Excellent, lovingly crafted 4x game. Centered around combat, fun diverse units and spells. this is a highly polished Masters of Magic Style game made up to date. The AI is pretty good defensively, could perhaps use some work on being more agressive, but for the price there is a TONNE of content to play through, and a free multiplayer patch coming up soon. VERY highly recommended if you loved the old MoM Games.… Expand

Basically Warlock: Master of the Arcane is Civilization with a combat system similar to Panzer General set in a magical fantasy world. If after reading that you find yourself becoming aroused... buy it immediately so you can experience huge chunks of your time vanishing as though they had never existed at all. Otherwise go back to facebook and fire up farmville or whatever all you normies are playing these days... I can never keep track.… Expand

Very fun beautifully crafted 4X. I love the civ-like interface- Fans of the genre can basically sit down and start playing. All concepts from prior installments are there. Reasonably priced. I'm docking a point for lack of sandbox/map creation. Prior installments also lack this important feature- This alone keeps the series from attaining legendary status IMO. (That clumsy addon they released for the last game is practically useless). Also, I hoped they would have incorporated base production/mana etc.. values for tiles. Other than that, this game is a solid, good-looking title worth owning.… Expand

Can't believe the "expert " reviews are low so far. It's much more fun than civilisation. Something is happening every turn whether it's fighting, preparing for war, deciding which spell to cast etc. In civ you often just clicking end turn over and over while waiting for the next lot of research. War is also way better. Every unit is useful for quite a while as you can't afford a big army of the latest units most of the time- their upkeep and cost is going to be way to high. You can also actually work with an ally to defeat an opponent. In civ you hardly ever see 2 vs 1 ganging up on the same screen. More likely your ally is not going to send out any units and will just declare peace on your mutual enemy making your whole plan a waste of time. There are some issues. On normal enemies seem to target neutrals and others rather than you most of the time. They also don't optimise cites well rather making them jack of all trade places which disadvantages them. They also don't expand as much as they can (maybe they stop after a certain number of cities or are too afraid of highish level monsters). The lack of any negative side effect of having many cities may mean that when multiplayer comes- whoever has the most cities early on will almost always win- time will tell. If you like turn based strategy this is a must buy, especially at the price.

Latest patch has made the enemy more aggressive.… Expand

Great game! While you get the feel of Civ 5 with the grid layout, the comparison ends there. The focus of the game is combat and everything you do is related to this. I love how the city management is focused. You can't build every single building in every city you build. You have to focus on which resource your city with produce. And this can change depend on which resource tiles you have in your city limits. This game has hooked me better than both Civ 4 and 5 did. The low price is also a big +.… Expand

This is a great game! It is fun and addicting and well worth $20.00. Also, the game is quite polished. I truly cannot understand why someone would say otherwise. I've put about 10 hours in the game so far and have not encountered a single but or problem.

As others have said, this is basically Civ 5 with magic and mythological creatures. The game looks beautiful and plays well. It is true that the game is lacking a "Civ-pedia" type feature, but the game play is straight forward enough that I never found the need for it. Also, you can right click on pretty much everything in the game and get a good amount of useful info on it.

For anyone who is interested in this genre, I can easily give this game my highest recommendation! Also I think the game is a steal at the current price, it's easily worth 2x the price.… Expand

Picture a fantasy-based Civ 5 turn based portion of the game. The big difference is this turn based portion is FUN to play even if you aren't a history buff trying to re-enact Napolean's battles.
I have enjoyed playing this game more than I have enjoyed any of the Civ games. Maybe I am not high-brow enough? Anyway if you are looking for a fun experience that is easy to learn, but has more depth that you will learn as you play grab this game. But grab the demo first to make sure it is your cup of tea.
It says it is just Single Player on Steam, but in game there is a Muiltiplayer (beta) menu.… Expand

