'Fantasy Wars' keeps a gamer coming back

One tough nut to crack. Fantasy Wars: 1C Company and Atari; Windows XP/Vista, P4 1.4 GHz, 512 MB of RAM, 128 MB video card; supports multiplayer; www.fantasywars-thegame.com.

This game, saddled with a remarkably unimaginative title, still should spark interest in grizzled gamers who cut their teeth on hex-based, turn-based strategy games.

The ability to ponder one's next move proves to be a relief from the constant demands of today's pervasive real-time strategy games.

"Fantasy Wars" is old school.

The story is set in the world of Eolia, where humans and orcs battle for domination. Of course, there also are wizards, elves and dwarves.

Offered are some single missions and campaigns for both the human and orc sides. Completing those two campaigns unlocks an alliance campaign featuring elves and dwarves.

Gameplay in this typical good-vs.-evil saga is nicely explained in two brief tutorials.

One of the standout elements of the game is a fine interface. It makes controlling units and army management quite easy.

There also is a nice mix of units, from the familiar ground forces one would expect in a fantasy game set in medieval times to flying units like attack eagles.

Units can gain experience and when they level up become eligible for perks. The perks provide even more variety to the game. Magical artifacts also can equip units with special powers.

For those familiar with hex-based games, it will come as no surprise that units exert a zone of control in the six hexes surrounding it. Enemy units must stop on entering a controlled hex.

Some units, such as scouts, can take advantage of "segmented movement" to ignore zones of control.

The graphics in "Fantasy Wars," while quite colorful, are average. Sound effects and voice acting are in that same ballpark.

The salient feature of the game is its difficulty -- "Fantasy Wars" can be a beast to master.

There are three difficulty settings, however, each mission must be completed in a number of turns. Further, completing a mission earns players either a bronze, silver or gold rating.

Even playing on a normal difficulty level, hitting the gold, or even silver, standard can be daunting.

It would be great if there was a way to ease this, as losing, is, well, losing.

Still, the classic gameplay of "Fantasy Wars" should be enough to keep even strategy and tactics fans with bruised egos coming back for more.

Matt Cappellini writes for Suburban Chicago Newspapers. E-mail at mcappellini@scn1.com