Manor Lords is a game every city building fan and RTS fan alike are looking forward to. The indie title – developed by a single developer – received its first trailer last year and the hype has been building ever since.
The most recent trailer – released yesterday – shows off the RTS battle mechanics. There are some really interesting features, fantastic graphics, and a style of gameplay that definitely looks set to rival Total War’s historical RTS monopoly.
The first thing you’ll notice in the trailer is just how good the game looks. Considering this is all the work of one developer it’s pretty incredible. There are tiny details, like different types of headwear, and even decorated shields, one with a figure of Christ.
Units display their fatigue not only in statistics but also in their movement and behavior. Knights will look out of breath after fighting for too long in their heavy armor, and the rain will have a dampening effect on your unit’s morale and stamina.
Every soldier can have their own unique gear with unique stats. This will tie in with the city-building aspect of Manor Lords, with different buildings offering different upgrades and approaches to forming an army.
The details don’t stop there. Reworked combat animations look fantastic, with individual soldiers battling each other. There are also finishing animations, as one soldier drives his fork into another’s chest on the ground.
The battle commands are intuitive too, with unique features such as the “tactical retreat” and different firing options for the archers. At first glance, these battles seem deeper than even Total War’s, a franchise of games that has had its claws in the historical RTS market for decades.
It’s clear that the battle design has taken inspiration from Total War – how could it not – but there is definitely an innovation in Manor Lords’s battles, at least from this tailored trailer. Obviously, the game might not have the depth or scale of a Total War game, but for a single-person project…it looks great nonetheless.
With many in the Total War community begging Creative Assembly for a Total War: Medieval 3, Manor Lords may well itch that scratch until the game is one day released by the studio. That being said, this is primarily an “organic” and “strategic” city-builder, so the game will likely take a different route than Total War games.
Manor Lords is currently available to Wishlist on Steam and you can support the development via Patreon. No Early Access launch date is confirmed – yet – although the description of this most recent YouTube trailer suggests the EA might be coming sooner rather than later.
