The general style will be familiar to most RTS gamers, the fantasy roots descending from Warcraft , though the original Warlords predates Blizzard 's effort by a good few years. The race you command, and more importantly your alter-ego hero, can be any of eight of these races. Each has a unique flavour, with unique units and abilities, most taken from the original Warlords setting. The most important character is your hero, and he or she can specialise in any of 16 classes, such as barbarian or alchemist, with access to over 80 spells and a couple of dozen skills and abilities as experience is gained through battle. Taking your hero from a feeble level one novice up through the levels to a powerful warrior or spellcaster is an addictive process, available via campaign or skirmish mode play, and, not least, via multi-player games.
Heroes exert a circle of influence in which all friendly units gains combat bonuses.
This is where Battlecry departs from TA , and from Warcraft , in that bonus spells don't have to be cast individually on units. Spells have prerequisities, so you have to learn the simpler ones first. A higher level hero will know more spells, be more able to cast them reliably, and they'll have a greater effect. Warrior-focused heroes can concentrate on building their combat and command skills and abilities. It's fun to generate a hero and run him through skirmish missions to develop him.