Kohan: Ahriman's Gift Preview

For a fortnight your dreams have been of the end times when an unspeakable nightmare overruns the land and leaves Khaldun a wasteland. But then the dream changes. A veiled woman beckons your to follow her to the ruins of an ancient city at the edge of a great desert known as the Sea of Fire.

Somewhere in the cauldron lies the amulet of a young Kohan named Darius. He is the hope of the future, and you must find him before it is too late.

With such predictions of doom and gloom, the prequel to Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns opens the fantastic realm in which real-time strategy goes hand-in-hand with resource management to deliver a game that looks good, plays well, and gives players a nice storyline. Strategy First and TimeGate Studios are the ones responsible for the preview of this title. Simply put, if you played and enjoyed Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns, you will enjoy Kohan: Ahriman’s Gift.

Perhaps a little back-story is in order. The Kohan of the title were one-time rulers of Khaldun, and were immortal. But a series of cataclysms knocked them from power and they seemed to disappear off the face of the world. However, because they were immortal, the essence of their being was stored in an amulet. Secure the amulet and you re-awaken the Kohan, otherwise known as the heroes of this tale. Most are imbued with magical powers, and the game itself is aglow with special effects, albeit on a tiny scale, but you can certainly tell there was great attention to detail

Because it is the prequel, much of the reawakening of the Kohan is buried in the mythology of the land. But a young Ceyah warrior believes, and rallies the countryside in an effort to repel the forces of the Shadow.

The tutorial in this game is exactly like the tutorial for the original title. If you have gone through that, no need to do it again. The game itself has a scenario editor, as well as campaign and multiplayer scenarios. When completed, this program will feature three campaigns and 24 missions. The online features are basically skirmishes and human foes, and death matches.

The game has a total of 60 heroes, and four playable races, and a host of possibilities when it comes to commissioning a military unit.

While the game is basically an RTS, there are elements of the civ genre thrown in. You must manage your resources, and have enough money to maintain your armies. Supply areas are crucial to unit recovery, so building up your cities is a good idea.

This was a preview of the game, and vocal characterizations had not yet been added. But the sound of the game, aside from that, is rather good. The music is crisp, the battle sounds – the sound of arrows leaving a bow or the clash of metal on metal – are lively and diminish as you move away from the action (as in to check on other forces scattered throughout the game board), and the special spell sounds are solid.

Graphically the game is very nice. The scenery is lush and bright, and the tiny figures move well. There is a nice assortment of unit characters, and while the buildings are disproportionate, and similar in each stage of advancement, they don’t take away from the feel of this game. Each game board has real parameters – this is not a constant world – and each is shrouded by the fog of war until revealed through exploration.

This game plays very well. It is addictive, frustrating (as when you are making great advances but have over-extended your forces on the campaign trail, and end up having to fly back to the comfort of your supply area to rest and recuperate), and an enjoyable outing. Kohan: Ahriman’s Gift is every bit as entertaining as its older sibling, and is bound to please those gamers who like the combination of feudal forces and magic, with a touch of resource management on the side.

The game is set for release in November.