Some folks started on computers before I did, and while I can't claim to remember the first generation of home computers, I do remember my dad getting an IBM clone running MS-DOS. I remember launching Windows 3.1 from a command prompt, or loading diskettes to run software directly after switching to the A or B drive. Yes, your computer may still label the hard drive as C: because back in the old days, computers sometimes did not even have an internal drive, and even if they did, software usually ran directly from the 3-1/2" or 5" floppies in A and B.
I know, I know, I'm rambling about ancient history, but I have a point. In July 1995, Microsoft launched Windows 95, introducing now-common features like the taskbar and start button. CD-ROM drives also started to become more common, and multimedia was the buzzword of the day. However, not everyone had Windows 95 when Sierra On-Line launched Lords of the Realm 2 in November of that year. It could also be installed from the DOS prompt and launched from the command line.
My cousins had the game some time shortly after it released, and I first played it there. This was my very first introduction to strategy games, and I was hooked. I eventually bought my own big box retail copy for something like $50 at Wal-Mart. It was hyphenated back then you see, and phones were connected to the wall with a spiral cord, and we only got 4 TV channels through a rabbit-ear antenna... ARE YOU STILL PAYING ATTENTION, WHIPPERSNAPPER?
Where was I? Oh, right. By the time I got it, I think my dad had upgraded to Windows 98, and while it was possible to install directly from a CD-ROM through Windows, I remember having better luck still getting it to run from a DOS prompt. If you think a Blue Screen of Death is bad now, you have no idea what it was like then.
Anyhow, I remember the video up at the top of this post playing a bit choppily through the computer, and beginning my campaign to conquer England. Back then, games came with loads of booklets containing history, gameplay details, and more. Games today lack those feelies, even if you do manage to find a physical copy somewhere.
I eventually bought the Lords of the Realm Royal Collection containing an expansion pack, the original Lords of the Realm, and Lords of Magic. It also came with the physical books, so I passed along my big box to a friend. Unfortunately, as computers got faster, the game got a bit buggy. Animations seemed tied to processor clock speed, so moving from a Pentium II to a Pentium 4 led to strange behavior. It was still playable, but I had expanded to the Age of Empires and Command and Conquer series, and played it less often anyway.
It has been re-released on GOG and Steam with an automatic DOSbox launcher, so you can play it on a modern system with little difficulty. It's also quite inexpensive. Unfortunately, digital-only releases don't have all those wonderful booklets, so expect a learning curve.
After launching the game, you get a basic menu. I chose to launch a new game with the original campaign. The digital release also includes the Siege Pack with new maps, a new campaign, and more optional features.
The first step to a single map or campaign is choosing a name and a shield. I am Jacob Tothe, the Black Shield. The game introduces the basics with a simple map consisting of four counties where you face off against a single CPU foe.
As you can see, it also recognizes something is... off... about my hardware. It doesn't know exactly how many colors I can display, but it knows I don't have exactly 256 of them at my disposal. This warning doesn't really matter though.
The game then offers these helpful tips and then leaves you to your own devices. I will also note that I haven't resized or cropped these images. They are 480 x 640 because that is the native resolution of the game and used to be a standard monitor resolution 30 years ago.
If you look in the top right, you can see the map of the realm divided into four counties. This beginner map names each county after a color: Periwinkle, Taup, Burnt Umber, and Raw Sienna. Some later maps are based on real countries and counties, like England and France. Others are more abstract, or absurdly scaled to include the entire world in an approximately Mercator projection map.
For now, though, I need to survey my realm, assign labor in the Town Center, and manage other political and economic concerns for the season. The world map is a turn-based game with rotating seasons dictating what happens in agriculture and population.
The main screen here shows the fields available and how they are allocated to cattle, grain, or fallow. At the start of the game, my people can thrive on dairy and beef alone, but I'll need to click on one and hopefully get some wheat started. There are also icons for the industry points in this county: an iron mine, lumber, and a smithy. This game starts out with a small wooden palisade, the smallest castle available. A merchant is also at my town center. They roam the map and allow one to buy or sell goods when they are present.
At the top right is an overview of the world map for this chapter of the campaign. Below it is county info. Each county is managed separately, with their own population, tax rate, happiness, and rations. Ensuring your peasants are well-fed is key to growing your county for greater productivity and allowing conscription of armies later, so happy and healthy people are the first priority. Happy peasants can also be taxed more heavily to fund armies and conquest!
Beneath that is the labor allocation slider and some indications of expected production this season. Make sure everything is squared away before clicking End turn. Labor shortages can be seen at a glance with a red outline, and surpluses with blue.
The Town Center menu allows more granular labor allocation, and shows who is working in which available industries. Clockwise from top left: Iron miners, or stone miners in some cases, since these are mutually exclusive; farmers, which fluctuate wildly in demand from season to season; dairy workers; castle builders for repairs or upgrades; lumbermen; blacksmiths making whichever weapon you choose; and workers improving barren fields. Extra idle peasants appear in the center if there are any. This menu manages a lot with a simple interface.
Uh-oh. Random events can occur each turn, sometimes bringing good news, but often not. A field is barren now, and will need to be reclaimed.
You can also see the map appearance has changed. Each season brings new graphics. In the early game, turns are rapid-fire with small adjustments to labor and production, but eventually as armies maneuver, castles are besieged, and more counties need attention, it can get intense.
So, should you play this game in 2025? It's easy to install and inexpensive thanks to GOG and Steam. Lords 2 also requires less micromanagement than the original Lords of the Realm, and looks a lot more polished as well. The MIDI audio is quite good for its time, and generally holds up. The 3d modeling and animation, while quite good for the era, definitely show their age. I do appreciate how many cutscenes and voiced lines fill the game though.
It is a bit odd playing on a modern widescreen monitor, because there are black bars on the sides where the old 4:3 aspect ratio has no data. It's the inverse of watching a widescreen film in letterbox format on a CRT television.
While there is a lot to learn to understand the game, it's not difficult once those aspects are mastered. There are no technology trees, just resource management, so the complexity is low compared to other strategy games, but I find it enjoyable. If you want a challenge, there are more complex options for agricultural management and industry. A slower start can pay off with much more productivity if you learn these advanced systems, allowing a good player to absolutely steamroll the CPU enemies for a decisive win.
The biggest flaw here is the CPU enemies. They're... dumb. Predictable. The Knight is aggressive with conscript armies and small castles. The Bishop likes big castles and bigger armies. The Countess will pretend to be your friend and then stab you in the back. The baron will pretend to be your friend until he decides you're in his way. I think the diplomacy system was quite good for 30 years ago, but it doesn't hold up now. The default insult text is hilarious though.
Back in the day, I never played this online over dial-up or in a LAN party. I'd love to see how this works out with human enemies eventually.
Have you ever played Lords of the Realm 2, whether as a single-player experience like I remember, or in an actual multiplayer game with human rivals? And have you found the hidden Startup3 audio file easter egg in the game folder? Yup, installing this game in DOS and exploring the files structure in Windows was part of how I became the computer expert mostly-competent user I am today.
