Warlock - Master of the Arcane
Warlock - Master of the Arcane
Game
Game2014
Warlock 2: The Exiled
Developer Ino-Co Plus
Warlock II: The Exiled is a 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by 1C:Ino-Co Plus and published by Paradox Interactive. It was released for Microsoft Windows on 10 April 2014. It is the sequel to Warlock: Master of the Arcane. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
195 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Oct 12, 2026 · last updated Oct 12, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
68
Fresh
117 positive · 56 negative
95% range 60–74%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 117 | 56 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 6 | 2 | 14 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
531 of 823 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
68% recommend · 120 yes, 56 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 176 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mixed (916 of 1,318 positive).
Many players say the game is excellent with the Renaissance Mod and all DLC, but not without them. [1][2][3] Some reviewers complain about bugs, poor AI, and balance issues that ruin the experience. [4][5][6] A few players find the game charming and highly replayable despite its flaws. [7][8][5]
Liked
Representative posts
- [4]
To start with the obvious, this game is a blatant copy of Master of Magic from Micropose. That's not bad, a remake was necessary, and MoM was a truly excellent game. It copies the magic system, the hero traits, artifacts, the ruler traits, races, planeswalking. The combat is more similar to civilization which is an improvement. But I don't recommend this game. Let's look at the sins of Warlock 2. The AI is pathetic. …
- [5]
This game has an inexplicable charm that draws me back to it annually, wearing rose-tinted glasses and thinking, "It wasn't that bad, right? This time, I'll finish a map for real!" Yet, every year, I fail to complete a map and inevitably remember why. Replaying it this year brought the issues back into sharp focus: the AI, the pacing, and the underwhelming spells. The AI: The AI in Warlock 2 is frustratingly …
- [1]
There is really only one thing to say here: if you want a good 4X fantasy game, you have to buy all the DLC and get the Renaissance Mod. With the mod it's an awesome game, in my opinion better than AoW3 or AoW Planetfall. More "fun" than civ, since you can throw fireballs and stuff, and faster to play. BUT: if you don't want to buy all the DLCs don't bother. The renaissance mod requires you to have all DLC. It's an …
- [10]
Game is a nice, light-weight war themed 4x. Master of Magic this aint. However, I'd put it above both Age of Wonders 3 and Fallen Enchantress in one category: Fun. This game will absolutely suck you in if you let it. The 'one more turn' aspect is here in FORCE. On its own... its merely good. With the renaissance mod, however, it becomes great. One man decided he wanted variety. So that's what he has been doing for …
- [8]
Very replayable. I have 2055 hours to date. The game has quit saving or loading saved games, so I am hear to re-boot the game.
Summarised from 34 of the 198 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Warlock 2: The Exiled sits at 68% positive across 173 opinionated reactions from 2 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Following its release, Warlock II: The Exiled currently has an average critic score of 73/100 on the review aggregator website Metacritic. Reviews were generally favorable. PC Games (Germany) states "Ino-Co Plus has done a good job of adding clever features to the established formula." Most criticism asserted a marginal improvement from the original with major problems remaining and fails to sustain interest of those who have played the original.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 195 · most liked firstAh, I missed that the third/final/spacey episode of Project Warlock 2 launched. I kickstarted that game! Apparently they're doing a bunch of tweaking and tuning before it's ready for v1.0 but it has all of its main levels and characters in place now, I believe.
