Warlords II | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Strategic Studies Group |
Publisher(s) | Strategic Studies Group |
Producer(s) | Gregor Whiley |
Designer(s) | Steve Fawkner Roger Keating Ian Trout Gregor Whiley |
Artist(s) | Nick Stathopoulos |
Composer(s) | Steve Fawkner |
Series | Warlords |
Platform(s) | DOS, Mac OS |
Release | 1993 (DOS) 1994 (Mac) |
Genre(s) | Computer wargame, 4x |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Warlords II is computer wargame released in 1993, and the second release in the Warlords video game series.
An expansion pack, Warlords II Scenario Builder, was released in 1994. The updated version of the game, Warlords II Deluxe, was released in 1995. It allowed for custom tile, army and city sets for maps and provided support for 256 colours. Thanks to the publication of the editor, Warlords II Deluxe led to an increase of user-created content. Many new maps, army and terrain sets, and scenarios were distributed on the Internet for the game. [1]
Warlords II included five maps, although the later released mission pack increased the number. Another new feature was 'fog of war': optionally, enemy units or even the map could be concealed from players without units close enough to see them. The interface of the game was improved, as were the graphics (with additional unique city graphics for each different player). Moreover, the game featured multiple army, city, and terrain sets (still in 16 colours), play by e-mail as well as hot seat, and a random map generator and map editor.
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Electronic Entertainment | 8 out of 10 [2] |
Computer Gaming World in November 1993 stated that other than the lack of a better victory screen, "every other aspect of Warlord II is worthy of respect and admiration", praising the AI as "one of the finest on the market". [3] The magazine in July 1994 stated that Scenario Builder "succeeds even though it lets you look behind the curtain of one of the most engaging game systems on the market". [4] Rating the scenario editor four stars out of five, the magazine in August liked half of the 24 premade scenarios and concluded that it was "a terrific way to dabble in world creation". [5]
Warlords II was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World's Wargame of the Year award in June 1994, losing to Clash of Steel . The editors wrote that the game "takes the award-winning game system and enhances it with more and randomly generated maps, and more diversity in unit types. The AI presses SSG's approach to a new high in versatility and competitiveness". [6] However, it was named the best wargame of 1993 by Computer Games Strategy Plus . [7]
In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Warlords II the 77th-best computer game ever released. [8]
Panzer General is a 1994 computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI). It simulates conflict during World War II. The designers of Panzer General were heavily influenced by the Japanese wargame series Daisenryaku.
Steel Panthers is a series of computer wargames, developed and published by several different companies, with various games simulating war battles from 1930 to 2025. The first Steel Panthers game was released in 1995, and the most recent update was released in 2018 and is still updated regularly (yearly).
Caesar is a 1992 city-building video game published by Sierra On-Line in which the player undertakes the role of a Roman governor, building ancient Roman cities.
Warlords is a video game series created by Steve Fawkner, in which role-playing elements are combined with turn-based strategy in a fantasy setting. The series began with Warlords in 1990 and includes three other games, two expansion packs, and several spinoffs.
SPQR is a board wargame designed by Richard Berg and Mark Herman, and released in 1992 by GMT Games, as part of the Great Battles of History (GBoH) series of games on ancient warfare. SPQR deals with battles fought by the Roman Republic, and is designed to showcase the strengths and weaknesses of the Roman manipular legion.
Aces of the Pacific is a combat flight simulation game developed by Dynamix for MS-DOS compatible operating systems and published by Sierra On-Line in 1992. The game takes place during World War II. Players can choose to play a single mission or a career path in United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, United States Marines, Imperial Japanese Army, or Imperial Japanese Navy. Dynamix followed-up the game with Aces Over Europe in 1993.
Eastern Front (1941) is a computer wargame for Atari 8-bit computers created by Chris Crawford and published through the Atari Program Exchange (APX) in 1981. A scenario editor and assembly language source code for the game were also sold by APX as separate products.
Gunship 2000 is a helicopter combat flight simulation video game developed and published by MicroProse as a follow-up to their earlier game Gunship. It was originally released in 1991 for DOS; this version received an expansion in 1992. The Amiga, PC-98, Amiga CD32 and PlayStation versions were released in 1993, 1994 and 1996 respectively. A sequel, Gunship!, was released in 2000.
Command HQ is a real-time strategy world domination game. It was released in 1990 by Microplay Software and was created by designer Danielle Bunten.
Battleground 4: Shiloh is a turn-based computer wargame developed by TalonSoft in 1996 and the fourth issue in the Battleground series.
Panzer Strike is a 1988 tactical wargame that simulates small unit actions during World War II. It was made for Apple II and Commodore 64 and was released by Strategic Simulations.
Empire is a 1977 turn-based wargame with simple rules. The game was conceived by Walter Bright starting in 1971, based on various war films and board games, notably Battle of Britain and Risk. The game was ported to many platforms in the 1970s and 1980s. Several commercial versions were also released such as Empire: Wargame of the Century, often adding basic graphics to the originally text-based user interface.
F-15 Strike Eagle III is an F-15E Strike Eagle combat flight simulator released in 1992 by MicroProse and is the sequel of F-15 Strike Eagle and F-15 Strike Eagle II. It is the final game in the series.
V for Victory, or V4V for short, is a series of turn-based strategy games set during World War II. They were the first releases for Atomic Games who went on to have a long career in the wargame industry.
The Universal Military Simulator is a computer game developed by Rainbird Software in 1987 for the Macintosh, Tandy 4000, and IBM PC compatibles. In 1988, both Atari ST, Amiga versions were released. The game was created by Ezra Sidran. The PC and Amiga versions were ported by Ed Isenberg. The game spawned two sequels: UMS II: Nations at War and The War College: Universal Military Simulator 3.
V for Victory: D-Day Utah Beach is a 1991 computer wargame developed by Atomic Games and published by Three-Sixty Pacific. It was widely lauded and repeatedly reviewed as the best wargame of its era. Its success led to three further games in the V for Victory series, and then the similar World at War series published by Avalon Hill.
Siege is a video game released by Mindcraft in 1992 for MS-DOS. An expansion pack, Dogs of War, was released. It added multiplayer, six new castles, and 16 new units to the game. A sequel, Ambush at Sorinor, was released in 1993.
Panzer Campaigns is a series of operational level wargames originally developed by John Tiller Software, and currently by Wargame Design Studio. The games were originally published until 2010 by HPS Simulations, then self published by John Tiller Software until being bought out by Wargame Design Studio in 2021, after Tiller's death. There are currently 29 titles in the series, spanning the various fronts of World War II.
Steel Panthers is a 1995 computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Simulations. Designed by Gary Grigsby and Keith Brors, it simulates ground warfare during World War II, across the Western Front, Eastern Front and Pacific Theatre.
Carriers at War II: Fleet Carrier Operations in Southeast Asia 1936-1946 is a 1993 wargame by Strategic Studies Group for DOS and Macintosh. It's a sequel to the 1992 Carriers at War. In 1996, The Complete Carriers at War was released. It's a compilation that includes Carriers at War, Construction Kit, Carriers at War II, and 30 additional scenarios and new graphics for the German, Italian and French Navies.