[INTRODUCTION]
What if Sid Meier's Civilization V was not based on the long term, historical progression of a nation, but instead revolved around a powerful mage leading his empire to victory through might and magic? Paradox's Warlock: Master of the Arcane is perhaps the best answer to that question. Warlock takes many of Civilization V's elements -- a hex grid, combat in which ranged units can shoot across tiles, and the franchise's trademark empire building -- and turns it upside down with an intense focus on war and many unique gameplay features that harken back to past fantasy turn-based strategy games like 1994's Master of Magic and 1999's Age of Wonders. [CITY BUILDING]
Warlock's city building is among the best I've seen in the genre. As opposed to Civilization V's cities which are always visually represented by one hex no matter how many structures they contain, in Warlock structures are individually placed on free hexes within your city's boundaries. Better yet, some hexes contain special resource nodes on which unique structures can be placed for special bonuses. [SPELL CASTING]
Rather than spending time researching technologies like in Civilization, in Warlock you research a wide variety of spells that you can cast on any turn to try and tip the odds in your favor. These range from offensive spells like fireballs and shadow bolts to defensive ones like melee and ranged resistances. There are even support spells that can be cast to summon friendly units that remain until death -- upkeep and all. [QUESTING]
Questing is a staple in most fantasy titles and here, it's implemented brilliantly. At certain intervals in the game, sometimes even at the very beginning, you're assigned quests which task you with either killing one or more monsters, constructing a building in one of your cities, or even founding a new city in an allotted number of turns. Upon completing these quests, much like looting monster dens, the rewards range from extra resources to brand new units. Although failing some quests results in no penalty, others give you a slap on the wrist by decreasing your status with the gods -- something that seems insignificant at first but can cripple you later in the game once you gain access to powerful spells that require a certain standing with the gods to cast. I would have liked to have seen a greater variety of quests, but I think they work to improve the game by giving you even more incentive to continue playing for just "one more turn." [DIPLOMACY & VICTORY]
One area in which passive players might be put off by Warlock is that of diplomacy. Although rival mages do exist, most of your interactions with them will consist of handing over resources when they demand them or engaging in all out war. Non-aggression pacts can be formed by handing over some mana or money and you can make demands of your own, but those are the only alternatives at your disposal. In most games, expect brutal wars sparked by ridiculous resource demands that would put you in the hole if you were to follow through with them. Although there are victory conditions that don't require demolishing the empires of others, because of resource demands alone you'll need to maintain a powerful economy to meet them. [PRESENTATION]
Presentation-wise, Warlock delivers on all fronts. Its interface is clean and streamlined, the game's visuals are colorful and detailed, unit animations are fluid, and the voice acting and soundtrack are top notch. The game's engine performs outstandingly, too, delivering high frame rates even on large maps with multiple rival mages and alternate worlds and tons of activity. [CONCLUSION]
In some ways, it's hard to believe the quality of product Paradox has published for just $19.99. Warlock is an addictive, charming game that's just as fun to look at as it is to play. I can't recall the last time that I was so engrossed with a strategy game, I sat down to play for just an hour or two and found myself still glued to the computer in the wee hours of the morning. Although it could be improved in some areas, especially documentation and diplomacy, and is oddly missing features such as the ability to demolish buildings, Warlock's developers have managed to beautifully merge Civilization V's look and feel with the magical nature of older titles like Master of Magic while implementing many unique ideas of their own. Although multiplayer is currently missing, the developers have stated that they're considering implementing and including it for free in a future update. Needless to say, unless you're pinching pennies and refuse to play any turn-based game from which Sid Meier's name is absent, Warlock is an absolute must-play. For every bad taste pathetic past efforts have left in your mouth (Stardock's disastrous Elemental: War of Magic comes to mind), this one offers a nice, big glass of water to rinse it all out and then some.… Expand

While the game looks very similar to Civ V, I think is actually better. And I'm saying this as a lifelong fan of Civilization titles. The battle is practically the same, but with the addition of damage types and wide range of hp points for units, which makes for a surprisingly better tactics. There are a lot of spell, and in my opinion, the balance of gold/research/food/mana production is done much better than in Civ V. There is no penalty for expanding here! And dynamic and shifting god favor is quite nice - and adds real weight to gameplay. Diplomacy is not as advanced as in Civ IV - but better than in Civ V. All in all, it is a very solid and enjoyable game. I find myself going back to it.… Expand

While taking several cues from "Master of Magic" it is definitely it's own game. The graphics and animation are superbly executed. The computer AI seems to "gang up" on you and there are a few quirks with the diplomacy feature that I wish were included (like the ability to negotiate for alternative goods / resources than just the ones that are requested by opposing characters. If you don't give them exactly what they want...WAR!). There is no unit stacking so battles are played out on the world map. I thought I was going to be disappointed by this as I'm a huge fan of the Master of Magic micro battles, but this lends to the games pace and allows you to get to "the next turn" where your kingdom and battles continue to develop. Overall this game is a steal for $19.99 and FAR better than the last offering. If you're a fan of high fantasy and CIV games in general this ones worth your cash.… Expand

I have started the game about 20.00h and went to sleep 02.00h next day. It is really enjoyable. Building cities and expanding them is fun, upgrading units is nice. It has user friendly UI and has this important property, that you want go to another turn. Great replay value. Each new game can be rewarding.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I got the game on the weekend and was pleasantly surprised by it. Warlock: Master is a Civ style fantasy romp that can definitely be described as a 'just on more turn' experience if you're a fan of the turn-based genre. It's quite a simple game with some lovely variety, there are some slight balance issues (ie: once you get the big scary units you'll own the opposition), but I quite like this about the game.

