War and Order is set in a time of chaos. It’s also set in a universe where there are orcs, elves, and mages, so chaos is pretty much a given.
This ambitious title from Camel Games is one of our favorite strategy games of the last few years, blending tower defense, castle building, and epic battles with a pleasingly earthy medieval setting to spectacular effect.
War and Order has attracted well over 50 million registered players since going live at the beginning of 2016. Just in case you’re not one of them, here’s the lowdown.
The game sees you building up your city, trading, training your troops, creating an army, and joining battles on a truly gargantuan scale. There’s an alliance system, too, allowing you to call on your fellow humans for assistance in the endless fight.
At this point you may be thinking that War and Order sounds an awful lot like a million other mobile strategy games. It’s not.
What sets War and Order apart is the sheer depth of its gameplay and systems. Take the Barracks, one of the key buildings you need to maintain and employ in the game. The Barracks is where you recruit and train your Troops, and they come in a dazzling array of different shapes and sizes, figuratively speaking.
There are four different classes of Troop, each excelling at a different area of combat and each boasting its own unique skills.
But the complexity doesn’t stop there. Within each Class of Troop there are different levels, and each of those has its own skills too. Plus, Troops within each Class come in two different races.
To take the Archer class as an example, you can recruit humans at odd levels and elves at even levels. Humans are effective against Mages, while Elves are effective against infantry units.
Multiply that by all the different classes, and then multiply that by all the different weapon and item combinations at your disposal, and you’ll start to get an idea of how much depth there is within just one facet of War and Order’s gameplay.
We could write all day about the city-building aspect of War and Order’s gameplay alone, covering the Beast Den, the College, the Depot, the Drill Grounds, the Hospital, not to mention the various alliance-related buildings.
Then we could spend another day writing about battle tactics, which are Napoleonic in scope and scale, taxing even the most experienced War and Order veterans.
Instead, we’ve decided to boil our favorite things about War and Order into these five reasons that you need to play it right now.
Awesome Alliances
War and Order has one of the most meaningful and sophisticated alliance systems we’ve encountered in a mobile strategy game. Not only do your fellow alliance members help you out in battle, but they chip in with timers and other more practical tasks.
Plus, once you’re in an alliance you can make use of the Alliance Fort, as well as the Alliance Temple, the Port and Port Tower, and various other alliance-related buildings. You can also visit Elite Mines, participate in Territory Defense Battles, and much more.
A Thriving Community
The great thing about playing a game that’s been around for a few years is that it’s had time to build up a community, and War and Order has one of the best communities around.
The game itself is crawling with alliances, and a quick internet search will lead you to countless forums, Facebook pages, Wikis, and Subreddits where you can share battle stories and pick the brains of the game’s most grizzled veterans.
Battles Anybody Can Win
Battles in War and Order are not just a numbers game. Sure, chucking the biggest army into the fray will hand you a huge advantage, but while battles are still raging both commanders are making decisions about formations, playing the odds on allies joining, and so on.
In the end, the more you play War and Order the better you get, not least because the game encourages you to watch battle replays and review battle reports, just like a real commander.
Stunning graphics
Looks aren’t everything. But they’re a lot. War and Order is a stunning strategy game, with a user interface that shows off the battlefield in crisp, colorful detail without sacrificing anything in the way of functionality.
You can see everything and command your forces with ease, all while slickly animated three-dimensional rock monsters and other beasts rampage across the map and windmill blades turn gently in the breeze.
A Blockbuster Soundtrack
Camel Games clearly understands that music is a huge part of the overall aesthetic effect. A few seconds of the Gladiator score, for instance, or the theme from Jurassic Park, is enough to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck and plunge you right back into the action.
That’s why Camel Games has licensed a staggering 22 epic orchestral scores from top Hollywood music studios.
Update: Sounds good, right? Well there’s even a sixth reason to get involved – if you download the game now and use the code DROIDGAMERS2107 you’ll get a gift pack that will help you understand the game even better. Just go into the game’s Settings menu, select Pack Exchange – then enter DROIDGAMERS2107. Your account will have to have been created after July 21st 2021 though, and this offer cannot be used with other gift codes.
It also expires in three months, so hurry up and download War and Order for free right now on the Google Play Store and the App Store.
