Fate of the Dragon
I’ve been playing the demo for an older game (2001) called Fate of the Dragon and if you’ve wondered why I haven’t posted yet today, well now you know.
Developed for Eidos by Overmax, Fate of the Dragon is a PC-based strategy game that can best be summed up by saying it’s a mix of Warcraft and a Zhang Yimou movie. Set in 2nd century China during the Three Kingdoms period, you are one of three figures in Chinese history, looking to unite the Three Kingdoms under your banner. It’s a nifty little RTS, with a different flair than fantasy or western history games. Even the little character responses (you know when you click an avatar and they grunt at you?) are in Chinese, much like the Orc horde in Warcraft acknowledged orders in Orcish.
There were a couple things that warrant pointing out, such as the fact that there are two separate game maps, one showing the layout of the city you’re currently in, and the other displaying the more traditional “world map”. It’s a nice idea that should have made it easier to navigate maps and move your troops, but I actually found it more confusing to have to click cities, change maps and then find your units. I prefer the one massive map so that I can have some sort of idea about what’s going on everywhere. There are times in Fate of the Dragon when you can’t see your units because they’re in another city (and hence another map) and so you’re forced to click around madly (particularly when there are several cities) to try and figure out what is going on.
One addition that made things a little more challenging was the necessity of keeping your troops supplied on the road. In the old Warcraft games, you could send your soldiers to the far reaches of the map without fear that they would get sick of marching and complain. In Fate of the Dragon, it’s in your best interest to flawlessly manage your supply train by setting out a chain of supply wagon encampments along the route you plan to send your troops because in addition to a health bar each unit has what I’ll call a “wellness” or strength bar. Keep your troops without food and wine too long and they get a little cranky, not to mention weak and likely be trampled easily by any enemies encountered.
Fighting and killing isn’t the only way to win the day in this game. In a great move, Overmax has made it possible to also use less overtly hostile means to conquer your neighbours. Use trade and technological advancement, or if you want to play the politician, try for a diplomatic spin on things by creating alliances.
It’s got all of the typical RTS features we would expect, from constructing farms to feed the masses to building temples, barracks and administrative buildings. In most of the goal-oriented missions, the scale of the attack needs to be on a grand scale in order to penetrate the enormous stone walls that surround each city, and in so doing Fate of the Dragon falls into the RTS tedium trap on several occasions. The graphics aren’t great by today’s standards, but they’re more than passable. If you liked the old school Warcraft games and are looking for something a little different, give Fate of the Dragon a try. The demo is available for download at FilePlanet.
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