14 DAY TRIAL // 
Just as my trusty spearmen and archer core army, made up of six units that have both good gear and some experience, is advancing through an undead world, I get news that a pair of dragons has appeared somewhere near one of my portals and seems pretty annoyed that I was unwilling to pay them to go away, which is a pretty big event in the fantasy world of Warlock 2: the Exiled.
I decide to throw some lesser units at them and use fireballs to take them out, while some more spiders and skeletons are defeated by my elite group, but the small crisis quickly turns into a major problem as one of my satellite towns, charged with delivering taxes to fuel my war economy, is attacked by my new enemies.
The biggest issue is that I do not have the ability to attack a flying unit with my spearmen, which means I need to focus on fireballs, which quickly drain my mana pool.
I manage to take out one of the dragons and get the other down to half health when even worse news comes through: one of the rival mages, which was previously friendly, has launched a surprise attack and his units have come out of a portal behind my front line.
I think I have the resources and the units to deal with all these challenges in the long term, but they offer a nice quick snapshot of the kind of strategy experience that the new Warlock 2: The Exiled can offer.
Warlock 2 uses a fantasy world where the player becomes a Great Mage, able to both cast impressive spells and to lead subjects into battle, and he needs to defeat a varying number of enemies in order to return to the land of Ardania.
There are six races to choose from and the player is free to use a pre-made hero or to customize one to his liking and will then be able to develop cities, move units around, research spells and choose gear in order to make sure that his armies are successful and take out all enemy forces.
The fantasy world is filled with humor and unique takes on classic units, like the donkey knights, and the developers have taken care to offer plenty of lore for those who wish to explore it without making it a core element of Warlock 2: The Exiled.
The title uses a hex-based structure, allowing one unit to occupy each space, and it’s important to carefully move units around to create a battle line and use the available spells to thin out the opposition before attacking.
There are no tactical battles here and luck plays some part, but the game never feels unfair, although some of the quests it throws at the player can create some tough tactical situations.
The city management element is streamlined by the fact that there are limits on the number of settlements that the gamer can directly control, while the rest can be specialized in order to offer bonuses and resources.
The fact that the game world of Warlock 2 is broken into chunks, each of them with its own characteristics and terrain types, is one of the strongest elements of the game.
The player needs to carefully choose where to expand and what areas to evolve, based on his choice of race and his play style, while also making sure that he secures the most important tactical points so that his empire is not directly threatened by enemy Mages.
Warlock 2: The Exiled is fast and uses quests to encourage gamers to explore the various world shards and take out ever more powerful monsters and the title can be surprisingly difficult, with the neutral creatures often posing as much of a threat as the full-fledged AI-controlled factions.
The title also features extensive modding capabilities, which range from scenario editing to the creation of entirely new assets to be used by the game, which means that it is possible for a dedicated team to create exciting new experiences using the core mechanics of the strategy title.
The new experience from Ino-Co Plus also looks good, with an almost cheerful choice of colors and an art style that’s pure fantasy, while the user interface is well designed to allow players quick access to the information they need to interact with both units and spells.
The sound design is suitably epic, but the voice work is pretty limited and not too inspired.
Warlock 2: The Exiled is an evolution of the core ideas of the first game, with an increased amount of variety when it comes to units, tactical possibilities and spells, but the new shard structure for the game world makes the entire experience both varied and very fun.
A player can be defeated quickly, especially when using a higher difficulty setting and seeding the map with more monsters, and there’s a feeling of challenge that other similar titles fail to deliver.
