Lords of the Realm III

Infobox VG
title= Lords of the Realm III


caption=
developer= Impressions Games
publisher= Sierra Entertainment
distributor=
designer=
series=
engine=
version=
released= ^NA March 17, 2004
^EUMarch 26, 2004
genre= real-time strategy
modes= Single-player, Multi-player
ratings= ESRB: Teen
platforms= Microsoft Windows
media=
requirements = Windows
* Windows 98/Me/2000/XP
* Intel Pentium III or equivalent
* 128 MB or more of RAM (256 MB or more for Windows 2000/XP)
* DirectX 8.1 NVIDIA Geforce, ATI Radeon, or greater chipset supporting DXT Compression
* DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
* 850 MB free HD space
* 24x or faster CD-ROM drive
* Minimum 56k dial-up connection for 2-player BattleMaps
* Cable, DSL, or faster for other multi-player
input = Keyboard, mouse
preceded by = Lords or the Realm II

"Lords of the Realm III" is a real-time strategy computer game published by Sierra Entertainment. It was first released on March 17, 2004. It is the latest addition to the Lords of the Realm series and the last game by Impressions Games. While the game did receive mainly good reviews, many gamers coming from the previous games criticized the game for being completely different from Lords of the Realm I and II.

Gameplay

Before playing a game, the player must choose a noble by either selecting one of the default nobles or creating a new noble. Nobles act as user accounts within the game, wherein completed campaigns and saved games are local to each noble. A noble consists of three customizable features: Housename, Portrait, and Heraldry.

Once a noble is selected, the player can choose to play a campaign, battle map, or to load a saved game. While all the battle maps are available when a noble is created, the campaigns require the player to progress through different maps to complete the campaign.

Campaigns

Other than the tutorials, campaigns consist of three layers of gameplay: the strategy layer, the diplomacy layer, and the battle layer. The layers allow the player to control different components of the game.There are 4 campaigns in the game:

Campaign 1: Ireland

Scenario 1: High King of Ireland

Campaign 2: England

Scenario 1: William the Conqueror

Scenario 2: Simon de Montfort

Scenario 3: King Edward's war

Scenario 4: The Black Prince

Scenario 5: Albion forever

Campaign 3: Germany

Scenario 1: Barbarossa in Italy

Scenario 2: A gathering of wolves Scenario 3: Henry the Lion

Scenario 4: The Golden Bull

Campaign 4: France

Scenario 1: Albigensian Crusade

Scenario 2: Angevin Empire

Scenario 3: Maid of Orleans

Scenario 4: Vive le roi

trategy Layer and Vassalage

The strategy layer allows the player to see a large overview of the lands to command their armies and assign vassals to the lands they possess. The land that the player possesses is subdivided into parcels. The player must assign a vassal to each parcel to manage the land for them.There are several different types of parcels that dictate what they will produce. Furthermore, each parcel is of a certain quality which determines how fast they will upgrade their land and produce units. The different categories of vassals are as follows:
* Knight - Builds a fort on a parcel, which will produce a company of a certain type that is based on the knight.
* Priest - A priest will build a church on a parcel which increase the player's Christianity level.
* Burgher - A burgher builds a city on their designated parcel that produces gold to be spent on upgrades to the player's castle or hiring mercenaries.
* Serf - Serfs build farmlands on parcels that supply the armies with food.

Diplomacy

In the diplomacy screen, the player may assess his progress and the progress of the other nobles as well as engage in politics such as trade, war declarations, and forming alliances. The diplomacy screen shows a diplomatic map of all the lands, colored by the nobles who own them, that displays parcel usage, army locations, and territorial control. The player can view their Chivalry, Christianity, and Honor levels and their progress to obtain the next level of them.

Battle Layer

The battle layer engages the player in the battlefield, allowing them to manually control their companies.

Battle Maps

In a battle map, the player is placed in a battlefield and is provided with a predefined companies of soldiers available to them. The only victory condition of these battles is to defeat all enemy companies. The gameplay is consistent with that of the battle mode in the campaigns.

Multi-player

The Multi-player aspect of the game is probably the game's greatest strength. Games are fast and the control is easy.

External links

* [http://lords3.sierra.com Official website]
*moby game|id=/lords-of-the-realm-iii|name="Lords of the Realm III"

Reviews

* [http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/lordsoftherealm3/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;review Gamespot]