Rival Realms

What's this? Yet another half-baked Age Of Empires rip-off? Well... Actually... Yes.

Before diving into the action you have to decide whether you want to play as a human, an elf or a greenskin (I prefer orange myself), before embarking on a 20-mission campaign to conquer the titular Realms.

Fourteen different units including archers, soldiers, warships and flying machines make up your species' ranks, and each unit can improve their strength, accuracy and armour ratings by killing armies and mythical creatures encountered on the way. Any characters still alive at the end of a mission can even be saved and used later. Aside from the rather unimaginative graphics and schizophrenic Al, everything else in Rival Realms seems to be in place. The interface is crisp, units can be selected as individuals or groups, and the SimCity-style building/resource section is straightforward, if a little simplistic. Hardly vintage gaming, but it might keep you going for a few nights.