Water Margin: Rise of the Outlaws

Outlaw heroes on a tactical grid

Water Margin: Rise of the Outlaws is a turn-based tactics game played on an isometric square grid. Cavalry, shield infantry, spearmen and archers counter one another, and reeds, thorns, fire, rocks, water, high ground and pit traps all change how a fight plays out. Move, pick a target, and see exactly how many troops the blow will cost the enemy before you commit.

Three techniques per hero, each from the novel

Every hero brings three techniques. The first is their signature, drawn from their best-known moment in the book: Lin Chong's Serpent Spear, Wu Song killing the tiger on Jingyang Ridge, Lu Zhishen uprooting the willow. A signature move plays a short ink-wash cut-in with calligraphy and a red seal, then gets out of the way.

Techniques come in four kinds:

• Active: use it on your turn
• Quick: trigger it and still act again this turn
• Passive: fires on its own when its condition is met
• Assault: strikes as part of a move

Damage is either martial or strategic, so strong fighters and clever tacticians play differently. Stun, root, disarm, poison, bleeding, shields, drunkenness and more are shown on every unit, with a description one tap or right-click away.

The Grand Tournament

Pick five heroes and face another five in the arena. Deploy, then fight: wipe out the other side within fifteen rounds, or win on remaining troops when time runs out. Heroes are ranked as Leaders, Mainstays and Specialists, and each has a role: vanguard, defender, tactician, controller, healer, support or blade. Three difficulty levels. Every match can be watched again as a replay.

Win enough bouts with a hero and they will teach their family technique to others, opening up new line-ups.

Story campaign from the novel's famous scenes

The campaign follows Water Margin. You play a young newcomer to the jianghu: choose a name and look, then head west from the capital. Train with Wang Jin and Shi Jin at Shi Family Village, watch Lu Da kill the butcher with three punches in Weizhou, then fight through Mount Wutai, Peach Blossom Village and the Waguan Temple. Each battle has its own goal: hold the line, escort, capture a commander, break out, or win a one-on-one duel. Your record for each battle is graded A, B or C.

Conversations give you choices, and people remember what you said. Who respects you and who can't stand you is written in your contact book, and it shapes what comes later.

Camp between battles

Back at camp, choose who sorties, change heroes' weapons, armor and accessories, buy medicine and gear with silver, and listen to your sworn brothers in the Hall of Loyalty.

Look

Song-dynasty ink wash and fine-line painting throughout: rice paper, lacquered wood, vermilion seals, a blue-green landscape map, and a portrait for every character who appears.

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Language note: the game is currently available in Simplified Chinese only.