Review for Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars. Game for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 28/08/2020
In the vast videogame landscape there have been several titles having vampires as their subject, but most of them were geared towards an action-packed soul. Some obvious examples can be found in the old Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain and in the more recent Vampyr, but this time we head in a different direction: here is the review of a game whose main feature is to be a strategic one even if not as complex as it may seem at first glance.
We are talking about Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars, the title developed by Palindrome Interactive and published by Kalypso Media for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and dulcis in fundo for Nintendo Switch.
Not much information is provided regarding the context in which the game is set. All we know is that long ago several lineages of powerful vampires made peace with their human subjects. The latter, however, had to undergo "voluntary" blood donations in exchange, while any type of revolt was suppressed with the use of violence.
That said and after realizing that more than one deal is an "offer that cannot be refused" in the same style as that of the film "The Godfather", the actual plot is explained through three long campaigns. Each of them is composed of four scenarios, and facing them you will explore all three factions present. The narration often takes place in the form of a cutscene.
There are elements for which it can be said that the game has a gameplay like a very simplified 4X where armies made up of different units are the focal point of the games. Lords are special units with their own abilities that can be placed at the head of an army. A battalion led by a lord can move to nearby provinces and eventually conquer them. Important are the cities and villages, which once annexed to their lands will provide at the end of each turn a certain value of blood based on the population of the same. It is a kind of currency that allows you to recruit units and provide for their maintenance, consequently decreasing the net income of blood coming from the structures inhabited by humans.
In addition to the villages, there are several structures that allow the recruitment of units according to their type, for example from a forest you can get wolves while from a fortress of warrior vampires but it does not end here, because blacksmiths must also be added to these. and libraries: the former allow you to buy equipment for the lords, while the latter to buy cards that give a tactical advantage.
Each squadron has a number of action points that are spent to make any type of movement or interaction. The turn ends when the player has finished his moves or does not want to proceed further, thus leaving the turn to the AI. Here we need to make an unpleasant clarification because despite the presence of a skirmish mode with which you can customize the games the game does not have a multiplayer mode.
When two armies meet on the same field a battle takes place and obviously the only one who remains standing wins, tearing all the opposing troops. The fields where the clash takes place are very small as in Othercide and have precise locations that will provide bonuses to the units present there. However, we must admit that if you think you are facing an extremely dynamic and full of fighting title, Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars unfortunately is not for you given its not very fast gameplay, as you have probably deduced from the mechanics described so far.
Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars was created with the graphics engine Unity. Worthy of note are the illustrations of the cards and the environments of the quite articulated and well constructed scenarios. Although this is an irrelevant factor for the concept of the title, the lipsync of the mouth is missing but at least the voice of the dubbers is present. The animations are basic and the design of the 3D models of the characters does not have many details.
Nothing in particular to say about the music and sound effects used: both aspects in question are also well done but in any case not extremely studied.
Were you looking for a nice vampire game? We found it there. To the fascinating subject you also add a plot that has to do with violence, revenge and finally the thirst for power. Do not be fooled by the fact that Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars offers itself to the public as a strategic one, because it is still a very simplified 4X but at the same time it manages to be varied without unnecessarily complicating its mechanics. Too bad, however, for its slowness and the lack of multiplayer.
► Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars is an RPG-Strategy game developed by Palindrome Interactive and published by Kalypso Media for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 28/08/2020