neutral · AI labelView post →To start with the obvious, this game is a blatant copy of Master of Magic from Micropose. That's not bad, a remake was necessary, and MoM was a truly excellent game. It copies the magic system, the hero traits, artifacts, the ruler traits, races, planeswalking. The combat is more similar to civilization which is an improvement. But I don't recommend this game. Let's look at the sins of Warlock 2. The AI is pathetic. You can completely shut down an opponent by parking a single unit on their…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has an inexplicable charm that draws me back to it annually, wearing rose-tinted glasses and thinking, "It wasn't that bad, right? This time, I'll finish a map for real!" Yet, every year, I fail to complete a map and inevitably remember why. Replaying it this year brought the issues back into sharp focus: the AI, the pacing, and the underwhelming spells. The AI: The AI in Warlock 2 is frustratingly incompetent, compensated by giving it massive handicaps to level the playing field.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you want to play Multiplayer you are required to create an Paradox Account. Because obviously Steam itself is not enough.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There is really only one thing to say here: if you want a good 4X fantasy game, you have to buy all the DLC and get the Renaissance Mod. With the mod it's an awesome game, in my opinion better than AoW3 or AoW Planetfall. More "fun" than civ, since you can throw fireballs and stuff, and faster to play. BUT: if you don't want to buy all the DLCs don't bother. The renaissance mod requires you to have all DLC. It's an all-or-nothing kind of deal. I personally don't regret the purchase. But only…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've played this game off and on since it came out years ago, but the latest update made it suck so bad. Basically around turn 30 you're hit with an attack that used to be fairly easy to fend off but has since been buffed to the point where now you have to prepare your entire build order to handle, and it's totally random where it's going to show up. It's kinda like playing civ and you have tanks dropped next to your cities while you still have only horsemen. I thought it was a one-off bad…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is a let down for those of us that played the first game. The unit variety is poor. The balancing is awful. The combat is sluggish. Overall a forgettable game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Look no further than this game for an example of how the game industry treats its customers - with disdain. I love Warlock 2 - its one of my favourite games, even though they made some parts worse than the original game e.g. no Armageddon mode. Its a no because: A: It has game breaking bugs that I am sure would be trivial to solve but the publisher / steam still sell B: DLC is (as usual for Paradox) overpriced.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The finest 4x fantasy strategy game ... if you buy all of the DLC and install the Renaissance mod. Do it, its worth it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would love to write a positive review about the game but I feel the game should not be sold In its current state because there is a slew of game ending bugs. I have never completed a game because of the bugs.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is in many ways a good game and there are many reviews on this game that don't do it justice. Monsters and magics are fun, with many interesting and enjoyable additions since the first game. Many of the game play elements are just as good. Things like the city limit were, at least from my own opinion, a good addition as well. Removing tedious gameplay at the late game. What this game did wrong is the very thing it sold itself on. Having multiple traversable worlds. It took an open…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My Steam Replay Shoutout to Project Warlock 2 (amazing game and a great sequel) and Tokyo Xtreme Racer!
positive · AI labelView post →Two words: Renaissance Mod. Makes the whole game much more playable. Needs all the DLCs to use it though, so you either commit or you don't. I committed and was rewarded with one of the best fantasy 4Xs.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is pretty good. What makes it better is the Renaissance Mod made by Chumley that requires all the DLC in the game, making this game 500% better and more epic. NOTE: Crashes happen if the game is on an XL Sandbox Mode map with multiple realms. Be warned!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is not a bad game overall. However, several things are broken, so if you get this, you have to be aware of that: 1) alt-tab: If you are playing full screen, it will randomly drop out of the full-screen, and then you can't always get back into the game. Therefore you pretty much have to task quit the game. Luckily it saves at the end of each turn, so you might only lose a turn's worth of actions 2) Randomly becomes unresponsive (in fact, this is what made me uninstall). After a more…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Please make Warlock 3, theres been no new fantasy 4X which keeps fights on the main world map and doesnt zoom in to a separate map. This game is so fun and diverse and has more content than the first one. I bet Im not the only one who wants Warlock 3 or at least a remake of either one. Renessaince mod is a must for Warlock 2 as even the highest difficulty is quite easy once youre past the start. I recommend playing the game vanilla first and then installing the Renessaince mod for more and new…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I dunno. the "feel" from the first game is gone. I still play warlock - master of the arcane from time to time Its sort of raw and unpolished. I cant put my finger on it. I just don't enjoy ithis one.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, recommend playing it a while in vanilla, then add some mods, play some more. Wait to add renniasence mod until you are getting bored, then you have almost a Warlock 3 when you add it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →+Pros+ +Improved UI +More races to choose from +A somewhat storyline +Runs smoother +A fantasy 4x game +Replayability -Cons- -Shard worlds -Limitations on spells I enjoyed the improvements of the UI and improvements here and there to have a modern touch to the game. It didn’t feel clunky or feel out of place and the UI responded much faster in terms of accessing menus and dialogue screens much faster than the predecessor. The game itself also runs smoother – this include alt-tabbing out…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Project Warlock 2 has gotten some MAJOR updates, almost turning it into a completely different game! So we will be checking that out today and giving away two copies of the game in the stream! youtube.com/live/DMp4736...
