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Each clan has over twelve unique units, although this could still change in the future. Units range from your basic Samurai troops, to that of your well-trained Zen Archers. The attacks and other moves executed by your troops are fascinating. Ninjas vanish in a puff of smoke, Monks can flip and do summersaults from insane heights, and Archers can shoot down a bird while blindfolded. Coupled with Liquid Entertainment's incredible artists, the end result is mind-blowing. But the developers didn't stop there. But these guy didn't stop there. Oh no. They just had to put in the extra effort. "In addition to making the units cool looking, we wanted to give them unique idle animations as well," says Ed Del Castillo, "and we wanted these idle animations for more than just show, we wanted them to effect the units in a specific way. For example, if a swordsman is just standing around waiting for an order, he'll start to sharpen his sword, this in turn will increase the amount of damage they inflict during battle." Talk about innovations. Ed continues, "when idle Geisha girls start dancing for the soldiers, all the soldiers watching the girls dance will get their hit points increased by a little bit, just because their happy watching the girls." As you can see, the level of unit development in Battle Realms will be like nothing that you've ever seen.
As if this wasn't enough, each unit in Battle Realms has its own distinctive combat AI. This means that each unit will react to a change in terrain, opposing forces or even distance. For example, the Mounted Samurai will first attack with their black powder rifles from a distance before drawing out their
Katanas to close in for the kill. Archers will also move in closer to hit their target if they realize that they are too far away to fire effectively.
Players can now also take over another side's horses. If you manage to knock off a mounted horseman, that horse is now available for you to mount and use in your forces. If you tell a mounted samurai to go to a specific point and along the way his horse gets killed, your samurai will still continue to make his way to that point. Little nuances like this is what makes Battle Realms truly spectacular.
Heroes play an important role in Battle Realms. Besides having increased stats and skills, heroes are essential to increasing the effectiveness and skill of the forces under their command. If your troops see your hero consistently fighting and winning battles, then their power and abilities will increase as well. In another move, players will periodically come across magical items and weapons, which they can equip their heroes with.
Now comes the best part. Remember all those forests in other RTS games that you couldn't walk through? Well, now you can. In Battle Realms, forests can provide a serious tactical advantage to both you and your enemies, as whole armies could be taking cover in them. But, not to worry, all is not lost. The team has rigged up a sort of early warning system. If a unit were to run full tilt into the forest, his actions will startle the birds in the trees and make them fly away, which in turn will alert enemies to your presence. This just goes to show how thoroughly the team over at Liquid Entertainment has thought out the game. Hell, even the world is truly a living, vibrant land. Peasants will go about their daily chores of gathering food and chopping down trees while an old sensei will be smoking his pipe outside his dojo while warriors train inside. The amount of realism is remarkable.
But wait, a real-time strategy game wouldn't be complete without some form of resource management now, will it? The creators of Battle Realms have created the first living resource system. A living resource system is dependant on how a player manages his resources in Battle Realms, as this has a direct impact on their tactical decisions in the game. This system makes gameplay richer and much more challenging. For example, if a player uses peasants to grow rice, the town's economy will increase therefore more options for troop armament and technological advances will open up. Unfortunately, there is a price to be paid. The more peasants you have working in the fields and farming, the less units you have available to train into warriors. Players will also be able to store their resources in their respective villages. This opens up opportunities for enemies to invoke sabotage scenarios to cripple your economic stance.
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