Disciples III: Renaissance Review for PC

System: PC	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Akella	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: Kalypso Media	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: July 13, 2010	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1-4	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

It’s unfortunate you don’t need to take advantage of all these features. The A.I. does some crazy things and rarely does anything to defend itself. It doesn’t take advantage of cover or power-boosting regions and will even attack you when it knows full well you can overpower it.

Disciples III: Renaissance screenshot

The A.I. never seems to be able to keep its units together and as a result, you’ll encounter many pockets of smaller, weaker units throughout the world map. It’s a great way to earn more resources, but it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. It’s too easy, and the victories don’t feel as though you’ve earned them. The battles become so inane and redundant, you’ll end up avoiding them so you can try to pick up the pace and get through more of the game. What will keep you plodding along is the storyline, if anything.

While the story is expertly crafted, the presentation is anything but, and is certainly not worthy of having the word “expert” attached to it in any form. The dialogue is amateurish. It’s so overblown and corny in places, you’ll think it was translated by a five-year old. Maybe Stan Lee’s five-year old, but a five-year old nonetheless. The narration is stiff, flat, and wooden. One of those words may have sufficed, but it’s so bad all three needed to be applied to this description. For such a long game, there just isn’t enough music. It’s stretched to the point of distraction, and is so repetitive it’s best left off. The same goes for the sound effects, with every spell triggering the same sound. Not that amazing audio would’ve help the game at this point.

If you’re absolutely incensed at the lack of challenge offered by the A.I., there is hope, but it is offered begrudgingly. The multi-player component allows you to play against other humans, taking turns of course, but not online and not through LAN but by using the same computer. It’s called hot seat multi-player, because you have to give up your seat in front of the PC to accommodate the other players. It works, albeit painfully slowly, and may be the only thing that saves this game. I wonder why the developers gave this feature so little consideration. I guess it’s in keeping with the rest of the game.

By Cole Smith
CCC Senior Writer

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

4.8

Graphics
The game has excellent 3D graphics with real-time environment rendering.

3.3

Control
Commands are easy to execute, but the inventory is difficult to access.

1.3

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Save your sanity and turn the sound off.

2.8

Play Value
Predictable and repetitive, the A.I. is too easy to beat.

2.6

Overall Rating - Average
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Three playable races - The Empire, the Legions of the Damned, and the Elven Alliance. Each race has its own unique units and city design.

Cities, locations, units, and other game assets are now represented in full 3D.

Advances in the gameplay allow increased fluidity in multiplayer games and less downtime when playing alone.

A new upgrade system allows the player to assign attributes to their leaders. This RPG system employs inventories and new stats and abilities.

Includes visual representations of character's equipped armor, weapons, and artifacts.