Swords and Soldiers reinvent the classic real-time strategy model into a side-scrolling game.
The game has three scenarios, each with a distinct level of difficulty: Vikings, Aztecs, and Chinese. Each “race” has unique units, buildings, and spells, and the player unlocks these for usage throughout the story campaign. Everything is available in skirmishes, but the player must research them via a minimal tech tree. There are other challenges and multi-player options.
The game mechanics are strikingly similar to those of an RTS. The player harvests gold from gold mines with a non-combat unit, researches technology to develop better units and spells, and then uses these to acquire control of the map. Once formed, teams will automatically walk towards the enemy camp, resulting in a continual stream of teams streaming from both sides of the battlefield and clashing somewhere in the middle. The player’s goal is to use melees to his advantage by developing the appropriate units to counter hostile units and using spells to enhance friendly or maim enemy units.
Each race has a wide range of troops, giving each race its own set of tactics. Vikings are strong, can be healed, and quickly replenish mana; their central unit, the catapult, is long-ranged. On the other hand, Aztecs have less health and replenish mana slowly, but they can poison, jail, or control enemy units to regain mana. The Chinese utilize explosives to boost the potency of their ranged soldiers, and they also have a monkey that can skip past opponent units to attack the rear guard.