I am a fan of the genre however so will be slightly biased towards this game. I'll say for certain though that I preferred this to HOMM and a lot of the other fare out there competing with this, and for the price tag, this is some good bang for your buck if you're into turn-based games and are an old fantasy fan like myself.… Expand

I absolutely love this game, the amount of complexity is just right and the interface is amazingly easy to use. The graphics are nice and colorful, the soundtrack is pretty cool and the maps are usually really cool.
The only thing I dont like is the lack of a campaign mode. I didnt expect much fo a story but there is literally no story at all here. That and the AI which is a little weird sometimes are the reasons why I take away one point.… Expand

warlock est un tres bon jeu, pas aussi bon que civilization mais c'est une bonne alternative ! il manque quand meme une diplomatie plus developpée : c'est vraiment un probleme. sinon j'adore !
(desolé pour les erreurs je suis pas tres fort en anglais)

Wow! What can I say... this game is FUN. Some gripe that the hexagonal combat system is taken from Civ5, when actually, if you've played some other older games developed by Ino-Co, like Fantasy Wars, it's easy to then see that Civ5 actually took a lot of their ideas from them. This game is quickly becoming the absolute "gem" of what I've always wanted. With the most recent 1.2 patch, which includes new content such as heroes and artifacts, it absolutely shines. I feel like I'm playing with all the best elements of Majesty, Heroes of Might and Magic, and yes, Civ. Highly recommended!… Expand

Excellent game. Unpretentious, not too complicated, and just plain fun. The unit upgrade system is very elegant. The only (minor) detraction is that the pocket planes are too hard. By the time you can tackle them, you can completely obliterate the computer.

Damn, this game is fun. It takes half an hour to get accustomed to the mechanics, then you're away. I've been exploring a few games to get my strategy fix, and can happily say I've found what I've been looking for. Wasted 10 hours this weekend and would gladly waste 10 more if I didn't have to work tomorrow. Some reviewers will say the game lacks depth, and they're right, but I like what they've built. The game is streamlined in places where it makes sense and is really elegant and liberating. One example is the ocean travel system. If you have a unit that needs to cross water, just walk it to the shore and next turn it will build its own boat and take to the seas. No building a dockyard, then a transport, then loading the transport. This is daring, and ingenious. Basically, Warlock gets out of your way so you can engage in tactical fighting non stop for hours on end. No doubt it will lose its pull a bit quicker than some deeper strategy games, but I really don't care at this point because I've already gotten my $20 worth and will do so five times over. Grab it and enjoy!… Expand

First off I'd like to address "Wakko"s negative review. He didn't play the game.....for very long. He complains about things like monster "appearing" on the map....and says how that's "cheating". In the game you and your enemies can...SUMMON CREATURES. And they can appear anywhere you have sight. He goes on to call other things "broken" , but in fact he just didn't understand how to play the game.

The game is fun and addictive. Simple as that. If you like turn based strategy then you'll like this game. I'm having a lot of fun with it.… Collapse

While the original score of 71 was probably accurate at release, currently it is a much improved game with patches and cheap DLC. It also has a multiplayer feature in beta that I have yet to try out. The game keeps getting better over time and I learn something new with each play through. It reminds me of the older CIV games (I am one of those that think CIV5 was a step backwards in the franchise) and Alpha Centauri. This is an evolving WIN for the turn-based game enthusiast. It also goes on sale frequently with a current promotional price of $4.99 at GamersGate for the base game, which ensures that you won't have any reason to say no to this gem.… Expand

Everything one may want from a serious turn based strategy. It looks and feels like civilization, but has the intensity of the King Arthur 1 with the in-depth unit levelling system of Majesty. In short - an amazing game for 20$!

