Eador: Masters of the Broken World Interview, Original Coming to GOG.com

There's a new article-style interview with Snowbird's Vladimir Tortsov up on The Verge that not only delves considerably into Eador: Masters of the Broken World mechanic territory but also analyzes the success of strategy games in Eastern Europe, confirms that an iPad version is a definite possibility, and reveals that its 2D predecessor will be hitting GOG.com "soon". A sampling:
"I think Western development at the moment, in comparison, is aiming to move games more towards the style of movies," says Tortsov. "Look at Heavy Rain; it's more movies than games. In Eastern Europe and Russia we're trying to do games instead of movies."

Eador relies on tactics in comparison. Every attack on a shard costs energy, a universal currency that requires users to think before acting. Similarly, every action in the game has its own karmic reaction. A plague might spread in a province, opening up the option to hire healers or alternatively to sell the corpses to a nearby necromancer for payment. The more evil deeds committed, the more it affects the game's end. There are 12 endings in the 30-hour game, which range from the destruction of all life in the universe to being declared a god and savior.

The battle over a shard ends once its Citadel is captured, with every victory adding to the experience of your hired hero. As he levels he can be upgraded, and combine his talents with that of other available hero-types. A Wizard can combine with a Commander to shoot magic arrows, and so on. Your karmic standing can affect your armies as well, and with a high enough standing in evil you can bend undead warriors to your will.

Tortsov expects the game to appeal to the usual crowd of hardcore PC fans. Eador: Masters of the Broken World is coming to PC and Mac this year, and may be seen on iPad in the future, he says.

"But it's really hard to imagine this game on console," he says. "Not because of the technical issue but because of the audience, they are not level of the unique level of complication, our PC audience is already a fan of this genre. They are demanding the game to be even harder than it is now. But we are trying to reach a wider audience with this at the same time. So even the newcomers can enjoy it."

Eador: Masters of the Broken World is scheduled to hit this fall. An updated version of Eador's 2D predecessor will be available soon on Good Old Games.