Stranger

Just when you thought that all real-time strategy games were built upon the same control schemes, along comes Stranger. Stranger is a quirky blend of RTS and RPG, developed by Fireglow and to be published by CDV in early March. The game is an isometric title that does have an intriguing storyline, though in the preview build received, the way the narrative is told is a bit lacking.

The game’s strengths are self-evident. The AI is very smart and can take care of itself in terms of combat should you have a lapse in attention, but this is a game that commands your attention. It is a blend of sorcery and melee combat, with crafting elements. Overlay strategic elements and you have a game that may not be the prettiest on the market, but has the potential to set some new trends in the RTS-RPG hybrid genre.

The game takes place in a mythical land, and a place (the City of Wizards) where outcast magicians, wizards and sorcerers dwell. But even though this city was founded by outcasts, it is still governed and the one overriding rule in this kingdom is that no black magic is used. One of the houses (read that as a clan or guild – and this case, it is the Turm Clan) breaks the rule, but it is not readily apparent which member of the house has done so. Therefore, as mandated by the rules of the city, the house must give up three members, who will be sent into exile. A lottery is held and the ruling members of the disgraced house hand over the names of Kagar, Steiger and Mordlock. The three are cast into exile, banished to a hostile world accessible through the Gate of Kront. The portal to this hostile environment also changes their appearances.

These mages may or may not be guilty of the forbidden act, but they are spurred on by anger at their predicament and vow to return. But in order to do so, they will have to find each other, team up and journey together. Each has skills that will supplement the skills of the other two. Kagar is the melee specialist, Steiger is the ranged attacker (and healer) and Mordlock is master of the arcane arts, but is also a fierce melee attacker.

Stranger boasts more than 30 hours of single-player gaming as well as multiplayer for up to eight gamers. There is a large variety of weapons, items, spells and gear available and more than 100 monsters to battle. The game also has a diplomatic element. You can actually get on good terms with some of the tribes encountered and hire mercenaries to venture with you. Think of it along the lines of a Neverwinter Nights in that regard.

The beginning of the game is a linear journey through a tutorial that explains the key functions and rudiments of this title. Pay attention because the game uses a hotkey set that is not intuitive at all. For example, J opens the inventory window, D repairs items if you are in the appropriate place to do so, the [ and ] keys switch weapons, H is the smithy window and so on.

Because the game deals with wizards, there is a certain amount of magic permeating the game’s mechanics. To use magic, you need crystals, which are conveniently dropped by defeated enemies. There are three primary crystal colors and those correspond with the three basic magic fields you can generate. But you can also combine crystals to create hybrid spells, which are more powerful but more taxing on the crystal inventory.

Now while there is the possibility of death in this game, the development team countered that with the ability to resurrect the fallen hero. However, there is a cost to doing so, and here is where hired mercenaries play a role – albeit not the one they had hoped for. To use the staff of resurrection to return a fallen hero to life, you sacrifice the lives of two followers.

The game is also of the point-and-click interface style, which feels cumbersome at times, but does indeed fit the style of gaming. You can unlock feats and increase the skills and magical abilities of the three heroes.

Graphically this is a game that is on par with other RTS/RPG titles like Icewind Dale only the action is a little more close-up and thus you get to see the texturing and details a little more. The environments won’t necessarily create any jaw-dropping moments, but the game is bright and colorful and coupled with the interesting and somewhat unique take on the game genre, should have players drawn in if they can stick through the tutorial elements and get into the meat of the game.

Stranger is challenging and has a lot of options for forging a unique path through the world. There was still some work to be done on the title before it was ready to go gold, but so far this is shaping up to be an interesting adventure.