I will go out on a limb and say that given some more love and (lots) more patches, “Eador: Masters of a Broken World” could become a classic in its genre. If you're a fantasy TBS fan you should definitely pick this up (it's only 20 bucks) and watch the patches roll in.
A true follower of the classic Heroes of Might & Magic recipe: heroes, turn-based battles, XP and RPG-style leveling up, fantasy settlements and their management, parties and armies of strange creatures and all that you would expect from a decent fantasy story. [June 2013]
Love this game. Lots of depth and it keeps me coming back for more. It does a ton of things and does them well. I find this game better than other similar games such as HOMM. I do not understand the negative reviews, this game is awesome!
You know, this really is a unique, interesting game.
I mean Fallen Enchantress can off when compared.
Bug free, and...more.
My one issue is that the archers sounds tend not to be in sync with their animations, isn't bothersome enough to make me give it a lower score, I mean it is an indie group that made it.
Look, I'd like to go indepth but that would drag on, it's honestly one of those games you have to try and then determine for yourself. I know I like it, that's for sure!
Eador: Masters of the Broken World manages to venture into grand strategy, tactical battles and role-playing and come out on the other side as a deep and satisfying experience. After most initial bugs have been corrected, the game stands as an impressive addition to the turn-based strategy genre. Worth noting though is that it is mostly a visual upgrade of Eador: Genesis.
It is complicated in one instance, and simple in the next. It seems generic at first, but then shows its uniqueness in setting and granular game mechanics. It’s a game by strategy enthusiasts, for strategy enthusiasts. Once you look past the awkward, pimply exterior, a game of surprising interest looks back.
Eador: Masters of the Broken World is laden with good ideas and myriad reasons for strategy nuts to go... well, nuts, but for every compliment I could pay it, there's a caveat. Strange design choices and a serious lack of polish mars the things it does so very well. For a while, I couldn't even play the damn thing it was so unstable. Crashes every few minutes, and a bug around every corner made it not worth my time.
This game is complex, and hard, even on beginner. The complexity and difficulty are what makes this game shine. They could have dumbed it down a bit, and made it more accessible to more people, but shame on them if they had done so. If you are prepared to put the time into learning this game then you will be well rewarded. If you are not the patient type, this game will make you want to toss your monitor out the window! I think this game beats other games in it's genre hands down (Kings Bounty, HOMM, and Fallen Enchantress). Once you get to the 20-30 hour mark, beginner will actually start to become too easy, assuming you learn from your mistakes. The game is very well balanced, although you may not say that early on, as the AI will trounce you if you make too many mistakes. Every gold piece counts, and you must choose your hero carefully based on resources on the current shard you are playing on. I have easily sunk over 200 hours into this game, and am far from tired or bored from playing it. The Dev's are very committed. I have emailed them save game files twice from bugs that I have discovered, and they responded back, thanked me for my save game, and included it in the next patch. This game has had over a dozen patches since release, something you NEVER see from some of the larger game developers. I had to wait months for patches for Civ V and Xcom. Some system configurations had trouble running this game early on, so make sure your system is within the recommended specs. I noticed a lot of people having problems with this game had older machines, your machine will probably choke and die if is not well within the specs. This is for me one of the best games in its genre to come out in the last 25 years. Have been playing games like this since MOM and probably before, this one has me totally hooked!
Eador is a very nice game overall, especially for the low price. As some guys before already mentioned, Eador has this "one more turn"-need and can provide tons of fun, but only if you are willing to invest a ton of time. It`s not a game for people who are new to this genre and it is not the right game for people having trouble to handle frustration. You will experience games in which you chose the wrong strategy, the wrong hero to summon first and you might have to load an old save. 4+ hours going down the drain is not unusual.
I would give the game a 9/10 for pure playing fun, but lately a lot of bugs and save game problems were patched into the game along with the first dlc. Also the dlc is a huge improvement in terms of end game content but makes it even harder to rise and make your baby steps. Why? Because every little army of minor goblins now has a hard mage, a supporter and a ranged unit. Even for me with 180h knowledge of the game this appeared as a problem and I needed a lot of time to solve this problem going along with draining my old strategy.
Because of the "so so"-dlc and the bugs I decrease the grade from 9 to 7.
Note that I'm not too far into the game. My first impression on launching the game were "meh". I have to mention that the cinematic was so nice except for the horribly noticeable narrator voice that was very cheesy. In general, for the most part, the game sounds and looks beautiful. Graphics are very customizable as well as gameplay. However, the game seems to have poor FPS issues, which is quiet noticeable. The game comes with a fairly handy in-game tutorial option. The game isn't always obvious though. The gameplay is fairly slow, that is performing actions and watching the characters perform instructed actions in battle. The game is quiet difficult. I have it on the lowest difficulty setting and I'm having trouble. Note that the first "map" in the game isn't fully featured (I guess for learning curve), but after that the game becomes more complex and interesting. There seems to be a nice little story to accompany the game. I feel like the game needs to be more obvious in certain aspects, and maybe have difficulty options that are less difficult. As a beginner I am finding myself just walking back and forth re-capturing lost land to enemies while my amount of money, necessary to do almost anything, oh so slowly increases. The game has some pretty cool RPG elements, and I enjoy the loot collecting. The structure building system is also pretty cool. Very disappointing though that there is only one model for each class--equipping different armour or weapons does not change how the character looks. Squads are only modifiable through level and level-up skill choices. It seems every layout used for battles uses the same environment (green plains) with randomized qualities (hills, trees, lakes), which is kind of bland, except for there always being a single, small building or something at one end indicating what kind of environment it is. For example, entering a mage tower results in being on a green plain field with one hexagon containing a small tower.
Eador is a game that I had difficulty in characterizing. It is a mixture of Civilization or Age of Wonders, both in mechanics and visuals, on a map with classic turn-based combat elements.
The story is simple, several mixed ideias of fantasy, mythical creatures and magic that fit together in a interesting way.
Mechanically simple, anyone familiar with strategy games will be at ease. But despite being at ease, you will not have an "easy" task, the IA is challenging and strong. Although this becomes a "plus" the game has a big "minus", which is the fact that it is so repetitive.
Personally I did not like it but I'm not saying that the game is bad. Simply the references I have in games of the genre are very good (like Civilization or Age of Wonders that I mentioned before) and this game, for me, did not come close to the others in so many ways.
The bad, but only some examples:
- Lame gameplay : explore by repeatedly sitting on the same tile and reading text.
- Dumb combat : High initiative gives you the advantage of placing your troops in plain view of your invisible enemies.
- Dumb combat : Either move, attack or cast a spell in a turn. No combo. And since my scout is the only unit of value in my team, it's just him shoot, nobody else move.
- Lame gameplay : Useless weak-ass recruited troops, as hinted above.
- Rotten skills : Why can my scout spend his gold to poison water when facing harmless enemies, but is never offered so when it could be useful ?
- Interfacial mess : Don't pack my 20 stats in a compact grid. Let them breathe. Let me find quickly the only 2 I care about, and with half as many clicks.
- Interfacial mess : What's the point of a zoom that only works from x0.99 to x1.01 ? Why can't I see clearly the terrain and my troops ? Give me some comfort, zooterkins !
The good:
- The genre, which is why I play King's Bounty.
SummaryEador. Masters of the Broken World - is a turn-based strategy in the original fantasy setting, where the decisions you make affect the world even deeper than the battles you win. The game combines the unmatched strategic depth with boundless role-playing opportunities, granting the player the power of the immortal ruler of the magic worl...