GamersInfo.net

The first thing that Boris, of Akela, told us about DIsciples 3: Renaissance, was that it was most certainly an entry into a franchise. Akela is aware that the first two Disciples games had a following, and they want to make sure that the expectations of those fans are met while they're developing new wrinkles for their game. Having never played the initial entries in the series, I don't know anything about their look and feel, but I can share that Renaissance looks really good, considering its stage of development. There was a lot of detail in the models and buildings, and while the animations for combat aren't particularly complex or interactive, they ARE very fluid and good looking. The story continues that told in Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy, and allows the player to take control of a lord in one of the three realms in the game's universe: Empire, Alliance, or Legion. As usual, your goal is to establish the rule of your god, and do away with those that oppose you.

Combat is turn-based, and uses a hex system for movement and ranging. Hexes can have a status that will be applied to resident units, and the statuses can affect many aspects of combat. Damage effects could be amplified, range can be increased, defensive bonuses might be applied, the range is fairly large, and the diversity in terrain can add a lot of depth to combat. Movement and attacks are performed using a set amount of action potential, so maneuvering cuts down on your potential for cracking skulls or otherwise affecting the battle. Individual units will have differing initiative values, and orders are given and then immediately resolved on a unit by unit basis in a descending fashion based on that initiative score. After the battle, you'll have a chance to resurrect important units that didn't make it, but you want to save. It's not a guarantee, but saving veteran units is a good thing! Once your battle is finished, it's time for rewards! Experience and treasures roll on in, and should your units level up, they can choose new attributes and skills in a very classic experience gains system.

The economy portions of the game features static "node" units that convert land and resources for your faction's use. Once resources are yours, and you have goodies to spend, you can take one action every game "turn" to either upgrade a building or build a new structure. The building upgrades force you into specific technology trees which ARE mutually exclusive with other paths that the building in question could have taken. This, taken in combination with the "one per turn" mechanic, make your tech choices fairly weighty. Choose wisely!

We didn't get a chance to see any of the deep game at E3, but the approach was very standard with their planned hooks seeming well designed and interesting. The game looked very pretty, so Disciples 3: Renaissance has a chance to come together quite nicely and make a real impression on the RPG and turn based combat scene.