War of the Roses is an upcoming third-person, squad based combat title from Paradox Interactive. Based on the famous war between the Lancaster’s and the York’s, players are thrown into a medieval world of tactical combat and strategical defense. The game shares many similarities with popular genres such as TPS, FPS and RPG, and combines them to provide players with a unique experience in a medieval setting.

War of the Roses features 4 base classes that players can choose from to start with, Footman, Crossbowman, Longbowman and Footknight. Each class has a different selection of authentic medieval weaponry at their disposal, from longswords to crossbows. Each class also has a number of different mechanics involved in combat. For example, Footman are equipped with both a short sword and a shield, adding an even balance of offense and defense. While the Footknight has access to a broadsword with limited defense but huge offense. As you progress through the game, you earn experience points and gold that allow you to unlock custom classes and purchase different items. The custom classes work in a similar way to Call of Duty, allowing players to mix and match features from the other classes to create a class that supports their play style.


The combat is easily one of the most tactical combat systems that I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. Combatants must time every single swing to bypass their opponents defenses or catch them on their back foot. When swinging your sword, or defending with your shield or weapon, you can choose to attack or block in any of the 4 directions. Blocking your opponents attack in the exact location they aim will parry the attack and give you the opportunity to launch a counter blow, while blocking but missing the exact spot will reduce the damage received. Each class and opponent will have stronger armor in certain parts of their body, forcing players to adapt their combat style based on the equipment of their enemies. There’s also some great 1 hit kills if you hit your enemies in the right location, and there’s also some brutal execution maneuvers that you can use to decimate your enemies once they hit the floor.

There are currently 2 game modes available, Conquest and Team Deathmatch. This is currently one of the games biggest weaknesses as the in-depth tactical combat deserves a lot more than just basic Team Deathmatch and King of the Hill mechanics. Team Deathmatch is plagued with a number of issues such as bad spawning points and complete lack of objectives, while Conquest Mode is simple King of the Hill style mode where players have to stay in a certain location to control a command point and earn points for their team. For me, this is the only thing holding the game back. I would much rather a stronghold type game mode where each team has a castle and the other team must attempt to siege their opponents castle. There’s cavalry, archers, footman, all the correct classes and mechanics to provide some truly authentic large-scale battles.

Overall, War of the Roses has all of the ingredients to totally dominate the tactical TPS niche of this generation. It’s currently in beta so the balance issues with the weapons, lack of game modes and a few animation bugs are to be expected, but a few updates down the line, I can easily see War of the Roses take over from games like Mount & Blade.

Preview Experience Rating: 9.0

by Blaine Smith