I never thought I would see the actual physical copy of Battle Realms, a video game from my childhood that I played circa 2002. It was available on local shops in the Philippines back then, but it was difficult to get a legit copy as most of them were bootlegs (clones of the original game) – even some shops told you it was an original and it cost around 500 to 1,000 PHP each. Nowadays, it’s easy to find and purchase a legit copy on the internet because of the online distribution platforms such as Steam, Epic Games, Microsoft PC Games, Origins, and more.
When I saw someone list a sealed and legitimate copy of Battle Realms on eBay, I snapped it up immediately to get my hands on this relic video game. Fast forward, and it arrived. I never thought that I would see the actual physical copy of one of my favorite game and it brought back a lot of memories. Basically, this relic box is now 21 years old.
Battle Realms is an real-time strategy (RTS) video game developed by Liquid Entertainment and published by Craze Entertainment and Ubisoft back in November 2001. It even had an Steam version today that you can play in modern PC, you can check our exclusive interview with the Founder of Liquid Entertainment Ed Del Castillo regarding the Battle Realms steam version.
The only problem is that you cannot play the game from the disc copy as it is not compatible with the latest Windows OS, but you can fully install it. Playing it on Windows XP might work. So, let’s unbox this relic video game.
Unboxing the Content
The front packaging shows the iconic game cover for years featuring the game characters of the game.
At the back shows the back-story of the main character Kenji and some feature of the game.
Opening its flip cover shows the Clan you can play: Wolf Clan, Dragon Clan, Serpent Clan and Lotus Clan and some gameplay screenshot.
Though the copy we have is not in the pristine condition, inside it comes with untouched User Manual showing the same cover page image.
At the back of the user manual, it advertised other RTS game that I haven’t heard before; Conquest, Conflict Zone and Dark Planet.
Viewing the system requirements, it is modest compared to today’s technology. However, when it was released in 2001, the recommendations and minimum requirements would have been considered high and expensive.
Here is the optical disc case.
Here’s the disc in all its glory, looking just like it did back in the good old days. Just look at that beautiful light reflection!
It also comes with an extra fliers: Hercules, one of the major graphics card companies back in the day.
At the back shows their graphics card 3D Prophet III Ti 500, a 64MB DDR SDRAM with a clock of 260/580 MHz. As well as their audio card Game Theater X, right now – most modern motherboard has built it quality sound card.
Inside the Disc
And the most important about thing about this unboxing is revealing the disc content. Loading the disc in our CD-ROM drive immediately shows the nostalgic Battle Realms icon.
Clicking the drive shows the install splash page.
Proceeding to installation reminiscing how we install video games back in the days.
With the no need to read license agreement. Just next next next.
Then the phase where what directory you will install the game.
Then, some more confirmation.
The installation, it took us 3 minutes to install the game. The waiting part is the transferring the data from the disc, but during the actual installation it merely ends at just about 3 seconds and we’re not able to screenshot of those part.
So here is the end of the installation.
Now, for the playing part. Unfortunately, it is not possible to play it on Windows 11 or 10. However, it should work on Windows XP.
It’s hard to believe that Battle Realms, one of the most popular video games of all time, was released nearly 21 years ago. Despite its age, the game is still widely played today. Thanks to its new version that is currently available on Steam, the Battle Realms: Zen Edition (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1025600/Battle_Realms_Zen_Edition/), as well as its amazing gameplay and captivating world.
If you could get your hands on this relic, would you? Let us know in the comment section below!