Are Crusader Kings or Warlock worth it?

[DoPo]

Simple question, I hope. Right now Paradox Interactive has 50% off on all games in its catalogue on Steam. I looked through it and only these two (OK, technically three) games stood out:
Warlock: Master of the Arcane
Crusader Kings
Crusader Kings II

So I decided to be lazy ask for a the competent opinion of the Escapists. There you go, do my research for me please share your thoughts.

 

[hazabaza1]

Having seen some LPs of both games, Warlock seems worth it if you like Civ5, and Crusader Kings seems okay. I don't really play many strategy games though, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

 

[veloper]

Don't get Warlock till the devs patch the game up.

Right now it has none of the promised multiplayer and there's tons of balancing issues. It's also too easy on hard right now. The concearn now is the 2nd piece of DLC is already out before the game is fixed.
I also did a review on the game in the user section that you won't read. Game has great potential but it's not there yet.
Go play Age of wonders or something in the meantime.

 

[kingthrall]

unless you enjoy games like masters of orion, victoria empire under the rising sun, hearts of iron then do not buy crusader kings. It is a complex game and more about managment and political/economical movements to get your lands through titles than just slugging it out with warfare. Its a slow game. Thats not saying its enjoyable but that is how the game is.

In other words if your a total war fan, who likes to see armies clash on your sceen and arrows flutter around ect. then dont get it. If you like to see a map with every ounce of detail with your pieces moving into place, managing your vassals ect and looking at the statistics of your armies equipped with the weapons manufactured by the provinces you decided to employ blacksmiths ect and the mines you decided to create in other provinces via the trade routes of all your other lords and vassals ect ect ect ect. Honestly for me its a great game with endless content and depth but I find it more like a highschool project A+B=C and no cool animations to relax and watch. Not to be viewed as "having better graphics"

No idea what warlocks is though

 

[ChildishLegacy]

Don't get Warlock till the devs patch the game up.

Right now it has none of the promised multiplayer and there's tons of balancing issues. It's also too easy on hard right now. The concearn now is the 2nd piece of DLC is already out before the game is fixed.
I also did a review on the game in the user section that you won't read. Game has great potential but it's not there yet.
Go play Age of wonders or something in the meantime.

I played the demo of Warlock and it was just a mess >.>
I could hardly do anything at all.

 

[veloper]

Don't get Warlock till the devs patch the game up.

Right now it has none of the promised multiplayer and there's tons of balancing issues. It's also too easy on hard right now. The concearn now is the 2nd piece of DLC is already out before the game is fixed.
I also did a review on the game in the user section that you won't read. Game has great potential but it's not there yet.
Go play Age of wonders or something in the meantime.

I played the demo of Warlock and it was just a mess >.>
I could hardly do anything at all.

The demo was map was perfectly playable and winnable even(within 40 turns).
It's just that the balance (units, economy, spells etc.) in the game is way off and the AI is hopeless, which makes such an early win possible.
It didn't find much else wrong with the game though.

 

[DoPo]

In other words if your a total war fan, who likes to see armies clash on your sceen and arrows flutter around ect. then dont get it. If you like to see a map with every ounce of detail with your pieces moving into place, managing your vassals ect and looking at the statistics of your armies equipped with the weapons manufactured by the provinces you decided to employ blacksmiths ect and the mines you decided to create in other provinces via the trade routes of all your other lords and vassals ect ect ect ect.

I like total war, and you described the aspect I prefer - watching the armies fight is not my high priority. Thanks, for that, I'll get it. Any recommendation which to go for 1, 2 or both?

I also did a review on the game in the user section that you won't read.

*hangs head in shame*

Totally forgot to check the user reviews section. I'll go and read it, just to make it up for you. But it seems that I'll not be getting Warlock, at least not now.

 

[veloper]

In other words if your a total war fan, who likes to see armies clash on your sceen and arrows flutter around ect. then dont get it. If you like to see a map with every ounce of detail with your pieces moving into place, managing your vassals ect and looking at the statistics of your armies equipped with the weapons manufactured by the provinces you decided to employ blacksmiths ect and the mines you decided to create in other provinces via the trade routes of all your other lords and vassals ect ect ect ect.

I like total war, and you described the aspect I prefer - watching the armies fight is not my high priority. Thanks, for that, I'll get it. Any recommendation which to go for 1, 2 or both?

I also did a review on the game in the user section that you won't read.

*hangs head in shame*

Totally forgot to check the user reviews section. I'll go and read it, just to make it up for you. But it seems that I'll not be getting Warlock, at least not now.

No worries man. That piece would be about 10 pages down right now and it's a really long and boring review, like I always do.
All you'll want is the conclusion which I already summed up here.

 

[ChildishLegacy]

Don't get Warlock till the devs patch the game up.

Right now it has none of the promised multiplayer and there's tons of balancing issues. It's also too easy on hard right now. The concearn now is the 2nd piece of DLC is already out before the game is fixed.
I also did a review on the game in the user section that you won't read. Game has great potential but it's not there yet.
Go play Age of wonders or something in the meantime.

I played the demo of Warlock and it was just a mess >.>
I could hardly do anything at all.

The demo was map was perfectly playable and winnable even(within 40 turns).
It's just that the balance (units, economy, spells etc.) in the game is way off and the AI is hopeless, which makes such an early win possible.
It didn't find much else wrong with the game though.

Oh, well maybe my download got corrupted, because the game literally didn't work.

 

[DoPo]

No worries man. That piece would be about 10 pages down right now and it's a really long and boring review, like I always do.
All you'll want is the conclusion which I already summed up here.

