Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne is the third entry in the fantasy-themed turn-based strategy race of 2002, and it's every bit as good as its competitors, Disciples II and Heroes of Might and Magic IV. Developer Triumph Studios clearly set out to address the problems that fans had with the original game, especially the long-standing complaint that the original game wasn't challenging enough--though the sequel may have gone a bit too far in this direction. And though some die-hard fans may wish that the game included a random map generator, this really isn't a major concern, considering how huge the game's maps are and how its loyal fan community will more than likely make good use of the included scenario editor to make new maps. Beyond that, Age of Wonders II is an excellent sequel that no self-respecting fantasy strategy fan should miss.

Age of Wonders II is a very complex, rewarding game.

Make no mistake--Age of Wonders II is a very complex game, much more so than the original. While this added complexity adds a great deal of depth, it also tends to make the game difficult for newcomers to pick up, especially considering the sequel's increased difficulty. Like in other fantasy strategy games, you create an army of fantastic creatures to explore a large, colorful map, seize resources and treasure, and fight groups of enemy soldiers or wandering monsters. Like the original Age of Wonders, the sequel lets you fight each battle in a tactical turn-based combat mode or use a quick-resolve option to save time. But you'll find yourself concerned with lots of other things, including the progress of your cities and their buildings, the next powerful magic spell or new ability you're currently researching, and the constant encroachments of your computer opponents in the single-player game. These resemble the sorts of things you'd concern yourself with in the classic strategy game Master of Magic, but they're more complex, and the computer opponent is much tougher. So if you're new to fantasy strategy games, you'll want to make sure that you play through Age of Wonders II's tutorial missions and flip through its hefty manual before diving in.

A standard session in Age of Wonders II begins with selecting your wizard, a character who will appear on the map and can be moved and brought into combat, but won't gain any experience levels. It's best to keep your wizard in one place, usually in your starting city, and recruit armies from your own ranks and any hero units that show up randomly or are called up by the "summon hero" spell. You'll also choose which playable race you want to control. Age of Wonders II has a dozen playable races, and most of the original game's races return, though the aquatic lizardmen and the desert-dwelling azracs have been replaced with the swift tigrans (a race of cat people) and the powerful draconians. Each playable race can recruit armies that include priest units (which can heal and perform other actions) and siege engines, such as catapults and cannons, but the real diversity among the races comes from their different sets of military units. Like in Age of Wonders, the lowest-level units of each side are roughly similar, but the more-powerful units are increasingly divergent, and many of them have interesting and often devastating special abilities.

You'll have a lot of things to keep track of.

In the meantime, you'll conduct research each turn, either to learn a new spell or gain an additional wizard's skill--Age of Wonders II's wizards all have at least one beneficial skill that lets them cast spells more easily, allow their units to gain more experience from fights, and so on. That you can research additional attributes instead of nothing but new spells is intriguing, but most of the time, you'll find yourself researching another spell. You'll also want to keep an eye on each of your towns, which will periodically grow until they reach the size of a city (the largest size). This growth can be sped up by developing the population or building certain buildings. Towns have a uniform technology tree--the most important structures are generally your wizard's tower, which increases the power of your residing wizard, and your war and siege engine buildings, which, when continuously developed, let you create your race's most powerful units and the most powerful siege weapons.

You'll also want to form adventuring parties to scout out the land to capture the game's two resources, gold (which can be acquired from structures such as mines and windmills) and mana (which can be acquired from magical fountains called nodes). Should you encounter any enemies (and you will), you'll be given the option to fight them in tactical or quick combat. Tactical combat takes place on a 3D isometric map, as in the original game, while quick combat lets the computer automatically resolve the fight and is a great time-saver. And finally, while you're adventuring, you'll come into contact with other wizards and races, who may be hostile or friendly to you, and with Age of Wonders II's gods, who may offer you certain short-term quests in exchange for rewards of resources, items, and magic spells.