General/ Plot….7.5
Developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Paradox Interactive, Tyranny is a real-time RPG strategy game. Tyranny takes place in a world named Terratus where there is one supreme Ruler, a God-like being named Kyros who managed to conquer the world. Only few factions dare to hold up against him. You are a fatebinder, one of his high ranked officers, who is given the task to bring order among these rebels.
There are 3 Rulers under Kyros’s command (we don’t know and we never learn if Kyros is a male or a female..) named Archons. As you complete your respective quests and gain fame and power you gradually become one of them and then the story and quests get even more complicated. While journeying the game’s world, you find more and more companions (you are restricted to a party of 4), whom you can befriend or impose them to do your bidding, depending on the choices you make as you progress through the game. How the story evolves and ends is completely up to you.
Graphics…..8
Overall, Tyranny has good graphics, with the highlight of being the spells. When I saw my mage casting his spells, I was really flabbergasted by the visual effects and how each spell was different depending on the element it was based upon. Characters, armours, weapons, weapon attacks and terrains are all generally well designed, but they are not very impressive.
Sound Design….5.5
Apart from the main characters’ voices and the battle cries of your squad, the rest of the game lacks in the sector of the sound design. The game has the same repetitive background music in battle, the sound effects of the attacks are above average and the majority of the chats is not voiced over. Even in the cinematics, there is absolutely no narration whatsoever and you are forced to read bland dialogue boxes.
Gameplay…..8
The most satisfying part of the game is its gameplay. As I mentioned above, the game is a real time strategy RPG. Prior to engaging in combat, you are advised to pause the game and give orders to your squad. If you do not assign specific tasks to your teammates, they will do what they see fit resulting in catastrophe most of the times. This kind of micromanagement can be a little tiring at times.
You start with one character and you pick attributes, weapons and weapon skills. Your main protagonist can be whatever you want him to be; tank, assassin, mage, ranger, support, a mix of them? It is entirely up to you! While travelling, you find more and more companions and even when your in game roster is maxed out, the rest of them gather at your base (Spire Towers). As a result, if you want to spice things up and change strategies, you can return to your base anytime you want and change your party members. All characters apart from your main character have more than three available ability trees, enabling you to incorporate a hefty amount of combinations.
Battles and quest completion grant you useful experience points that eventually level up your character, giving him 1 attribute point and 1 ability point. Attribute points determine your character’s stats and skills level (skill level augments the effectiveness of the abilities). For example if you invest points in might, your physical damage, defence and one-handed weapon skill is increased.
The most fun part of its combat system is undoubtedly spell crafting! If you don’t have at least one mage in your party, you are missing a lot! Having a mage in your party enables you to learn certain magic patterns scattered around the world. The combination of these patterns results in creating an insurmountable number of different spells. For example, if you combine the frost element with the strength element, this results in creating an Icicle Storm spell that wreathes havoc upon your enemies. Further combining this with a Frostfire Sigil, you create a destructive frost fire icicle storm that obliterates everything in its path.
One final thing I would like to mention is that I played the game in the most difficult mode from the gecko, and while I really struggled to learn its mechanics at first, the game eventually became so much easier for me, that I unfortunately lost my interest.
Value for money….5
In conclusion, I enjoyed the game at first but in the end, as I said it became so easy and boring that I was frustrated. I found the 41 Euros price tag a ”bit too high” for this game.
Hel.Ga.Te.S 