Chariots of War
Developer(s)	Slitherine Software Paradox Interactive
Publisher(s)	NA: Strategy First UK: Koch Media SWE: PAN Vision
Producer(s)	François Bolduc
Designer(s)	Iain McNeil
Programmer(s)	David Parsons
Artist(s)	Fad Marcus Edström
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release	NA: June 13, 2003[1] EU: July 16, 2003
Genre(s)	Computer wargame
Mode(s)	Single player

Chariots of War is an isometric 2D computer wargame, developed by Slitherine Software and Paradox Interactive, and published by Strategy First. It is set in the ancient Near East.

Gameplay

The strategic layer of Chariots of War is turn-based, though unlike Civilization, the focus is almost entirely on real-time tactical combat. The game is similar to Slitherine's earlier wargame Legion, and uses the same graphics engine.

There are 58 different civilizations to play, all divided into the following ethnic groups:

• Assyrian
• Bedouin
• Egyptian
• Hittites
• Mitanni
• Nubian
• Skythian (Scythian)
• Summerian (Sumerian)
• Syrian
• Tribal

There are nine different resources to collect (food, building materials, copper, tin, wood, gold, gems, incense, and horses), which are used to construct buildings and units. While trade and diplomacy do feature in the game, they are of lesser importance, as conquest is the only way to attain victory.

The battles themselves take place on a separate deployment screen. The player's forces are positioned across one third of the battlefield, and the player alters their formations and gives certain orders. As in Legion, the actual fighting is automated, so the initial orders are the only input in the battle until it is over.

The game features both campaign and non-campaign modes of play.

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.^[2]