This is another instalment for fans of the Iron Grip universe from the Isotx team so that means it’s both browser-based and free and of the same quality you’ve come to expect from these guys with their previous Iron Grip titles.

Iron Grip: Marauders is set in the same world as Iron Grip: Warlord but has upped the ante just a tiny bit from previous games. First off this game makes full use of the Unity 3D engine so the production values for this game are that bit higher than what you’ve come to expect from most browser-based games. The graphics are simply going to be a step up from what you’ve seen before.

The premise of the game itself is that you’re an airship captain who has to make the best of a bad lot by gathering wealth and researching unique units as you fight and scheme to gain control of your world (from the lofty heights of your airship) whilst fighting with other Marauders who could be just plain old thieves or hardened military veterans. The game itself is turn based but due to the extra “feel” that’s been put into the game this becomes a secondary concern – usually because you’re distracted by the excellent graphics – well excellent for a browser-based game that is.

Strategic Gaming

Iron Grip: Marauders is more about formulating a proper strategy for the variety of units you can control than using the usual build-and-rush tactic you see so often in an RTS. Turn based means you have to think more and it also means that the fog-of-war becomes far more dangerous because if you’ve used up all your move points you can get caught up in a fight you can’t win or even try to escape from. And of course you get to choose between playing against the computer or other humans in this MMO.

The graphic elements in the game remind me of high quality late-era Commodore Amiga quality although they use a lot more shading and you have some neat little animations in there that, if memory serves me, you wouldn’t get to see in an Amiga game. The game play itself takes me back to turn-based strategy games from the same era and for some weird reason the graphics have a touch of Bitmap Brothers about them.

If you’re looking for a free, online strategy game with a nice interface and some pretty decent graphics you could do an awful lot more than trying out Iron Grip: Marauders. It won’t cost you a penny and once you get used to the turn based interface you might just have something to while away a few boring rainy afternoons – and we all know we get enough of those.