The basics of Warlords gameplay remain the same in Warlords IV. One starts out with one or more heroes and must conquer enemies on a map littered with castles, outposts, tombs, and other structures. Each structure that is captured confers special bonuses depending on what other buildings they are "attached" to, in other words nearby. These include stables (movement bonus) and inns (cheaper heroes) among others. In addition, gold income is increased and thus more units can be trained. Some structures begin as outposts and can be upgraded up to three times, with each upgrade permitting the training of more powerful creatures.

Victory comes by maneuvering armies to defend the homeland and ultimately capture the enemy capital. Other structures occupied by neutral creatures can be raided for artifacts or may even assign quests, which adventurers are nicely rewarded for after completion. These side quests have always added a nice role-playing feel to the traditional turn-based gameplay.

For those people intimately familiar with the series, there are a few additions that stand out the most. These are almost all carried over from the Warlords: Battlecry series of real-time strategy games. In Battlecry, one created a persistent warlord in a typical RPG fashion. That hero was there to stay, whether the player won or lost a battle. Interestingly, one could even play skirmish games on random maps and use the experience gained to boost this character. Warlords IV also implements this feature. One can start a quick game on a pre-made or random map and build up their main character stats. This is especially useful for tackling some of the tougher campaign missions. Up to three units can also be carried over from game to game, allowing one to nurture a red dragon through the ranks or always have his or her favorite orc by their side.

Warlords IV was originally going to include a tactical combat engine where entire armies would clash at once. This was scrapped in favor of the more traditional Warlords combat. It can be automated, with the computer choosing what unit to use each round depending on the player's preference for defensive or aggressive style. Or those that prefer a more hands-on approach can choose what unit dukes it out each round. Combat is basically a back and forth affair between one unit at a time from each side. Each unit takes a swipe at the other, and has a chance of taking off 5 to 8 life points each hit, or 1 if they miss. The chances of hitting depend on the unit's combat factor in comparison to its enemy. Other factors such as supporting units (archers, catapults) etc. and special attributes like critical strike, fear, and first strike, serve to add an additional layer of strategy. One must be conscious of what units best complement each other. For instance, a lowly swordsman can be lethal with a full escort of archers, since each has a chance of striking the enemy once per turn. Instead of the static combat screen of previous games, this time each unit has a 3D model (with the same unit graphics seen in Battlecry). An appropriate backdrop depicts the type of terrain on which the battle is waged. This is purely eye candy, but serves to liven things up a bit and make more sense of the numbers that drive the combat.

Replayability earns very high marks. Random maps can be customized with a number of features, including the terrain and number of enemies and structures. There is also a map editor which is a breeze to use and multiplayer. I was unable to test out the multiplayer with the beta version, but the game will include internet play on Ubi.com, play by email, as well as a hot seat mode. The campaign is also fully playable in multiplayer mode.

Speaking of which, the campaign structure is also borrowed from Battlecry. In previous Warlords games, the campaign was simply a string of scenarios. Warlords IV offers a much more dynamic campaign. The game world is divided into 32 provinces, ten of which contain story missions that further the game's plot. The other 22 provinces can be captured to give one of two bonuses,a special hero that joins you in your next battle, or the ability to lead an additional race. These are purely optional, however.

The storyline is not overly compelling, and tells of a dark elf named Aravein and her quest for ultimate power. I won't give too much away, but suffice it to say it is nothing you haven't read before in a thousand fantasy novels. Unfortunately, even the story missions are generally glorified skirmishes, with little in the way of story occurring during the actual mission.

Instead, the story unfolds through narrated still shots. The art and voice acting is well done, and does a good job in place of full fledged movies. Nicely drawn character portraits represent heroes and units. Much of this art is carried over directly from Battlecry, but this is not a complaint, as that game's artwork was generally top-notch. Also, for the first time in the series you can actually see all of the units in an army as they march across the battlefield, as opposed to just one. The music is in the style of the Battlecry series (sensing a theme here?), with rich orchestral pieces interspersed with haunting voices. The effect is often both soothing and exciting and mixes nicely with the fantasy artwork.

The interface is very clean and nicely organized. A tool bar at the bottom gives all the most important information, such as the gold and mana income. Click a structure and two vertical bars appear, one to queue up the training of new troops and the other to manage the armies that are presently garrisoned there. Simply choose an army and right click the terrain to send them on their way. All the conveniences are also easily accessible, such as a button to continue move orders or quickly access the next army. So far, so good.

This is where my praise comes to a bit of a halt. While the Warlords series has never been about high-end graphics, the games always sported a clean look with a bright color palette. I guess charming would be the best way to describe it. In Warlords IV, the castles, towers, inns and other structures are nicely detailed and the units during battle are decent, if a bit cartoonish. The terrain graphics, however, are not distinct enough and tend to blend together. This makes the maps look far too uniform. Just compare shots of Warlords IV to a game like Heroes of Might and Magic III or even the very first Age of Wonders. It is often hard to distinguish your units from the terrain, and since everything ends up looking the same, one can rarely rely on the terrain alone to navigate around. Instead you must rely on the mini-map.

In addition, the sparkle effect that is used to show unexplored structures and to point out which buildings are attached to each other doesn't meld well with the look of the game. Even the path that shows where units are traveling is represented with this sparkle effect, giving it a bit of a sloppy look.

I'm not one to harp on graphics too much if the gameplay is there. There is definitely a lot to like, but Warlords IV can get a bit repetitive. I think part of the problem is that it seems far too easy to acquire gold, which is needed to support troops. Therefore, once the player has a number of high level structures under their control, they can keep pumping out unit after unit. While the higher level units can take two or three turns to train, a viable strategy is to have a couple of high level armies accompanied by tons of low level cannon fodder. Toss them at the enemy strongholds to soften them up, attack, and then simply raze the structure and repeat.

The AI is pretty good, however, so players must be prepared to tackle some pretty tough armies. On the whole, the difficulty level seems to have a struck a happy medium, as opposed to the overly difficult Warlords III: Darklords Rising.

Another problem is that all one needs to do in order to train units of another race is capture a structure belonging to it. The further one race is from the other in theme, the longer it will take to train units of that type. Even still, within ten turns it is entirely possible to have knights riding alongside necromancers, elven archers, dwarves, and orcs. Don't get me wrong, the unit variety in the ten races the game offers is impressive, but it is too easy to gain access to new units. If a bunch of dwarves take over an orcish citadel, there should be rebellions to quash before being able to recruit them.

Herein lies the game's biggest problem, it is often too simplistic. There is strategy involved to be sure, especially in the area of spells, which are cast from your capital city where your main warlord is stationed. At the same time, there are no structures to build (everything is already on the map), no towns to develop, no economies to nurture because of automated resource gathering, and only a minimal level of interplay between the different races. In its present state the game just doesn't offer as much variety as other games in the genre. Solid gameplay? Yes, but not variety.