Found it [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.375464-reviewing-Warlock-Master-of-the-Arcane]. It's easier if I just go to your profile and find it in your posts. I also read it, and it gave me the information I needed (which I totally could have done before I posted this thread...but yeah).

But since you mentioned Age of Wonders here and in the review, is 2 any good? I know I did some research a while back and generally, Shadow Magic was recommended, but I either haven't checked what people think about AoW 2, or they think it's bad. Any suggestion there? (Also, this time I checked, and there wasn't a review about it)

 

[veloper]

No worries man. That piece would be about 10 pages down right now and it's a really long and boring review, like I always do.
All you'll want is the conclusion which I already summed up here.

Found it [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.375464-reviewing-Warlock-Master-of-the-Arcane]. It's easier if I just go to your profile and find it in your posts. I also read it, and it gave me the information I needed (which I totally could have done before I posted this thread...but yeah).

But since you mentioned Age of Wonders here and in the review, is 2 any good? I know I did some research a while back and generally, Shadow Magic was recommended, but I either haven't checked what people think about AoW 2, or they think it's bad. Any suggestion there? (Also, this time I checked, and there wasn't a review about it)

The first game was good. The second game, not so much. Shadow magic is AOW2 on steriods and good again.
Best thing since Master of Magic in my opinion. The competition in the form of Heroes of M&M and Disciples are too much about figuring out in which order to beat the fixed, static enemies on the map for maximum level-ups. So more like puzzle games, while AOW are still real strategy games with reactive opponents.

 

[Terratina.]

Crusader Kings 2? Hell yeah, but slow. I wouldn't say Warlock is worth because it's like Civ 5 and I don't like Civ 5. 15 turns to build the most basic culture building on the standard pace? Too slow.

 

[veloper]

Crusdar Kings 2? Hell yeah, but slow. I wouldn't say Warlock is worth because it's like Civ 5 and I don't like Civ 5. 15 turns to build the most basic culture building on the standard pace? Too slow.

Did you even play Warlock?

 

[DoPo]

Shadow magic is AOW2 on steriods and good again.

So, you're saying I made the right decision when I bought it yesterday? That's good to know I went through my wishlist on GOG, found it there and bought it, but since AoW 2 wasn't on the wishlist, I wasn't sure if it's bad or I hadn't looked into it yet. And now that you said it, I recall I found out that 2 is not as liked as Shadow Magic.

Anyway, people - Crusaded Kings 1/2? Is one better than the other or should I get both?

 

[Suave Charlie]

I bought CK2 on a recommendation and I've found it just to be too in depth to really enjoy, I really did try and persevere with it but I just couldn't bring myself to like it. Ah well, £15 badly spent..

 

[endtherapture]

No worries man. That piece would be about 10 pages down right now and it's a really long and boring review, like I always do.
All you'll want is the conclusion which I already summed up here.

Found it [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.375464-reviewing-Warlock-Master-of-the-Arcane]. It's easier if I just go to your profile and find it in your posts. I also read it, and it gave me the information I needed (which I totally could have done before I posted this thread...but yeah).

But since you mentioned Age of Wonders here and in the review, is 2 any good? I know I did some research a while back and generally, Shadow Magic was recommended, but I either haven't checked what people think about AoW 2, or they think it's bad. Any suggestion there? (Also, this time I checked, and there wasn't a review about it)

Oh I had hours of fun with AoW2 vanilla and it's map editor. Great game, I really wish they'd make a total war style version of that game.

It was VERY hard though, computer always seemed to cheat even on Easy.

 

[Terratina.]

Did you even play Warlock?

Yeah, just see my Steam on my profile. I was referring to the relatively large amount of time to build a Momument at the beginning of the game in Civ 5. to Played the demo, didn't like it. Even with buildings taking about 2 or 3 turns to build, you can only build when the population increase. Depending on the are you build your city, this can hit you hard. Also with the demo, the starting city is next to a world portal guarded by Earth Elementals and there is an area near with tons of monsters and neural creeps and vampires. Not particularly good for a demo when the starting city is near a monster-fullied area.

 

[veloper]

Did you even play Warlock?

Yeah, just see my Steam on my profile. I was referring to the relatively large amount of time to build a Momument at the beginning of the game in Civ 5. to Played the demo, didn't like it. Even with buildings taking about 2 or 3 turns to build, you can only build when the population increase. Depending on the are you build your city, this can hit you hard. Also with the demo, the starting city is next to a world portal guarded by Earth Elementals and there is an area near with tons of monsters and neural creeps and vampires. Not particularly good for a demo when the starting city is near a monster-fullied area.

Then you'd know that the pace of the game is actually very fast, not slow.
Churning out units every 2 to 5 turns in your production cities while simultaneously producing the structures everytime a city grows to the next level. Not like civ5 at all in this respect. I'd yet have to see a faster progressing wargame or 4x.

The only similarities here are the visuals and the 1UPT combat.

The neutral creeps are actually one of the better things about the game. It's part of the challenge.
You can beat that earth elemental with 1 warrior, 1 archer, 1 small heal spell and a bit of tactics btw.

 

[Terratina.]

Snip

I believe the word "clusterfuck" is appropriate. The world portal is near a bunch of creeps, including vampires. Who are pretty tough. You just end up defending from the city from a heap of monsters on one front. As I'd said before, good enough game, not for me. Let's not derail this thread too much over this.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

For what it's worth I'm having shit tons of fun with Warlock. Is it perfect? No, but it's also currently $10.