But as a tutorial to the random maps where the game really comes to life, it's faultless, presenting a series of strategic problems that I was rarely able to resolve on my first attempt. It is arresting stuff, even if the story feels like a slightly overcooked slab of standard fantasy loin, sizzling with intrigue and treachery. Twin campaigns from the viewpoint of different alliances walked me through the various races, and invited me to try as many strategies and units as possible. It is a familiar world of fantasy standards, rendered competently through art, animation and sound effects. Monsters range from the familiar (poisonous spiders) to the odd (rampaging penguins), and each playable race offers its own comparable but tactically different units. It's not just character skills Age of Wonders 3 is bursting with leaders, generals, unit types, loot, resources and ancillaries of every stripe. One character gained the ability to walk through walls another called on dark necromantic powers.
I played as various rulers in campaign mode (pre-selected) and in random maps (personal choices), each growing into discernible individuals as they attained new skills. And finally, you also create a singular main character, a ruler who grows in power as you capture trinkets and territory. You have access to magical power that paints the game's world in splashing multiplicities - terraformed farmland, fire-breathing griffins and a huge variety of other spells. You're invited to build a society, creating a culture and infrastructure ideally suited to fit your needs. The pieces may be familiar - you create cities that provide military units that are used to conquer more cities - but the challenge is deep and endless in its variety.Įach individual type of power fantasy at play in Age of Wonders 3 adds to the game's essential feeling of control and agency. The result is a complex, engrossing game that is unforgiving in its exploration of the purity of power. But it's up to you to bring all of these elements together and create a functioning kingdom. You're given charge of everything in this fantasy world, from political, economic and social oversight to down-in-the-mud military judgements.
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