ardania and tries to find his way home, along the way building his empire in the territories he has captured. Carrying out assignments, he will open portals to neighboring lands until he reaches the "Mirror" world of Ainadra, from where he can triumphantly (or not so) return to Ardania.
“The gameplay in this new mode will change quite a lot. It now looks more like the passage of the storyline campaign - as the player progresses to the finale, he is now entertained by storyline events and quests. Moreover, all the worlds, as well as the structure of connections between them, are generated at the start and each time they turn out to be different. Thanks to this, such a mode will be very interesting for both single and joint, in an alliance, passage. However, the old regime has not gone anywhere, and it will also be possible to play with all the innovations - both alone and in co-op or against other players, ”says the leader of Desura Online Games Plus.
Work on Warlock 2 began over a year ago and is slated for release this spring. Now the authors are polishing the appearance and gameplay, they are going to involve players in testing. “We don't have much time left, but as long as we have it, we strive to make the most of what has been planned,” Alexey promises. And it seems that this time everything will work out without any reservations: the long-awaited plot has appeared in the sequel, the number of races and heroes has increased, and the gameplay has added depth.
