Stardock Entertainment has announced Sorcerer King, a brand new fantasy 4X title that’s just popped up on Steam Early Access. Rather than taking on various factions for supremacy in the traditional 4X manner, you’re trying to stop the titular Sorcerer King, a powerful and nefarious villain, from destroying the world and ascending to godhood.
Expect the usual fantasy strategy blend of strategic combat, empire-building, expansion and magical shenanigans, but with a much more focused goal.
Set in a blackly comic world in which the Sorcerer King’s already pretty much vanquished all his rivals, the game’s written by Cracked.com’s Chris Bucholz. Expect ”tough but often amusing dilemmas” in the form of various side-quests that your sovereign can complete to gather items and allies for his last stand. ”You must defeat the Sorcerer King’s terrifying lieutenants to unlock the Shadow Gate,” explains the developer, ”and eventually battle the dark demigod himself. Or all will be lost. Again.”
Sorcerer King’s designed to offer an alternative to traditional 4X games. Your nemesis isn’t competing against you for prestige and victory points, he’s trying to destroy a bunch of magical shards in order to enact his doomsday plan. You can’t sit back and aim for an economic or diplomatic victory, you need to go out and stop the sly git more directly.
”Sorcerer King is a new model for 4X games,” said Derek Paxton, VP of Stardock Entertainment. ”Instead of competing against equal players, you’re behind the eight ball trying to stop the Sorcerer King and his minions from destroying the world. It’s strategy gaming under a guillotine.”
Right now the Early Access beta offers a single sovereign leader to play, and is missing several key planned features. These are set to be added at a later date, and include; five more sovereigns to play as, each with their own skill trees, spell lists, and special units, recruitable minor factions, randomly generated maps, deeper questlines and more unique units.
The Sorcerer King beta is available now on Steam Early Access. The game’s planned for a full release in Spring 2015. For more on Stardock’s latest foray into 4X, check out our hands-on preview, and our interview with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell.
The game will be available tonight on Steam Early Access for $34.00, 15 percent off of its normal $39.99 price tag.
Here’s a list of all our coverage for Sorcerer King:
Enjoy!
