5 years ago you, Sir Gregory, set off with your best troops on a crusade to the holy lands. You left your lands with your trusted
uncle, the man who has cared for you since your father died. As you prepare to siege the Pig's castle to end his reign of tyranny and rescue your uncle, you remain unaware of a new threat around the corner... the Wolf!
This map is a cracking good Siege/Cede Castle/Defending Invasion event all combined into one thoroughly enjoyable map. I took my time with this one as I really enjoyed the castle design. After fatal flaws had severely curtailed game play of the first two chapters in the Fragmented Series, I was glad to find this gem at the end of the journey so to speak. Other chapters aside, this map is well worth the download!
Playability : 4.5 Masses of fun this one! All is well laid out here and although difficulty levels do not matter as starting troops are set, where you take your newly acquired castle and lands is entirely up to you. How you take the castle is also entirely up to you. How you allocate your forces and strengthen the castle controls how the AI performs! Make your fortress far stronger on one side and not on the other or allocate your garrison in a likewise fashion and guess which side and signpost the AI will attack from! Well done as such AI performance shows a well tested and thought out map.
Balance : 4 Very good here. In respects to each other the opposing forces in both the Cede castle event and later Invasions are spot on. Problem is, BOTH events tend to be of the slightly easy to beat nature. This is not a bad thing but unless I was really goofing around, I was never in any real danger. This despite the fact that my hardy little fortress was breached by both of the powerful attacking armies. This is simply due to the massive ability given the player to build up his army... except in one facet ... before the forces of the Wolf are even sited by your scouts!
Creativity : 4.5 That afore mentioned facet is what makes this one somewhat unique. YOU GET NO IRON!!!! Not only that, GrimWarriorz devilishly teases you by providing a sizable area that is simply not rich enough in ore to be mined. Trust me, I know what it looks like but placing that iron mine is never going to happen. I also really liked the design of the castle which reminded me of a map by Jalis, La Grand Taupinere. A little use of some eye candy tricks throughout the series but I would love to see this author go for broke and really use the tricks the editor has to offer!
Map Design : 4 Very solid yeomans work here. No longer a rookie at designing, the author is starting to show a real flair for castle design. Gone is the square rather dowdy fortress of the previous chapters. Here what has been produced is an aesthetically pleasing and really a quite truthful representation of a medieval castle. As I stated before, Jalis like, so French perhaps? Surrounding terrain has a considerable amount of work done but I felt some small areas were in need of more modulation. Especially the areas around the grass patches. Also, the map has a slightly flattish feel but I get it as the castle would logically be the highest point for miles around. Perhaps more use of rocks, dirt, and other small details to breakup the blander areas.
Storyline/Instructions : 4 I believe that English is not the authors first language. Also, I am considering that this is the final map in the Fragmented Trilogy. However, after the first two chapters, a little more detail in the final map was needed IMHO. Its just a little scant to rate a 5. You have to finish with a flourish ;) Overall good work here.
Fragmented Enemy is well worth your time and although I hate to say it, you may wish to skip the first two chapters with their playability issues and go directly to this Gem ...(apologies to the author.) An excellent map in its own right!