Warlords

10 cert, Atari, PlayStation Network (also Xbox Live)

When Atari released Warlords over thirty years ago, it’s fair to say that it was revolutionary. A mix of their iconic Pong and a real-time strategy game, Warlords was both a huge hit and an inspiration to future developers. In any medium, good ideas will age well but as this remake shows, execution is pretty important too. You play a medieval commander who must defend his castle from other warlords and from big scary knights and dragons. This means that you move your fort’s giant shield to deflect fireballs and command your men to defend and attack. You also command minions (known as “snoots“), who roam the battlefield to collect power-ups, attack your opponents and repair your own castle walls. This is a frenetic game that rewards effective multitasking. But there are a number of bad design decisions – confusing power-up symbols appear onscreen with no accompanying text; your tutorial is one drawn-out lesson instead of incremental in-game instructions and controls can sometimes be unclear. A disappointment from a legendary developer.