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Civilization III will turn you into an "honest"-to-goodness addict. |
If you're someone who's a fan of turn-based strategy games--like I am--then you've had a tough few years since 1999. That's not to say that there haven't been any great turn-based games since then. For instance, Civilization III was basically everything that Civ II players had wanted; a slightly improved version of Civ II with no really radical changes, but just enough new features and options, like the game's new culture system, to distinguish itself from the previous game. (Having picked up and become thoroughly addicted to it over the Christmas weekend, I myself am trying to stop playing Civ III cold turkey, which is why I may sound jittery in the rest of this article.)
But other than a few exceptions, there really haven't been any notable new turn-based strategy games...until now. Coming up this year, there are no less than five turn-based strategy games that I personally have my eye on...and if you're any kind of fan of such games, you should too.
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Soon, I too will live in an Age of Wonders. |
For starters, I'm very, very excited about Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne. The original Age of Wonders was a great fantasy-themed turn-based strategy game that borrowed several features from other games that had come before it, such as simultaneous turns (in which all players take their turns at the same time, instead of waiting in line) and customizable hero units that can choose from a great variety of skills. But the original game implemented each of these features extremely well and had a dozen different playable factions, each with its own troops, and though some units were similar among the different groups, each had a completely different top-level unit with interesting special abilities. And most of Age of Wonders' maps were larger than large; many of them extended several levels underground and took hours, even days, to explore and conquer. And from what I've seen and heard, Age of Wonders II will improve upon all aspects of the previous game and will have a random-scenario generator, new playable races, and lots of new skills and magic for your heroes to learn. It's definitely a turn-based strategy game to keep your eye on this year...maybe even the turn-based strategy game to keep your eye on this year.
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I want me Heroes IV! |
I'm also intrigued by Heroes of Might and Magic IV, which will be the successor to one of the most enjoyable--and also one of the most frequently repackaged and resold--turn-based games ever. Heroes of Might and Magic III was a fantastic (and almost frighteningly addictive) fantasy-themed strategy game that improved upon just about every facet of Heroes I and II. It won a number of well-deserved awards and accolades, gave rise to an expansion pack, and then went on to be repackaged as another expansion pack. It was used as a basis for five "episodic" games and was then repackaged yet again as "Heroes Complete." But from what I've seen, Heroes IV will be a completely new game--one that'll finally break away from its predecessor and have even more strategic depth. Heroes IV will feature a brand-new set of playable towns with a new magic system that features five schools of magic spells, as well as a revised system of town and creature upgrades that'll force you to make tough decisions about how you build your forces, rather than simply dumping all your funds into the next upgrade to get archangels or black dragons as quickly as possible. It'll also feature a revamped combat system in which units will have completely different sizes on the battlefield and will have distinct special abilities they can use instead of simply moving and attacking each turn.
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Communicate with aliens using the newfangled Diplo-Matic. |
And I'm looking forward to Master of Orion III, the follow-up to one of the best space-conquest strategy games ever. Does MOO III look like it'll be insanely complex? You bet. But from what I've seen so far, the game's interface seems like it'll actually make much of that complexity manageable. MOO III will improve upon every aspect of its predecessor, including diplomacy, espionage, and space combat, and will feature complex new starship design systems and tactical combat. Best of all, MOO III will let you automate most of these things so that, if you want, you can choose to focus on the few aspects of the game you really enjoy and let the computer do the rest.
Two other noteworthy strategy games that are scheduled for this year are Disciples II: Dark Prophecy and UFO: Freedom Ridge. The former is the sequel to the 1999 fantasy strategy game Disciples: Sacred Lands and will feature even more expertly hand-painted portrait art, though the sequel has been in development for far too long, more than two years. The latter game was actually named Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge and was canceled last February, but it was later revived under the new name. UFO: Freedom Ridge was originally being developed by Mythos Games, a group that featured a number of X-COM alumni, including developers that had previously worked on X-COM: UFO Defense. UFO: Freedom Ridge is now in development at a different company, ALTAR Interactive, but with any luck, it'll be worthy of following in X-COM's footsteps.
So there you have it. After the seemingly endless waves of real-time strategy games, we're expecting at least five promising turn-based strategy games this year. For fans of these games, things will definitely take a turn for the better in 2002.
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