neutral · AI labelView post →Civ but with a different flavor that I like much better. I see people complaining about not being able to click on anything, press escape to close the window you have open silly. I see people complaining about city limits, it's a toggle when making a game. I see people complaining that specialty cities give insignificant rewards, that value is per population... The reason they limited the number of intractable cities is because of multiplayer, nobody wants to wait for you to build 35 farms…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So I finished Project Warlock 2 (a mini thread): Gameplay is similar to the original game, but with the multiple characters, new weapons, magic, and upgrades, the combat feels great, with good enemies and decently fun levels. Bosses are a let down however, with none reaching grand heights as prior.
neutral · AI labelView post →Why so many bad reviews I wonder, it's such a great game!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is a nice, light-weight war themed 4x. Master of Magic this aint. However, I'd put it above both Age of Wonders 3 and Fallen Enchantress in one category: Fun. This game will absolutely suck you in if you let it. The 'one more turn' aspect is here in FORCE. On its own... its merely good. With the renaissance mod, however, it becomes great. One man decided he wanted variety. So that's what he has been doing for several years now. New factions, new units, new buildings, more balance. All…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't know if it's even possible to play a game for over 1000 hours and not just love it to pieces.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I play this game with the Naga Expansion and the Renaissance mod. My review reflects that. This is one of my favorite turn-based empire RPG-style games ("4X strategy"), together with the Civ series (Civ 3 and 4) and Heroes of Might and Magic (3 and 5). The play style is closest to Civ than to Heroes but like Heroes it is based on a fantasy world. In terms of empire building it has less complexity than Civ but still strategic decisions are there such as where to build a city, what to build in a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is one of my favorites. I recommend this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very replayable. I have 2055 hours to date. The game has quit saving or loading saved games, so I am hear to re-boot the game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is IMO the best fantasy 4x game available. It is seriously underrated.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Warlock 2 The Exiled is a charming & satisfying turn based fantasy wargame I highly recommend it to those who like fantasy strategy/wargames I play the sandbox mode which places you in a randomly generated world. You can set various general conditions... your leader & race... world geography & size... difficulty & victory conditions There is also the excellent Renaissance mod available on the workshop which is literally a full expansion pack adding races & tweaking gameplay Excellent &…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game needs to be released with a current update with current technology. The fact that Paradox Games released this program with an editor included really opens the game up to managing everything from Papyrus to almost anything you can imagine. Great game with versatility and a crap load of fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best 4x games currently on steam with huge potential of replaybility. I like new races and units which were added to this one. I recommend everyone to take Naga DLC which adds maritime Naga race. It gives players very challenging but unique experience. I regret that there no plans for the third installment of this series.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dont bother with base game put on the mods. The game is stupid and unbalanced. But My Maxed out CRAB of DOOM with like 40 health regen and over 95 percent resistance to all types of damage including spirit, immune to banes and curses, the ability to fly, move seven tiles, teleport, do all types of damage to a total of nearly 300 pts of damage along with bubble breath for range cause why not sais the game is good and I do not dare challenge a CRAB who can slay the Gods.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very fun strategy game. So many diverse units, and the mechanic where you gain access to the buildings/units of other races means that you won't miss out on your favorite faction just because you started with somebody else. Every play-through is different, and you have diverse obstacles and assets based on the map you wind up in. It's no graphical masterpiece, but the intricate game mechanics make it very fun to play. This is a game I keep coming back to.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is one of my favourite strategy games of all time. Unnoticed and underrated. Has a perfect mix of base expansion building and strategy. Cool unit veterancy and buffs plus defensive structures present an immersive and personal experience. Too bad it didn't get more pickup. It certainly deserves it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm showing my age but I really loved the DOS game "Masters of Magic". This game has all of the awesome bits of that - multiple races with special powers and buildings, multiple wizards with different perks, heroes to choose from. It also introduces some really great mission based elements that make it a lot more interesting to play. I have the feeling that on harder difficulties this game could be a very deep strategy game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Greedy racist company
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Treated myself to Project Warlock 2 (and if you're a fan of the first game and/or indie boomer shooters with style I'd highly recommend). They really went above and beyond in every department with the sequel. My only minor gripe is the same as the first game: Weapon upgrade change option PLZ!
