With menu scheme reminiscent of Warcraft and art of Heroes of Might and Magic, it would be a mistake to dismiss Fantasy Wars as a knock-off. In fact, it is actually a solid title that follows a tried-and-true formula - mixing high fantasy with wargaming – to great success, thus far. For those who long for the days when turn-based strategy games ruled the genre, you can breathe a sigh of relief, Europe is here for you.

The story certainly won’t peak any interest though, other than how suspiciously similar it is to another strategy game that features orcs and humans. The orcs, having been pushed into combat by shamans, invade the lands of the humans and send all of Eolia into chaos. Lead by chieftain Ugraum Grableg, the orc invasion is a green mass steamrolling over the land that must be stopped. It just so happens that there is someone up to the task. The human mercenary (Captain) Derrick Pfeil – you - and a handful of allies are all that stand in the orcs’ way. You aren’t always Pfeil though - the orcs are also playable, as are the Elf and Dwarf factions upon completion of the first two campaigns – but he is integral in the beginning. The premise might not grab you, but don’t worry, there is a lot of game here.

I have to be honest, I really don’t need too detailed a story when it comes to killing orcs. As a human, I am programmed to want to immediately ram a spear into anything green sporting giant spiked shoulder pads. Blizzard has shown that compelling characters and gorgeous cutscenes can spruce up even the most simple of stories, but I don’t require that so much as I do a chance to curb-stomp some greenskins.

Like most strategy games, the game is played out on a large battlefield with scripted events punctuating the combat to progress the story and introduce new challenges. The difference between Fantasy Wars and, say, Disciples, is that the scripted events here can turn the game from normal to brutal. Unlike its contemporaries, the hero here is both crucial and average: if they die, the game ends, but at the same time they are not so powerful that they can turn the tide of war. In Disciples II, whenever I saw a general teleport in with a few elite soldiers, I’d brush them off with my beefed hero and squad of even more elite troops. Not so here, where a transport isn’t a hero or a general but an entirely new army. It’s like a punch in the gut to slug it out for a castle, only to have even stronger units pop into view, ready for a fight. It also makes victory even more satisfying though, as the veteran troops that started the fight limp to the end, their numbers halved but the experience gained making them specialized – leveling up unlocks one of three various upgrades – to such a degree that their loss is very hard to take. Fantasy Wars is no joke, folks.

In reading up about the game’s impending North American release this February, I ran across several discussions regarding the European release and was surprised to see how happy people are about the difficulty. The build we previewed is a beta, so what I experienced could very well be changed, but by the reaction of gamers overseas, the game is every bit as tough as I found it. Some thought the puzzle-like approach of playing once as a test run, to see just what will happen, and again as the proper go as tedious, but most seemed to be relieved that there is a game out there that is more than willing to smack you about. If you have been waiting for such a game, well here it is.

That isn’t to say that the game is too tough to enjoy – there are difficulty levels, after all. Bringing the game down to Easy resulted in a more typical experience. Then again, I tend to associate the hexagon with difficulty – thanks, wargames – so seeing my squads of archers, rangers, catapults weave through enemy formations only to be taken down by an ambush of giant orc cavalry reinforcements wasn’t that surprising. There isn’t the same amount of micromanagement per character as there is in other titles, but with even a limit of 15 units on a battlefield, there is still a lot to worry about. The attack and counterattack stats are as crucial as ever, with the standard rule of both sides getting a shot applying here as in most titles. Much of Fantasy Wars is immediately familiar, with some tweaks here and there to make its design its own.