Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Ino-co Plus
System requirements: TBA
Genre: Strategy
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Q2 2012

In 1994, Simtex released a 4X game entitled Master of Magic. Like every similar RTS at the time, it initially looked like a Civilization clone. Despite initial bugs, it was far more then just Civ with spells, and it quickly became a strategy classic. A few games have tried to capture its spark since, most infamously 2010’s Elemental, but none of them have quite made it. Unwilling to let such a great spirit languor in DOS emulators, Paradox Interactive is giving MoM a modern body in the form of Warlock: Master of the Arcane. The details are so enticing it might cause your carpal tunnel to flair up in anticipation.

Warlock features three races, each with its own very distinct set of units. You pick a race and a leader, each of whom has his own set of bonuses, and then you’re let off to conquer a randomly generated world, one turn at a time. Warlock feels very influenced by Civilization V. Before anyone panics, please note that it borrows the good parts: the hex-based combat, lack of unit stacks and actual ranged units. Being a master of arcana, you have access to a large grimoire of spells to cast, which adds whole new tactical spice. Once this plane of existence has sworn its allegiance to you, there are others to find and invade. It’s like a layered taco-dip of turn-based strategy, only instead of heartburn keeping you up at night, its “just one more turn.”

Yet, with all these features, Warlock manages to be accessible, yet still deep. A great example of this is the streamlined city management. There are only three resources: food, gold and mana. Units have build and upkeep costs, while buildings produce resources at a constant rate. Aside from the occasional bonus, tiles are not used for harvesting resources so much as for holding new buildings. Meanwhile, choosing buildings becomes more important, because you only get one building per population point. The changes are small and easily learned, but their interplay leads to a myriad of strategies.

Developer In-co Plus is still hard at work packing more goodness into their game for its nebulous Q2 2012 release. Currently, Warlock: Master of the Arcane is definitely one to watch for all those afflicted with “One More Turn” syndrome.