Summary

• Manor Lords is a unique blend of city-building strategy and RTS combat with a focus on historical realism in an innovative approach.
• City building features in Manor Lords are incredibly deep and interconnected, requiring strategic planning and careful resource management.
• The game offers detailed combat mechanics reminiscent of the Total War series, with a strong focus on player control and strategic decision-making.

After a long wait and several delays, Manor Lords is finally due for release in early access later this week. It's been greatly anticipated for a variety of reasons: Manor Lords blends city building strategy, RTS combat, and painstaking historical realism in a combination that's both boldly innovative and approachably familiar. Developed by the one-man team of Slavic Magic - who signs his name "Greg" on the splash screen - Manor Lords is undeniably an impressive achievement.

For the uninitiated, Manor Lords allows the player to take on the role of a medieval lord, in a well-researched, highly realistic recreation of feudal life in Franconia. They control a small, but ever-growing population of vassals, levying their taxes, asg their jobs, and meeting their needs. But it's not all windmills and gentle breezes - rival lords and craven brigands want what the player character has, and they'll do anything to get it. Although Manor Lords is more of a city builder than an RTS, these two aspects of gameplay mesh brilliantly, even if they lack certain aspects individually.

Manor Lords Features Richly Detailed City Building

Manor Lords' city building features go incredibly deep, and it always seems like there's some new mechanic or interaction to discover. Everything intersects with everything: villager happiness is determined by the availability of markets, churches, and taverns, but in turn affects population growth. Population growth affects how many families are available to work, which affects resource production. And resource production affects the availability of materials, which in turn affects the construction of buildings that employ villagers and increase their satisfaction.

But usually, when starting a new strategy game, it's a good idea to start with a "practice run." Haphazardly place strucures, quickly learn all the mechanics, then abandon it as soon as things fall apart, and start a better town that's geared for success from day one. Not so with Manor Lords. Even the most poorly equipped village, with fields plowed on infertile land, a church too far from its villagers' houses, and a worryingly late start on trade can rally. Despite a rough winter or two, it's hard to completely destroy a village, and its vassals are usually able to build back better.

Manor Lords isn't necessarily about winning or losing - it's a story simulator, and players can be any kind of lord they want.

This is all thanks to Manor Lords' intuitiveness and flexibility. Although it keeps the tutorials mercifully short, it uses a consistent iconography and lexicon across all in-game menus, so it's remarkably easy to see how one aspect of the game connects to another. And if anything ever goes wrong, it can be razed at the click of a button and rebuilt anywhere else.

As the game went on into the third year and beyond, it became apparent, unlike many other strategy games, there's no single metric players can use to track their progress in Manor Lords. But that's a testament to its flexibility. Manor Lords isn't necessarily about winning or losing - it's a story simulator, and players can be any kind of lord they want.

They can set their endgame goal to "Growth," "Domination," or "Conquest" when they start a new file. Some may choose to rack up as much regional wealth as they can at the cost of their vassals' health, while others may prioritize happiness over profits. Everything about Manor Lords can be customized, down to the finest little detail: even the sound of the church bell can be adjusted for the ideal ambiance. That kind of flexibility gives it a wider appeal. It can be enjoyed both by hardcore strategists, and laid-back city planners.

Manor Lords' Combat Sets An Example

Large-Scale Battles, Fine-Tuned Control

Combat may not be Manor Lords' main mechanic, but that doesn't mean it's underdeveloped. The closest comparison would be the Total War series - players control entire militias, not individual troops, at once in the field of battle. They can select from one of four types of units, the abilities of which are determined by their loadouts.

Once in battle, players have an incredible amount of control over their units. They can choose how they line up, where they move, and what Formation they take. Formations are the strategic core of Manor Lords' combat. They determine whether a unit holds its ground, pushes forward, or allows enemies to slowly filter through.

As a whole, the combat could use a bit more explaining. Unless the player instigates their first few battles, it can feel a bit like they've been thrown off the deep end the first time brigands breach their borders. Still, with a little patience and a lot of practice, it's possible to set oneself up for success and pull off some impressive tactical victories.

What's especially interesting about the combat, though, is how it interacts with the city-building elements. The ability to raise a militia depends on both villagers' happiness and material availability. The better the people's attitude, the more willing they are to go to war for their lord. All equipment must be manufactured in town, or imported from neighboring regions. Some enemies will start fires, which could destroy vital infrastructure and leave a village in dire straits even if they win the fight. As a result, these don't feel like two separate mechanics, but two halves of a richly interactive whole.

In Early Access, Some Aspects Of Manor Lords Still Need Work

Limited Diplomacy & A Barebones Endgame

Of course, Manor Lords is still very much in early access, and will probably remain that way for at least a year. It's impressive as-is, but there's plenty of work that still needs doing in future updates to Manor Lords. There still seem to be some bugs. Villager approval is unpredictable, and often randomly ticks down or up, no matter how well-equipped the town is. Sometimes, one household doesn’t seem to acknowledge the amount of food available on the market (a requirement for leveling it up), even though their next-door neighbors do. And it's often difficult to reserve crafted materials for new construction projects.

Honestly, it's hard to tell whether these are just slightly confusing gameplay mechanics or actual bugs - they can be explained away either way. They don’t totally ruin the experience, but they can lead to easily avoidable minor frustrations.

There doesn't seem to be much of an endgame to Manor Lords.

There's also plenty of missing content, which is especially apparent in the limited options for diplomacy. If players want to declare war against their neighbors or ask them for a bit of silver, they're covered. Anything more subtle, like slowly turning two rivals against each other, or trying to forge a relationship with a neighbor in hopes they'll eventually become an ally, is nonexistent at the present moment.

Besides that, half of the development tree and most of the policies that players should be able to enact are grayed out, and hovering over them simply reveals they're "not available in early access." There are vestiges of other missing content, like an overlay simply called "Fire Hazard" that doesn't seem to do anything. These don't have any impact on gameplay yet, and will probably be released as new features sometime during the early access period.

There doesn't seem to be much of an endgame to Manor Lords, either. With the concrete goals provided by its base scenarios, there's a point where every player will inevitably run out of things to do. Not every game can last forever, of course, and there's always the option to start again with more knowledge and a different end goal. But still, don't expect Manor Lords to have legs as long as an open-ended city builder like Cities: Skylines.

Final Thoughts On The Manor Lords Preview

That said, it can't be overstated just how impressive of an achievement Manor Lords is. Developing a strategy game this expansive, intuitive, and fun isn't easy for anyone - much less so for a one-man team. It may have taken a few extra years to get to a playable state, but it was well worth the wait.

And despite the obvious gaps in Manor Lords' early access build, it still offers a complete experience. Players who buy it today may not be able to do absolutely everything they'll be able to do when its final version comes out, but they'll still find plenty to keep them occupied. And as thrilling as it's been to watch the game's development before release, it'll be just as exciting to get in at the ground floor, and test out new content as it arrives.

As a result, Manor Lords has earned its stripes. It may take some more time until Manor Lords reaches its full potential, but even in its current state, it's every bit as detailed, immersive, and fascinating as a strategy game needs to be.

Screen Rant received a digital PC code for the purpose of this preview.