Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic Preview
The next game in the Age of Wonders series will take you through the looking glass.
Games like MicroProse's Master of Magic and 3DO's Heroes of Might and Magic series helped create a new kind of strategy game: Fantasy-themed strategy, where powerful hero characters who gain experience levels like role-playing game characters explore colorful maps in search of fame and fortune with armies of fantastic creatures and do battle with other armies or lay siege to enemy castles. But the future seems uncertain for the Heroes of Might and Magic series, since 3DO recently declared bankruptcy, and there's no sign of any sequel to Master of Magic, which is just as well, considering that many years ago MicroProse was folded into the company now known as Atari Games. Fortunately for fans of fantasy strategy, Netherlands-based Triumph Studios created the excellent turn-based strategy game Age of Wonders in 1999 and then went on to release an even better sequel, Age of Wonders II, last year. The developer is now putting the finishing touches on its next game, Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic, which will be a stand-alone addition to last year's game, featuring new races, new magic spells, and a new shadow realm to explore that bears more than a passing resemblance to the shadowy realm of Myrror from the classic Master of Magic.
Shadow Magic will continue the series' underlying story, which previously focused on Merlin, a young wizard whose adventures led him to take control of the powerful council of wizards. In Shadow Magic, Merlin is imprisoned in the shadow realm, from which strange and terrifying creatures have begun to emerge and terrorize the land. In response to these new creatures, the humans have become suspicious and fearful of all magic, and they have begun to employ ruthless inquisitors to hunt down suspected practitioners of magic. In the game, you'll play as the elf queen Julia and her allies, the world's last remaining sorcerers, and attempt to overthrow this oppressive rule and free Merlin from his otherworldly prison.
In addition to continuing the series' story, Shadow Magic will attempt to improve on one of the most highly criticized aspects of the series: its difficulty. The previous games were fairly complex and had flimsy tutorials, and one of Age of Wonders II's campaigns (the Fire Sphere campaign) proved to be too hard for most new players. Shadow Magic will address this issue with an all-new three-stage tutorial that will cover all major aspects of the gameplay, including how to manage your holdings, recruit an army, and adventure with a hero. In addition, the new game's first campaign will have a more-forgiving learning curve.
The new game will also add plenty of new features (and creatures) to the already sizeable pool from Age of Wonders II. The game will have more than 50 new units, including additions to the existing playable sides, such as the lumbering yeti unit for the frostlings, and all-new units for its three new playable factions, such as the human chaplains, which are able to boost the morale of their fanatical comrades and dispel magic effects with a single touch. The game will also improve on combat by letting you take a quick overview of your forces and your enemy's forces in a new prebattle menu screen before you head off to fight. At this point, your enemies (or even your own forces) may simply surrender if they're outnumbered or outclassed, and this new feature should help speed up the process of resolving battles. As in the previous games, you'll have the option to fight each battle in a computer-controlled "quick" mode or in a full-on tactical battle mode.
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- GameSpot Score8.7great
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Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic Trailer 1
Check out this trailer for Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic.
- Jul 22, 2003
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- Triumph Studios
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- Release: Jul 25, 2003
- ESRB: Teen
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