Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're not supposed to compare games to other games here at GamersInfo.net. Then again, I'm talking about the classic of all classic video games, Pong, where two paddles bounce a ball back and forth, and I'm talking about Breakout, where a paddle bounces a ball against bricks in an effort to…uh…break out of something. If you haven't heard of at least one of those games, well, I'm not certain how you're using a computer to read this.
Maybe somebody printed it out for you or something.Warlords is a very straight forward remake of an old game. The premise is simple: you've got a castle in every corner of your screen (thus, four castles, don't get smart with me). Your castle has a movable shield around it, thick walls protecting it, and a creamy nougat center. Between the castles bounce fireballs that you try to smack into your opponents' castle using your shield before they batter down your walls and gut you.
There are two modes in the XBLA version of this title. Classic mode recreates the original Atari 2600 version. I found this mode, even on the easier settings, to be nigh upon impossible to play - your shield is tiny and the AI seemed to immediately gang up on me the instant I started playing.
The more modern version updates the graphics to be all shiny and flame-y and metal-y and stuff. Your shield is bigger and the AI dumber, it seems, in this mode. You can also hold onto the ball, inflicting damage on your own castle but doing more damage when it hits.
And that's it. You bounce the ball back and forth, and as levels go on you'll have differing wall durability and faster paced game play, as well as more balls bouncing around, but that's ... well ... it.
You can try the "throttle monkey" mode that cranks everything up to 11, but seriously - no, you can't. It is insane.
Where the game would truly shine is multiplayer, if you found someone who wanted to play. Four player games support even the Xbox Live camera feature, if you really want people to see you, but what I'm looking forward to is playing it with friends at home.
This game is 400 Microsoft points, or about $5. You get what you pay for; it's fun, but don't expect too much. It's a ball bouncing game.
I'm a 29 year old senior network and systems engineer for a consulting firm in the DC area. I'm mostly into MMOs and FPSes (on the console), and I'm a big pro football fan. In my other spare time I like to write and tend to read copious amounts of history and military sci-fi. I'm also into cooking and bad action movies.
