The Lich Wars is an upcoming gothic RPG that has you fighting two zombie wars
Typical. You live in mortal terror of one zombie uprising and then two come along. That’s the unfortunate scenario facing the The Lich Wars’ soldier protagonist, who will have the misfortune of fighting two zombie wars during their 30-year military career.
Set in the 1700s, The Lich Wars is a prequel to The Necromancer’s Tale, but developer Psychic Software is keen to underline that you won’t have to have played the latter to make the most out of this new title. It should, however, give you an idea why necromancy is frowned upon in The Necromancer’s Tale; you know, aside from the whole ‘being evil’ thing.
However, The Lich Wars promises to be a very different kettle of undead fish from The Necromancer’s Tale. There are RPG elements but it won’t be a straight role-playing game; instead, it’s presented as storybook, with you making decisions as you leaf through it. Key scenes will be depicted with 3D miniatures, but you won’t have the freedom to roam.
That’s a sensible move on Psychic’s part, and not just because you’re a soldier. Whenever The Necromancer’s Tale referenced The Lich Wars, we didn’t picture some single, small-scale conflict, but hordes and hordes of the undead assaulting towns and villages; think World War Z’s Battle of Yonkers, but in period dress. A billion dollar movie budget aside, prose is the best way to depict encounters that massive.
Aside from your protagonist, Aleks, the story will also follow three of Alek’s friends, but their recollections may not always match. The Lich Wars is set to feature “300,000 words of hand-written narrative, with skill checks across nine RPG skills and a combat system built on hand-written prose,” and you can watch the trailer above.
Related: The Necromancer’s Tale review
The game is in development for Steam, but it’s possible it may make it to console, as was the case with The Necromancer’s Tale. It doesn’t have a release window as yet but you can wishlist The Lich Wars on Steam now.
