Sorcerer King Announced

Stardock has officially taken the wraps off of Sorcerer King, a new fantasy 4X strategy title that features the same smattering of RPG elements as Elemental: War of Magic and its follow-up titles did. The game is already available on Steam Early Access, and we have a cinematic announcement trailer, a beta gameplay video, and a few bullet points to bring to your attention:

Sounds like

Sorcerer King is a new kind of 4X from Stardock, an independent studio with over 20 years of experience making strategy games.

‘¢ Unique, asymmetrical design creates a new kind of 4X gameplay based around surviving the Sorcerer King’s relentless, unscripted assaults.

‘¢ Sophisticated “Game Master” AI ensures each game is a new, challenging experience.

‘¢ Win the allegiances of independent minor factions before they abandon any hope of defying the Sorcerer King’s dark reign.

‘¢ Play one of six different sovereigns, each with their own unique skill tree, spellbooks and units.

‘¢ Extensive crafting system allows players to customize their units and seek out ever more powerful recipes to even the odds.

‘¢ Hundreds of quests deliver unique items, units, resources and unexpected narrative twists.

‘¢ Earn the loyalty of powerful champions and develop them into juggernauts capable of standing up to the Sorcerer King’s most powerful minions.

‘¢ Found new cities and build them up to gain access to new units, abilities, crafting recipes and more.

A New Kind of 4X
Sorcerer King is a new direction for 4X game design, pitting the player against a single overwhelmingly powerful enemy instead of a set of evenly matched factions racing for abstract victory conditions.

Think of the Sorcerer King as the evil mage who won the last traditional 4X game. He has already conquered the world. His enemies (including you) are scattered, their armies broken and cities torn down. His dark minions have free reign to terrorize the survivors everywhere except a few tiny outposts of civilization (like the one you start in) too insignificant to crush.

Asymmetrical Gameplay
Sorcerer King is built around the concept of asymmetry. Your goals (kill the Sorcerer King) are wholly different than the Sorcerer King’s goals (destroy the shards and therefore the world). The rest of the game revolves around this central concept.

The Sorcerer King doesn’t play by the same rules he operates on a completely different level than your scarce resources allow you to. A sophisticated (Game Master) AI controls his forces and other events in the world, managing pacing and generating threats to ensure an engaging game from start to finish.

What’s In, What’s Coming
Sorcerer King is in Early Access. That means it’s functional but incomplete as we march toward its early 2015 release date. The main things you’ll see improve during Early Access are polish, balance, and content.

The one major feature that is still being worked on is the minor faction system. The remnants of other civilizations will each have involved questlines and dialogues, and you’ll have to win their allegiances before the Sorcerer King overwhelms the last shreds of hope they cling to. Letting them slip into the Sorcerer King’s grasp will be a huge blow to your chances of stopping him.