I agree that there is a core of a good game here - but that the AI and depth of strategy are lacking. The battles are civilization-style, and lacking any of the depth of a game like Heroes of Might and Magic. The different creatures are interesting...the spell selection not as much. I just wish that on games like this that could could strip away the extra elements and really focus on depth of strategy and game balance. Still: a very fun game for the money.… Expand

If you like 4X games that lead more towards Warfare than Economic management you will have fun with this. The fantasy theme is used well to provide a large number of unique types of units to recruit. As well as a lot of spells to research an cast which can really spice up the combat. Those craving tons of death will be a little disappointed. But what the game aims to do it does really well. Which is provide a strategy game with a fast pace that focuses more on action and exploration. I only count off for a few rough spots like lack of some common settings, and a few annoying bugs. It's well worth the cheap 20 dollar asking price however.… Expand

Steam tells me i have blown 140 hours of my life on this game, what it won't tell me is that i'll probably blow hundreds more. Probably the best value for money game i've ever purchased. Because the game is so completely wonderful in every aspect it's hard not to simply want MORE, more info in the interface, more data about the civilization, better visibility of unit attributes in specific game-play states - but these features few other games of the same genre have put forth so it certainly doesn't go against Warlock for overlooking some interface elements. Diplomacy doesn't really make a lot of sense, but i tend to ignore that section of the game. I don't think there is multiplayer. Diplomacy and multiplayer are 2 things i am absolutely not interested in however so this is not a drag. If those things are important to you, don't expect to have them in Warlock.

To write Warlock off simply as a "Civ Clone" would be to deny yourself the enjoyment of one of the greatest "4x" games ever compiled.

Another important point to make is the degree of DLC that has been released since launch, and at micro pricing ($1.99-$2.99USD). A number of patches have also been released, though i hadn't noticed any of the bugs they were fixing. The most recent patch was 3 weeks ago, so they're supporting this game over 8 months since release, that seems pretty cool.

I hope they make another one and i hope it's pretty much the same, but with MOOARRR STUFF.… Expand

Absolutely amazing, one of the best games of this year. Deep, balanced, intuitive and with awesome graphics. It has a really good AI and one of the best unit list in the history of videogames. There are really a thousand units and each of them is heavily customizable. You will never run out of new stuff and probably they will expand it later.

All of this costs only 20$, you must buy it now.

The game is a very cartoony RTS, there's a Lack of tutorial for new players to RTS, there's no multiplayer but there's a lot of configurations to make your world, making a match with the bigger dimensions of the world will provably take you up to 8 hours to complete the game, visually its good and once you domain the basic gameplay you will get engage with the game.

I do not usually write reviews but I feel this game is a little gem of turn based fantasy strategy that deserves recognition. I saw the x-mas special on steam and downloaded the free demo which got me addicted. Download, installation of the full game were easy on Steam. This game really makes you feel like a great Mage and you have to use all the resources at your disposal to conquer the world. If you like Civilization or Master of Magic, you will fight a great variety of monsters, discover treasure or spells in lairs, do quests for rewards, decide which gods to align with, hire and customize heroes, buy magic items from traveling merchants and explore portals to dangerous parallel worlds. Your units will gain experience and perks. Combat is interesting and highly strategic despite no unit stacking. Your enemies will just not waltz in and capture a non garrisoned city. The city will defend itself and it will take several turns to wear down its defenses using infantry or ranged or magic before capture. A single unit will rarely be destroyed in one single combat, and terrain like forests or hills will give great defense bonuses especially with unit perks like cover specialist. The rock paper scissor principle applies in building your forces, geography can be altered by creating volcanoes in enemy territory, raising or lowering land,creating dead lands or fertile lands. I find the combination of strategic planning and random game events great fun. Each new game also takes place in a randomly generated world and you can customize many parameters. For your gaming money, this game offers IMO one of the highest fun to price ratio. My first game took me away from Skyrim for35 hours, and I won it by capturing a certain number of holy grounds. Nuff said.

This game plays well, is not buggy, you will not feel you are managing an excel chart. It appears to have been designed with lots of game play testing and debugging, by a small company with lots of Russian sounding names and I wish them good luck in their future projects if they keep focusing on quality.… Expand

I liked this game alot. The combat is the main focus, cities are much simpler then Civilization but the variety of units, promotions, and potential buffs make combat really interesting. The fact that the 4 different races are COMPLETELY different is also a nice change from Civ. I personally preferred playing the undead, where you don't really need to make food at all, most of your troop maintenance is taken from your mana supply. It's nice touches like that which give this game it's charm. Mind you the creeps can be tricky when you're first learning, especially those greater fire elementals, but once you figure out the game there are ways to deal with everything. There have also been a number of patches since I started playing, the last patch added terraforming spells which I thought were super cool. I love the idea of covering the land in blight (zerg style) or being able to create water/mountains to form choke points for defense.

