| Iron Grip: Marauders | |
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Logo for Iron Grip: Marauders |
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| Developer(s) | ISOTX |
| Publisher(s) | ISOTX |
| Series | Iron Grip |
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Mac |
| Release date(s) | Open beta January 17, 2011 |
| Genre(s) | Turn-based strategy, Multiplayer online game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Media/distribution | Download |
Iron Grip: Marauders is a free-to-play online browser game with 3D turn-based battles using the Unity game engine. It has been in continuing development since the open beta was launched on January 17, 2011. The game was released through Steam, an online distributor, as part of their Free to Play catalog on September 30, 2011.[1][2]
Contents |
In Iron Grip: Marauders there are two parts to the game: the strategic resource management and the tactical 3D battles.[3] Players decide on plans for scientific research, unit production, and which battles to enter.[3] When a battle begins, the game switches to a 3D view using the Unity game engine where players are asked to deploy troops that were produced in the management phase.[3]
The game is currently entirely cooperative, though competitive play is planned to return in the future.[4]
There are currently three resources in the game: gold, iron, and gems.[3] Gold and iron are produced in bases that the player controls and are used to produce units, construct buildings, and perform research.[3] Gems can be purchased with real world currency.[3] Gems can be used to buy clothes for the in-game avatar, to develop special units on the black market, or to participate in more battles in a given day.[3]
Marauders uses the Unity game engine to depict fights on a 3D battlefield.[3] At the beginning of a battle, players decide whether they want to perform a raid to capture resources or attempt a conquest to capture a base.[3] Players must then strategize to spend a limited number of deployment points by selecting which of their units to set up on the battlefield.[3] Battles are then effected through turn-based combat.[3] At the beginning of each turn, every unit is given eight action points which can be used to move or attack.[3] Each unit class has associated strengths and weaknesses when attacking which must be considered in order to choose the most effective unit for a specific task.[3]
The events of Marauders occur within the larger Iron Grip universe soon after Iron Grip: Lords of War.[5] Two factions are on the verge of war and between them lies a third, yet independent group: the marauders.[5]
Iron Grip: Marauders was announced by developer and publisher ISOTX on May 13, 2010.[6] ISOTX had previously released the first-person shooter Iron Grip: Warlord and sought to expand the Iron Grip universe through the browser game Marauders.[3] The game entered closed beta on August 9, 2010[7] and had over one hundred users at the time the announcement was made.[8] After three stages of closed beta,[9] the game entered into an open beta phase on January 17, 2011.[10] Marauders received a significant visual upgrade on March 18, 2011.[11] To highlight the 3D capabilities of the game, the developers changed the view from an isometric camera to a perspective camera[11] and added a zoom function to view units and buildings up close.[12] The developers also upgraded the internal Unity engine from 2.7 to 3.0, with plans to leverage the new engine's capabilities by including light effects and detailed terrain maps in future patches.[12] The "Boss Smash Patch" released in May 2011 included a day and night cycle, more units, avatar customization, and bosses which randomly attack players.[4]