Six hundred years have passed since General Marcus battled the demon devouring the world of Illis. Evil is once again marching across the land and warriors are called forth to press for victory – either for the side considered just and right, or for the side that serves a darker purpose.

Welcome to Fantasy Wars, a turn-based strategy title from Atari and 1C for the PC.

Unfortunately, the story setup has little bearing on the game as a whole and seems to muddle the gameplay rather than stand out as a reason for playing the game. And, truth be told, the story is tired and well worn. Still, what Fantasy Wars offers is a solid-looking game that can’t help but draw parallels to chess. How? Well, the mapboard for the campaigns is cut up into hexagons. Each of the army pieces has movement limitations and attacking ranges. The turn each player takes is comprised of moving a piece and then attacking any opposition in range. Of course, the more units you have the more attacking power you have.

Defense is nice, but the game seems to revolve around strategic movement and offense, rather than fortifying positions and defending. Each segment of the campaign is goal driven. You move your army across the mapboard, defeating enemies (and yes, some are hidden until you happen up on them, but for the most part you will see the enemy as you get in range and can decide the best course of action), capturing or liberating towns (important in that you can gain gold which translates into being able to add to your army), until you get to the main objective.

There are three factions you can play as, but only two are available (humans and Orcs) at the onset of the game. You will have to unlock the Elves, presumably.

Each faction has its own tale: the humans are led by Derrick Pfeil, the youngest son of a poor noble family who makes his living at the head of a mercenary army – they are journeying to Derenhalle in the south to work for King Victor; the orcs are led by Ugraum who is trying to unit the orcs into a horde to rule the world; the elves are led by Teya, an elven sorceress, Speaker of Dragons, to repel the growing orc threat.

As you begin play, you are given an overview of the hexagonal map. Select a unit and you will see the extent of its movement. Liberate towns and you can add gold to your stash. This is important because during the battle, if you have the gold, you can buy another unit and place it on the mapboard. And reinforcements may also arrive and play into the battlefield mechanics.

You may also uncover relics/artifacts that have certain properties (buffs and the like), which you can pay a fee to distribute during the battle itself, or you can disperse to a unit out of battle for free.

As for the units and factions, each faction has units that are similar, so the emphasis here is on the strategic side of the coin. There are no uber units that give one side or another a decided advantage. What does help, though, is that as you fight you gain experience, which is applied to all the surviving units. Skills are rewarded and fall into two categories – active and passive. (Active are the skills you have to trigger in the game while passive are skills that are always turned on.) Skills can apply terrain bonuses, which brings the strategic part of the game more strongly to the forefront.

Graphically the game is a bit of a mixed bag. The cut scenes are two-dimensional and not quite as compelling as the lushness of the in-game graphics. The game draws further comparisons to chess in that, in the overview, the units are represented by large models. One model might actually represent a unit that has a dozen soldiers in it and during the skirmish, you may get the opportunity to see the entire group in action. When it comes to the sound, though, Fantasy Wars misses the boat. The voice-overs are not very well done and the rest of the sound is average.

While the combat elements of this title feel a little antiquated, Fantasy Wars still manages to be challenging with little room for error. Because it is turn based, you can consider a course of action, but bad choice are often gobbled up by the AI, especially if you are trying to get top scores for the mission level. The game is easy to jump into and play, so it should appeal to newcomers to the genre. While not a high-end turn-based game, Fantasy Wars is a decent title.

Gameplay: 7.5
The game is easy to jump into and play, and gets deeper as you level units and decide which skills to grant them.  

Graphics: 7.5
The graphics look much better from a distance than up close, but still get the job done.

Sound: 5.0
The preview build came without sound. Considering the quality of the sound in this, it might have been better if the review build had as well. The narrative is uninspired and the rest is mediocre.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 6.5
There is very little innovation of any sort here. The story is well-worn and doesn’t really matter than much in the context of the game itself.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Two modes are available – LAN and hotseat. The latter is multiplayer on one machine, while the former offers the opportunity to join a game or host.   

Overall: 7.5    
The game has a gentle learning curve that is inviting to most players. Increasing the difficulty will provide a challenge suitable to players of varying levels. The game looks decent, and plays well, providing both challenge and entertainment.