''Wrath Unleashed'' is a

strategy game A strategy game or strategic game is a game (e.g. a board game) in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous, decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decisio ...

for the PlayStation 2 and the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by th ...

created by The Collective and published by

LucasArts Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game licensor that is part of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George Lucas as a video game development group alongside his film company; as part of a large ...

in 2004.

Gameplay

''Wrath Unleashed'' is a

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

-like game that combines strategy with combat. In the game, the player chooses a god and attempts to claim the territory of another god with their army of mythical creatures, which move over a "board" of hexagonal spaces (each space representing a type of terrain). When two opposing troops occupy the same hexagonal space, gameplay shifts to an arena, where the troops must battle to the death for the right to occupy the space. The goal of the game is to position troops over spaces which contain the enemy's temples. The characters in ''Wrath Unleashed'' are divided into Light (good) and Darkness (evil), as well as Order (intelligence, thought) and Chaos (combat, battle). Each faction of characters has the power of a specific element. All playable characters are able to heal their troops, teleport troops across the board, and destroy nearby enemies. * Water Demigoddess Aenna (voiced by

Vanessa Marshall Vanessa Marshall (born October 19, 1969 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.) is an American voice and television actress who is most active in films, cartoons and video games. She is the daughter of actress Joan Van Ark and reporter John Marshall. ...

) - Aenna is the goddess of Water, and is as "pure as crashing waves and waterfalls". Aenna wields power over the Elements of Water and Ice. As a goddess of the Light Order, she represents enlightenment and wisdom. Through her teachings, feral ogres are able to focus their rage into powerful magic. Aenna is in love with the god Epothos. Her color is blue. * Fire Demigod Epothos (voiced by

Ron Yuan Ronald Winston Yuan is an American actor, martial artist, director, and stunt choreographer. He is best known for his roles on ''Sons of Anarchy'', ''Prison Break'', '' Golden Boy'', and '' CSI: NY''. He has acted in numerous films, including an ...

) - Epothos is the god of Fire, and is "a volcanic warrior with the fury of the Sun". Epothos wields power over the Elements of Fire and Magma. As a god of the Light Chaos, he represents courage and valor in combat. Epothos forged his warriors, the Fire Giants, in the core of a volcano. His color is red. * Earth Demigod Durlock (voiced by Rafael Ferrer) - Durlock is the god of Earth, and is as "cold as he is calculating". Durlock wields power over the Elements of Earth and Metal. He forged his warriors from iron. As a god of the Dark Order, he represents treachery and deception. Durlock is in love with the goddess Aenna. His color is green. * Wind Demigoddess Helamis (voiced by

Jennifer Hale Jennifer Hale is a Canadian-American voice actress. She is best known for her work in video game franchises such as '' Baldur's Gate'', '' Mass Effect'', '' Metal Gear Solid'', '' BioShock Infinite'', '' Metroid Prime'', '' Overwatch'', and '' S ...

) - Helamis is the goddess of Wind, and is as "merciless as her hurricanes". Helamis wields power over the Elements of Wind and Lightning. As a goddess of the Dark Chaos, she represents the cruelty and horrors of war. She released the demonic Cyclops from its underworld prison. She believes that she can lure Epothos to her side with her seductive charms. Her color is purple.

Plot

A nameless narrator (voiced by

Mako Iwamatsu was a Japanese-American actor, credited mononymously in almost all of his acting roles as simply Mako. His film roles include Po-Han in '' The Sand Pebbles'' (1966) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), ...

) introduces the conflict. "''In the beginning, there was only darkness. Then light shown in the void, and a new world was born. A realm forged from the elemental forces of earth, wind, water, and fire. The nexus of an eternal war waged between the forces of light and darkness, between chaos and order, which destroyed the world in a mighty cataclysm. Unto this broken realm came the overlords: Beautiful Aenna, Goddess of the Waters. Steadfast purity of crashing waves and thundering waterfalls. Fiery Epothos, Warrior of the Rising Sun. Volatile guardian of the sacred flame. Devious Durlock, Master of Metals, and Lord of Stone! Keeper of the secrets of the earth! And Wicked Helamis! Queen of Storms and Chaos, mother of hurricanes, leaving havoc and destruction in her wake. Now the mightiest of the overlords prepare for the ultimate confrontation, the time has come for the Wrath of the Gods to be UNLEASHED!''" The game features campaigns for each of the four characters, at varying difficulties, following their story of achieving domination of the realm.

Development

acquired the publishing rights to Wrath Unleashed (known then as Wrath) in 2002.

Reception

''Wrath Unleashed'' received "mixed or average reviews" on both platforms according to the

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website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

Reviews

*''Envoyer'' (German) (Issue 94 - Aug 2004)

References

External links

* *{{moby game, id=/wrath-unleashed 2004 video games Fantasy video games LucasArts games Activision games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 2 games Strategy video games The Collective (company) games Video games scored by Jack Wall Video games featuring female protagonists Xbox games Video games developed in the United States