After he left the employ of Origin Systems (during the production of Ultima 9; it gets discussed a bit in our interview with Bill Randolph), Ed Del Castillo went on to found Liquid Entertainment. Having built up a body of experience with RTS games thanks to his work on the Command & Conquer franchise, Del Castillo and Liquid developed and released Battle Realms, a fantasy RTS with a distinctly Japanese theme to it.

Released in 2002, it was…something different. It wasn’t easy to win the game by creating large waves of one unit and storming over your opponents; the game emphasized strategy, in-depth knowledge of units and their capabilities, and tight per-unit control during pitched battles. Additionally, units had to be trained; they all started as peasants, and could be raised through a series of three levels at different training buildings. Units are distinct to each of the various races in the game, so balancing strengths and weaknesses against different opponents is also a priority.

And the voice acting is evidently pretty good, as is the soundtrack.

Anyway…you can grab Battle Realms (and its expansion/prequel, Winter of the Wolf) for free at GOG right now (it regularly retails for $9.99 USD). It was available yesterday as well, and I think today might be the last day. So, you know…act fast.