Complaints would be two fold: Random tech tree can be frustrating, certain spells are so helpful I just don't see how this would be balanced multiplayer. Ice prison in particular trivializes fire elementals and your rate of expansion can be greatly affected by how early you get this spell. Second complaint is the AI is pretty stupid. It's challenging enough on hardest setting but only because the AI cheats so bad. He basically has infinity units. Still, I wasted a good number of nights playing this game.… Expand

A shame this game came out as it did. Now, almost a year after it was released, it is so much better than it was at release. Firstly, I play with the three DLC (total cost under £5 for all three) so my review is based on that. But even the core game has been updated and improved almost beyond recognition (play wise). From patch 1.2 to today (1.4.1) the game has improved a lot. More spellss, better AI, better landscape creation, powerful allies to recruit, better tactical options, economy while still simple has now been enhanced (landscape now plays a part as well as many other factors). But above all it is engaging and FUN. You never feel the need to drill down to absurd levels of micromanagement. Tactically it is superb. The number and variety of spells, the freedom to complete the game in so many different way. I completely understand all the paid reviewer scores that came out at the games launch, I agree with them all. As the game was at launch that is what it was worth. However, If it was released now as patched, tweaked and improved as it is today, it would get high 80's from most publications and low to mid 90's from those ezines that were more "tactic and strategy" orientated. A gem (BTW the GUI is not from Civ 5 it's from the Elven Legacy series which predates Civ 5 by several years)… Expand

Warlock: Master of the Arcane is a strategy game done right. There are so many thing about it that I love: The fantasy setting, graphics, gameplay, music,... I've played 43 hours worth of gameplay so far, and completed 3 campaigns (they are quite long). The forums and information available in the manual are both fantastic, so if you're a turn-based strategy game noob, you'll be up and running quickly. For those who have played the Civilization or SIM series, the interface is familiar, yet beautifully streamlined unlike some others. The game oozes character, from the funny character names to amusing on click dialogues. Battles are EPIC. Summoned creatures, money, mana and spells, all there. This is easily the best fantasy based turn-based strategy I have ever played and one of my favourite games ever, period. I think it's destined to be a classic. If you want a game that's fun but also makes you think (and you have a few hours to spend) I highly recommend Master of the Arcane. Oh yeah, and multiplayer is available too, and the developer listens to the community and is constantly making improvements. Nothing but good things to say about this game. 10/10… Expand

As noted in my original May 25th review, when I rated a 7, I said it was very close to an 8 or 9. With 3 patches and the new Elven and Artifact DLC, the addition of lords and artifacts help fill a void. A few stability issues still and unbuffed naval still sucks, but those are minor complaints. It is far and away the spiritual successor to MoM now. Will re-review if future patches and DLC change my score.

MY ORIGINAL REVIEW FROM MAY 25 FOLLOWS:

I've been a big fan of old school Master of Magic from the mid-90s and been trying to find a suitable modern replacement since. This is probably the closest that I've come across, although it still has some flaws that keep it from being a full love. It plays like Civ with magic versus its own style. The good: City management, troop management, magic research/casting. The game flows well, and runs smoothly. The bad: Combat stinks and naval/sea is horrendous. Combat is unpleasant since there is no unit stacking (a huge negative, imo), no tactical fighting (a la MoM), and very limited magic casting to support a fight. Also, there is DLC with some hero options, but otherwise there are no hero units available. Honestly, there can't be enough bad things said about naval. The buildable units are weak, and you are constantly bombarded by sea serpents that are impossible to counter and eliminate. The strongest available naval unit, the Galleon, dies easily and can't be buffed or spawned fast enough to actually do anything worthwhile. As others have noted, there's really only an extermination option available as a victory path. I could theoretically cast the Unity spell to win, but it kept getting cancelled by the other wizards, and there's no way to buff yourself or the spell up higher to avoid the cancellation. With a few balancing issues corrected (notably naval), I'd give this a strong 8 or 9.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. ­it be a pretty cul gaem. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­… Expand

I like this stuff. This is a good Civ-like with a fantasy touch. You have lot of different troops and lot of build to diversify your empire. IT s pretty rich and deep.The gameplay is basic (only play without other mod than "sandbag") but the game is so addictive and funny

Warlock looks like a fantasy version of Civilization, focused on combat and conquest. There are always monsters coming at you, so there are never really boring or waiting parts. A lot of units and spells to discover add up to the fun of the game. Definitely recommend.