Lornsword Winter Chronicle Review
Fast Facts
Title: Lornsword Winter Chronicle
Developer: Tower Five
Publisher: Tower Five
Website: https://www.lornsword.com/
Genre: Strategy
Platform: Xbox
Age Rating: PEGI 16
Release Date: 23/10/2019
Price: £24.99 – Rapid Reviews was very kindly provided with a review code for this title.
This is a top-down view strategy adventure game with similarities to Age of Empires, Warcraft. Lornsword looks fantastic and plays well while giving the player a massive learning curve throughout.
“Lornsword is a story-driven action strategy game, where using your mind and having a strategic view at all times is a must.”
You play as Corun Lan Ka. An ancient warrior who is sent into battle, leaving his family at home, battling enemy soldiers and mystic beings to take over the battlefield. Sidenote, the tutorial is you best friend in this game, and I would advise paying close attention to it, as this is not a game that you will be able to jump right in and get the job done.
You will find out very quickly that the aim of the game is to control as many farms and mines as possible. This will allow you to build more men and upgrade your base quicker. The resources in this game can be seen as very limited, so use them wisely. Also, pay close attention to the enemies themselves as you will be able to build temples with other powerful upgrades such as fire elements – each power has its own purpose.
While building your base and finding resources, you will notice as you progress that the enemy can attack from all angles so it will not only be your base you will have to protect but your resources as well such as farms and mines. Like most other strategy games, building an army is key to push onto the opposition and the more you can throw the quicker it is to overwhelm the enemy but as stated before, pay close attention to your resources as they are limited.
Leading your troops into battle can be tricky at first as you can only lead 15 at a time. However, once a path has been created, your troops will follow it as they spawn in. Therefore, dropping your units off on the way to your objective to create the path and going back to pick up more before you rush off into battle can be seen as a good strategy.
In this top-down view game, the graphics are presented exceptionally well. You also get a great display of the desert, forest, and snow mountain regions. While exploring these areas, you will notice wildlife scurrying about but don’t be alarmed there is nothing that can harm you environmentally. The sound in the game can be quite captivating, and if your anything like me, nothing beats the sound of enemy buildings being demolished.
As I have stated before this isn’t a game that can be just jumped straight into, pay attention to the tutorial and learn how to play it. Everything is explained thoroughly and once understood, it’s not too hard to grasp afterwards. You may find yourself having to restart a few times, but that will be down to the trial and error side of things. For example, having to restart because your base was destroyed, build more towers next time, or having to restart because you could defeat the enemies, build more training structures. Needless to say, there isn’t only one way to play this game, but you will need to find a balance between defence and offence when it comes to building your base.
The difficulty does increase as you progress through the game, and you will eventually be left to fend off the enemy by yourself. However, there is a mechanic that allows a second player to join in and help gain you victory.
Overall Lornsword plays well, and once you have grasped the controls handles well too. It will take some getting used to, but once you have, it can be quite addictive. This title will give you hours of gameplay with the fun bonus of allowing a friend to join in even when you are midgame.
In conclusion, this is an addictive and well-made game. If you like titles such as Age of Empires, Lornsword will not disappoint, it plays well and looks amazing while still offering a challenge along the way. The two-player aspect of this game is a great highlight for me. I would personally highly recommend this title to anyone who is a fan of this genre.
Rapid Reviews Rating
You can purchase Lornsword Winter Chronicle from the Microsoft Store on the following link, https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/lornsword-winter-chronicle/9pl4pl5pzwzv?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
