Age of Wonders series re-released!

[frogbeastegg]

The classic fantasy turn based strategy series is finally back. Good Old Games (http://www.gog.com/en/search/sort/search/age%20of%20wonders) has the first game available now and the other two will follow shortly.

Classic? How classic? Most people talk about high-end turn based fantasy strategy in terms of three series: Master of Magic, Heroes of Might and Magic, and Age of Wonders. All others are mentioned far less often. The games have been hard to get for some time now; second hand versions were the only, expensive, option.

This is the series I hoped Elemental: War of magic would replace! I've loved it since the release of the first game, and had them installed on every single computer I've owned since. Ah, memories. I tried the demo which came on PC Gamer's cover disc because there was an enthuasiastic review inside the magazine which made me curious to try it despite my (then) dislike of fantasy settings in games. I found a game which was charming, flavoursome, beautiful, faintly wistful, and packed with content. Two big campaigns, lots of scenarios, lots of different races each of which was totally unique, loads of spells. Naturally I played the demo to death, pestered my parents to buy it for me, and I've still got the chunky cardboard box plus contents to this day. Age of Wonders was the game which began to turn my dislike of fantasy settings to my current appreciation of them ... although I still loathe elves.

Age of Wonders has got dire penguins in it. Evil penguin infantry with glowing red eyes. What more could any gamer ask for?

The second and third game ... more on them later.

[Veho Nex]

Oh boy! I cant wait, AoW was one of my favorite back in the early millennium.

[gaelic cowboy]

It is still on my laptop I think I give it a whirl again tonight

[Meneldil]

I have the last one, and I have to say I never got into it, despite being a hardcore HoM&M fan.

First, all the races are pretty much the same :
- Tier 1 : Peasant
- Tier 2 : Crappy infantry
- Tier 3 : Archer
- Tier 4 : Heavy Infantry
- Tier 5 : Monster/Cavalry
You could switch from Nomads to Archons to Undeads to Orcs, the game would still play exactly the same, with the same tactics all over again. The different unit-specific skills were hardly making them feel different. Same with heroes, who only have slight differences from one faction to another.

Secondly and lastly, once you get to a certain point in the game, it becomes a "end-turn-clickfest". I've only played some campaigns, but once you end up with ten or so cities, you just keep clicking this dreaded end-turn button until you can cast that goddam spell or until your army can overwhelm the final castle defenses. Again, I've only played in solo mode, so I can't comment on multiplayer.

I'm sure the game has great potential, and I install it on my desktop every once in a while, play a few missions but saddly quickly find myself doing the same thing over and over again.

[Martok]

I own AoW2, and while I couldn't really get into it, I did like the first one. A very charming fantasy strategy game....and, like froggy, I was very much hoping that Elemental would be its (spiritual) successor. An old roommate of mine owned the original, and we both were up quite a few nights playing it (although I admittedly did more watching him play it than I myself did). I remember really liking the art style, and the magic system was one of the more solid ones I've seen.




Age of Wonders has got dire penguins in it. Evil penguin infantry with glowing red eyes. What more could any gamer ask for?
Gah! I'd forgotten about that. You just *had* to remind me, didn't you? :hide:

[frogbeastegg]

The second game wasn't the best, or so a lot of players agree. The final one, Shadow Magic, is considered the best by a lot of people. Others, myself included, prefer the original. AoW2 just didn't quite have that special something; the first game had the atmosphere, the third had the best set of features. Still a good title IMO, and I think it gets unfairly panned by many series fans.

Might do something more in-depth about these games later. AoW is similar yet different to its sequels, and Shadow Magic is similar yet different to AoW2.

Hehe, I remember that when I first played the fancy dragon menu with slowed my PC to a crawl each time I clicked on it. It was an amazing menu.


Gah! I'd forgotten about that. You just *had* to remind me, didn't you?
I was so upset when they didn't make it into AoW2 and AoW:SM.

The goblin bombers used to be funny too. Not so much in the modern world. There were a lot of whimsical things in these games.


I have the last one, and I have to say I never got into it, despite being a hardcore HoM&M fan. [cut for length]
I found each race had its own feel, strengths and weaknesses, and each unit had its uses however narrow in scope they may be. The abilities can have massive impact; the right set can make a unit effectively invincible. It's something you have to experiment with more than something which is hugely obvious; it's possible to get along using a select few units from each race.

What the series is not so good at is balance. Some abilities, races and units are way overpowered. Others are weak, or very weak. I believe that is intentional; it fits the mythology of the world Triumph built. Some players like it, some don't. Myself, I mostly like it. It's good to play an underdog and win sometimes, or to play a powerhouse and stomp people. Some of the units forced me to adapt my play in directions I wouldn't normally try. On the other hand the campaigns made you play as set races and it could really hurt being forced to play a race you didn't get on with.

The big problem I had with them was the economy. I always seemed to be scraping by with the bare minimum of units and teetering on the verge of bankrupcy. Don't know why, as I've always seen others playing in the same manner but with double the units and so much cash that they're complaining money is too easy to get.

[gaelic cowboy]

The big problem I had with them was the economy. I always seemed to be scraping by with the bare minimum of units and teetering on the verge of bankrupcy. Don't know why, as I've always seen others playing in the same manner but with double the units and so much cash that they're complaining money is too easy to get.

Hmm I always found there statements to be highly suspect I suspect they maybe they were using freespells to increase town gold and movement