The Golden Horde

The Golden Horde is a real-time strategy video game for Microsoft Windows, developed by World Forge and published in Russia by Russobit-M in February 2008, in Europe by JoWooD Productions in March 2008, and in North America by DreamCatcher Interactive in July 2008. A spiritual successor to Ancient Wars: Sparta and Fate of Hellas, Golden Horde uses the same game engine as the previous titles – the Ancient Wars Engine (AWE) – and features similar gameplay. One more World Forge game using this engine and gameplay style would follow – Age of Alexander. Set in Russia and Eastern Europe during the Mongol invasion (1237–1242), the game features three playable races – Mongols, Russians, and Crusaders – each of whom has their own campaign, which occasionally overlaps with the other two. The campaigns feature fictional depictions of historical figures such as Batu Khan, Burundai, Jebei, Subutai, Yuri Ingvarevich, Yuri Vsevolodovich, Evpaty Kolovrat, Alexander Yaroslavich, Birger Magnusson, and Herman von Salza, and depict such events as the fall of Ryazan, the Battle of the Sit River, the Siege of Kolomna, the Battle of the Neva, and the Battle on the Ice. The Golden Horde received mainly negative reviews. Although some critics lauded the ability for the player to arm their soldiers with opponents' discarded weaponry, the majority were unimpressed with the AI, pathfinding, and LAN-only multiplayer. The game's slow pace was singled out by many as especially problematic. Gameplay The Golden Horde is a real-time strategy game, controlled via a point and click interface, in which the primary goal on most maps is to build a strong enough army to defeat the opponent or opponents by destroying their settlement, or, on occasion, occupying a specific building on the map. To achieve this end, the player must engage in some basic economic micromanagement, such as gathering resources and constructing buildings.