positive · AI labelView post →I have never been so overwhelmed by a game before. From the outset, you are presented with innumerable options for features that you have no knowledge or understanding of. Then the Tutorial throws multiple windows at you with every click. Each window has more windows with more information you will not understand because the mechanics are not actually explained. At no point are you told what you are actually supposed to be doing to achieve victory/ make progress. I have rarely uninstalled a game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is not really part 2. It is cosmetics over the previous installment. Even the bugs are the same like e.g. crappy saving i.e. if you overwrite the previous save the previous copy quite often is still left. The only significant difference is there is no real land but land shards what is not really a big difference. It is just kind of land separated by portals. And the shards themselves are terrible as it seriously limits your resonable ability to found new cities. If your capital is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is good, but the AI makes it too easy very quickly. The AI simply can't deal with your UBER units that have so many buffs on them, they become virtually immortal. Mods attempting to fix AI don't work. I played on hardest difficulty setting, going to war immediately with every AI, and gave my wizard no perks, and I still easily win. There is a really good game concept in here that just needed a more elegant execution to be really good. I recommend if its <$10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Damn thing crashes all the time. Runs for about 20 turns and dead. Autosave keeps from just deleting it, but it's damn frustrating. 48 GB of memory should be plenty, but it just crashes.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While much simpler than games such as CIV6, it is a wonderful fantasy addition to the genre. I like this more than the bigger titles if I'm honest. This game can really draw you in and the editor in game allows you to create your own mods for the game. I would love to see where this IP could go if we could get a few more advanced editions.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a fun game. It certainly isn't perfect, but it's fun for all that The Dremers are pretty unbalanced, tho. Stupidly overpowered at the beginning of the game, and you can easily get locked behind the Dremer homeworld that damages your units every turn, heals Dremer units every turn, and is checkerboard covered with castles every other tile. If you don't defeat them fast enough (and you won't) they'll eventually start sending out uberwizards to one-shot your lvl 10 units. I enjoy a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This scratches a very specific "Fantasy civilisation franchise" niche for me and honestly does it in a very satisfying and good way. Just do yourself a favour and get it with the dlc then install the renaissance mod. Nuff said
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've tried over and over and over to get enjoyment from this product but I always end up being annoyed at bugs and issues and low efforts from the developers, sure you can get it really cheap online outside of steam. But for the love of gaming, make sure you install some mods to fix some of the balancing/issues.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unlike masterclasses in the 4X genre that force you to balance rapid expansion against societal happiness, corruption, or infrastructure caps, Warlock completely fails to penalize mindless territorial bloat. The optimal, and frankly only, strategy is to relentlessly plaster every single available hex with a new settlement. It degrades what should be a calculated fantasy empire-building experience into a mind-numbing chore of managing dozens of identical, shallow cities. You are not cultivating…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Using “Atatürk is a controversial figure” as an excuse to target a player, followed by historically disputed claims to justify it, is unacceptable. This is an insult to the Turkish community and a serious failure in Paradox’s community management. Until Paradox gives a clear and satisfactory explanation, I will not support their games.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →multiplayer stopped working properly - can't connect at all
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →my latest review is up for Project Warlock 2 as another great example of boomer shooters youtu.be/OocdEA3rBps
neutral · AI labelView post →Town limit ruin the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have 6 players, 5 martial, 1 Warlock. 2 share the same class. Turns out if your game actually supports exploration and social encounters than there's plenty of space to differentiate and feel different. They're level 4. #A5e
neutral · AI labelView post →Hidden Gem. wish there was an other newer one
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Brings back memories of Masters of Magic
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a fantasy version of Sid Meyer's Civilization. Some mechanics are different, but overall, it's a very enjoyable game. The Renaissance mod is a must for better balance, better AI Player and overall QoL enhancements. It also makes the game a lot more difficult.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An excellent sequel to Master of Magic, takes magical resource management & RPG playing up a notch and is a lot of run. I'm spent way too many hours in this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As fun a game as a own on my considerable Steam catalog, as long as you use the Renaissance mod.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Every time my friends and I boot up the game and play in MP, we always end up crashing. Ruins the whole fun of it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Paradox has been crooked for a long time its just sad that racism, not their constant theft or abuse, has triggered people's response...paradox should have burnt long ago for worse behavior...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →cant even get through 50+ turns without the game crashing (no mods or workshop things btw)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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