Age Of Wonders

TURN-BASED, HEROIC-FANTASY STRATEGY-GAME. It looks and feels like a more polished and sophisticated version of Warlords 3, with a few touches of Master of Magic and Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (HMM3). Up to 12 fantasy-races can be put into play in a campaign or stand-alone scenario, from the Elves to the Undead. There is an extensive diplomatic matrix which structures the relationships between those races and their respective leaders (not found in HMM3). There are visually superb global-spells which can be cast on the strategic map, outside of tactical combat, punctuated by weird sound-effects (more extensive than HMM3). Creatures can move around without being led by a hero, so the map eventually crawls with all sorts of strange beings (not found in HMM3). Neutral forces are not always static, as in HMM3: most of them move around and sometimes attack the 12 races. The last two types of factors make this game much more complex and dynamic than HMM3. On the other hand, the interior design and appearance of the castles are much more simplistic and ugly than those found in HMM3. And also, the full tactical-combat display is much less beautiful, especially during the siege of a city. As a compensation, the automatic tactical-combat mode shows a somewhat detailed overview of the combat simulation: it is a worthwhile substitute for impatient gamers, especially in multiplayer encounters. Multiplayer modes available are: Internet (TCP/IP), Internet (via Heat.net), LAN (IPX), play by e-mail, hot-seat (2 to 12 humans on the same machine). Pre-game customization allows the following choices: 5 levels of AI skill (with the 1.2 patch), 5 AI personalities (from very violent to defensive), classic turn-based moves or simultaneous turns, incarnation of the player as the main hero (if he dies, it's game over for that side), selection of the main hero's name, face, and bonus sword-and-sorcery attributes, etc. There are much less maps included than in HMM3, but a great map editor allows the gamer to create new maps, which can have up to 3 geological levels (one or two can be placed undergound, with a much more realistically cramped and dark tunnel-design). As in HMM3 and Master of Magic, heroes are very important. They reach new levels of skill and power with experience and can be equipped with artifacts. But they do have limitations that usually do not allow a solitary hero to overrun a city-garrison all by himself.