An up-close look at Netmarble’s Iron Throne: Dimensional Battle & Town Quest mode

Fresh off the back of Lineage 2: Revolution, developer Netmarble has now set its sights on the world of strategy war games with the release of Iron Throne. And, considering more than one million players pre-registered for the game, there’s clearly excitement over its potential.

Fans of Clash of Kings and Game of War will find plenty to shout about here, but expect a few surprises along the way, too. Iron Throne is a fantasy buffet with a tempting spread; castle building, RPG-style questing and strategic battling, rendered in full 3D graphics and spanning multiple game-play modes. Let’s take a moment to go over two of those modes in detail – Dimensional Battle and Town Quest.

Dimensional Battle

Your focus throughout Iron Throne will mostly be on building the strength of your citadel. Once you’ve raised it up to level five, not only will your trusty dragon wake from its slumber to fight alongside you, but you’ll also discover a sparkly new gateway within the fortified walls. This is the Dimensional Gate, the doorway to Iron Throne’s main story campaign mode – Dimensional Battle. Except for the Arena challenge which is player-versus-player, Dimensional Battle pits you against computer-controlled battalions in various fields of war.

Throughout each battle, you’ll learn how to utilise your Heroes. Choose one of these warriors to lead your troops into war, and you’ll benefit from their unique fighting skills. There’s Maria Castillo, a fearless knight; Haral Ivarson, an axe-wielding Norseman; Mikoto Konoe, a swift samurai; Rodric Pellanoire, a fierce paladin, among others. Each can be strengthened over time, with new ones being unlocked along the way.

The bulk of your army, however, will be made up of four troop types: melee, cavalry, archer and siege. In a rock-paper-scissor-style arrangement, melee trumps cavalry, cavalry trumps range and archer trumps melee – with siege somewhere in the middle. That’s where your strategy really impacts the outcome of the battle; you can choose the types of troops and their formation ahead of time based on the make-up of your opponent’s army.

The battles themselves take place on a field of two halves, and often last as long as it takes to loose a few arrows. Optional cut scenes draw you in closer to the action, showing off the detailed 3D graphics and adding impact to the fight.

Town Quest

Nestled within Iron Throne like it’s some kind of MMO matryoshka doll, Town Quest mode is effectively a mini-game, unlocked once your citadel is level eight. At first glance, it looks like you’ve stumbled into a village in Lineage 2: Revolution. Pebble-dotted paths weave between rustic cottages, a range of NPCs fidget at their designated posts and dire wolves drool threateningly in the fields nearby. It’s all very Tristram.

Controlling tough-talking, sword-swinging commander Lauren, you help the locals with various problems – from repelling the hungry wildlife to punishing (or sparing) traitors. These problems come in the form of your traditional RPG-style quests, of which there are two main types: Epic Quests and Daily Quests. Epic Quests reveal pieces of the overall Iron Throne story, introducing you to an interesting cast of characters along the way. They also reward you with equipment, and let you unlock new Heroes such as Freydis Ivarson (daughter of Santa-lookalike and Viking-fashion enthusiast Haral Ivarson, one of the first Heroes available to you). Daily Quests are more general, and involve running errands for NPCs in exchange for resources and reward points – used to give your kingdom handy buffs such as increased troop power. Quests are interspersed with neat little cut scenes, showing off the detailed 3D graphics and character design.

Town Quest is a pleasant, albeit non-essential surprise; you need never step a sabaton into this mode, but you’ll miss out on a charming game-within-a-game if you don’t.

Town Quest and Dimensional Battle are just two of the modes to get to grips with in Iron Throne. We’ll be bringing you more details of the many other gameplay modes, as well as tips and tricks to make your kingdom a fort to be reckoned with, so stay tuned.

Download Iron Throne for free from Google Play and the App Store.