Battle Master
Description official description
An early squad-based combat strategy game set in a medieval-style fantasy world.
The player decides which race they want to play (Human, Orc, Dwarf or Elf) each with their own strengths and weaknesses. It is then a matter of clearing out areas of opponents and finding items to enhance your character's and companions' abilities.
There are many traps to avoid and death is a constant in what most people would find to be a very tough game.
The nearest game to compare it to would be Rage Of Mages, though that has more of an RPG/RTT (real-time tactics) focus as opposed to "squad action", but it does bear aesthetic similarities and a squad-based fantasy fighting theme.
Gameplay for leader is action-oriented, with a menu that allows to Parley/Travel/Rally Troops, change formations or use items. The leader attacks with Melee and Projectile buttons. Some classes are more reliant on teammates than others. "Parley" allows you to buy (but not sell) items, or buy a Safe Pass (skip the area).
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Screenshots
Promos
Credits (Atari ST version)
9 People
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 62% (based on 12 ratings)
Players
Average score: 2.4 out of 5 (based on 17 ratings with 1 reviews)
A sadly buggy and false attempt at a fantasy epic
The Good
The background of this game is quite engrossing and it explains the various rivalries quite well. The animation and detail of the characters and monsters is very well done.
Tension is high in the game, especially trying to keep your soldiers alive to face later missions.
The Bad
The whole thing feels like it is set up from the start to be as hard as possible. A lucky treasure find near the start of the game encourages you to hire more soldiers. However the more soldiers you hire, the weaker they seem to become. This form of balancing feels very artificial and detracts from the enjoyment quite a lot.
There are many faults in the game, and these make certain missions in the game either very easy or much too difficult
The Bottom Line
While the game does have a promising look and premise, its squad based tactics are a real disappointment. It attempts to use fantasy and real time small scale warfare as well as RPG and treasure hunting to make a great adventure game. The execution though falls well short of the promise and sadly leaves us with a very average game indeed.
Amiga · by Keeper Garrett (917) · 2005
Trivia
Title picture
The game's title picture is a reproduction of a part of the picture "Berserker" by Chris Achilleos.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Keeper Garrett.
Genesis added by JRK. Windows, Linux added by firefang9212. DOS added by Kabushi. Atari ST added by Martin Smith.
Additional contributors: mailmanppa.
Game added October 19, 2005. Last modified April 16, 2024.