Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire
a game by | Koei |
Genre: | Strategy/War |
Platforms: | PC, SNES |
Editor Rating: | 6.9/10, based on 5 reviews |
User Rating: | 6.5/10 - 4 votes |
Rate this game: | |
See also: | Romance of the Three Kingdoms Games |
Koei has primed ancient China for a fourth royal ransacking. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV, the later Han Dynasty is collapsing, and three powerful kingdoms are tearing the country apart. Up to eight players can play any of six scenarios that occur between the years 189A.D. and 235 A.D. As usual, if you haven't already calculated that it's a 46-year span, you'll never enjoy this typically math-intensive Koei game.
Romantic Entanglements
Your task is to bring peace to China by conquering 43 cities. As with all Koei history sims, you accomplish this mountainous task by playing politician, city manager, and general via a deep, multilayered menu system. Romance IVs menus, however, are the easiest yet. Simply scrolling through a single row of menus opens up an intricate command system.
Building prosperous cities to support your conquering army is the key to the game. The City commands offer the usual Koei controls for commerce and placating the populace. Romance IV even enables you to assign officers to oversee key areas, such as forming and the economy. The talent you assign to these tasks can make or break you.
For warfare, you recruit and train troops, then command navy, cavalry, and infantry. Romance IV upgrades its battlefield armament with catapults, firebolts, and, as you might suspect by the title, blistering walls of fire.
ProTip: In every scenario, keep, your eyes and ears open for the Hereditary Seal. You need it to become emperor.
The graphics and sounds were upgraded, too. The visuals remain simple, but they feature gorgeous static stills and lush coloring. The music's fine-tuned to be subtle and even relaxing at low volumes.
Invest in technology. With Technology at 60 or above, you can build deadly auto crossbows; at 100 or above, you can build awesome catapults.
Officers and Gentlepersons
Not only must you build your cities and armies, but you can also build rulers and officers (male and female), too. In addition to adjustable qualities such as Leadership, Power, and Intelligence, randomly generated Special Skills give your people (and you) an edge over enemies.
The 24 Skills run the gamut from the ridiculous to the sub lime. Some characters are good at spreading gossip, while others can call lightning down on enemies.
If your city is relatively weak, form alliances for temporary protection against stronger foes. Remember that your honorable friends must become your honorable enemies later.
Do the Math
Of course, watching numbers rise and fall really has to thrill you to enjoy any Koei game, but this time the enhanced graphics and smooth command interface seem to hide the number-crunching behind political intrigue and battle strategy. Wall of Fire adds spice to Romance.
- Put your strongest officer in charge of the city economy to quickly build up your funds.
- Spy or die. Use the Snoop command to check a city's tech before you attack. High tech usually indicates a tough fight ahead.
Download Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
- Pentium II (or equivalent) 266MHz (500MHz recommended), RAM: 64MB (128MB recommended), DirectX v8.0a or later must be installed
Game Reviews
FIRST IMPRESSION
Magnificent game. The graphics and features are all very cool. It's more user friendly, too. It's easier for novice players to pick up.
BEST FEATURE
I love being able to customize my own ruler and officers. Now my favorite RPG characters and friends can take part in the battles. It's a great idea.
WHAT'S MISSING
I wish Romance would move a little faster. At times it seems to lag, and the battles could resolve a bit faster. Expanding the scope of the country would be nice, plus adding more foreign invaders.
WILL YOU LIKE IT?
I think almost any older player will like it. It takes getting used to, but once you understand the game mechanics, it's easy enough to have a decent time. It's great when you're with friends..
- MANUFACTURER - KOEI
- DIFFICULTY - HARD
- THEME - Simulation
- NUMBER OF PLAYERS - 1 to 8
The super-complex simulation game in which you play for the control of ancient China is back. Because the characters you can choose have incredibly similar names and faces, be sure to check their abilities and other skills before you commit yourself to something that you may regret later on. After that, it's off to heavy-duty strategy, diplomacy and bureaucracy! Keep the manual handy while playing this massive simulation.
- Koei for Super NES
Once again, take control of over forty characters and determine the fate of ancient China! You, too, can sack and pillage every town and village! And let's not forget about that ancient Chinese ability to call down lightning from the skies!
- Manufacturer: Koei
- Machine: Super NES
Once again, take control of over forty characters and determine the fate of ancient China! You, too, can sack and pillage every town and village! And let's not forget about that ancient Chinese ability to call down lightning from the skies!