This one rocks! It has great game theory, and a superb user interface. This city builder should not be missed! Go buy it
Two things stand out about Medieval Lords. First off, the game theory is well developed, fresh, and exciting. I have not seen any game with such fresh and polished ideas. The second thing is the user interface. Important information is visible at all times, and other information that you need to check now and then is handily available without taking you off the playing field. These two things alone make Medieval Lords a cut above the other city builders.
City building is about making a thriving economy in a finite amount of space. It is not about controlling troops. It is not about gearing up for war. It is problem solving, making ends meet with limitations of space and time, with interdepencies of solutions and new problems. Medieval Lords pulls this off well.
One thing expected in the puzzle from any good city builder is interdependencies. When you satisfy one problem, another rears its head. When you solve that problem, another might surface, or the original problem comes back. The interdependencies in Medieval Lords are well thought out, and finely tuned. When first learning the game, you may become frustrated. But you will figure it out, and if not, you can retune the rules to make things a bit easier if you desire (more on this later).
Graphically, the game excels in two respects. The 3D worlds are captivating and pleasant. Trees sway in the wind. Hills, valleys, rivers and lakes are convincing enough and superbly artistic. Then, when you've develped your town to a level where you're satisfied, you get to fly through it in first person perspective like you do in World of Warcraft and Dark Ages of Camelot. Here, you get to see animated buildings and city features. These animations are highly entertainiing, and one can only wonder how the developers include so much in one game. You get to see windmills and waterwheels churn, entertainers sing and dance, farms sow and reap, and many other very cool and interesting things, that I don't want to give away because doing so might be a spoiler.
Sounds are well done and convincing. You get to hear crows caw, seagulls cry, and eagles shriek. Building's sounds are sounds you'd expect too, all in high quality. Mainly, you hear these only when you're working close to the surface, and they are expecially keen when you're filying through in first person, lending a sense or reality that is not only convincing, but indeed captivating.
The music is adequate and pleasant. While the music could be a little better, you won't get your nerves rattled by it, nor be inclined to substitute it with something else. It is soothing, making the hours spent playing Medieval Lords a relaxing experience, and believe me, there will plenty of hours you spend with this game.
This game also has customization ability. You can create your own maps (but not scenarios), and for the campaign scenarios, you can tweak individual rules to customize these campaign scenarios to make 'em more easy or more difficult. This is a great feature that many games would benefit from by emulating. Making your own cutom maps can be done right from the game interface without having to run a different executable. Sadly, though, you cannot put enemies on your custom maps nor tweak the rules on them. Hopefully, Monte Christo will change this, and allow end users to make their own scenarios and share them among other fans of this game. If they do this, MedievalLords will be the lord of all city builders, and not lose it's crown for a long time to come.
In conclusion, Medieval Lords is everything you'd want from a game. It features a new and exciting game theory, a superb user interface, visual appeal, and two other things that many "new" games fail to deliver. It is stable right out of the box, and it's priced $20 less than what the big boys are demanding for their not so stable games. Medieval Lords is a real treat for city builder fans -- people that like to create instead of destroy. It's a thinker's game, with intricate interdependency puzzles presented in a limited space environment. All this, at a price that won't break your budget!
So, what are you waiting for? Go buy it! At least download the demo for a taste. You'll see what it promises, and I'll personally gaurantee that it delivers on it's promise.