Age of Wonders 3

Slight minus because of the whole DLC stuff, but otherwise, really nice game. Not sure what all the others are about with the DRM, it works perfectly fine for me with no account, never had any issues. This is honestly the only Age of Wonders game ever worth your money. I tried the others, but their look and feel didn't to it for me. The newest entry has even more DLC, so don't even bother with that.

Age of Wonders 3 is a very good game. For those who played and enjoyed previous installments of this series, I'd say it's not yet up to AoW: Shadow Magic, but getting there fast, probably with the next DLC. It has solid AI and quite a number of options (classes) to choose from, where your gameplay will differ depending on your class, specialisations and your enemies. Now, I won't write about Campaign extensively because I generally play random maps against AI - I played first few maps in elven campaign and it looked ok, but I don't play AoW for campaigns anyway. Random map generator is solid and it has a number of options to make each game setup pretty different if you like that. You can also create custom leaders for your empire and save it for future play. What the game currently lacks are some improvements in random map generator, mainly that you can additionaly edit randomly generated maps. Also, more active community meaning more user made scenarios and campaigns. Other than that, it's an awesome game that'll make you spend many hours on. I would also strongly suggest buying the first expansion (Golden Realms) and the upcoming DLC for added races and specialisations. The game is worthy every $ or € you put into it.

Let me just say this: Since I found Age of Wonders 3, I haven't touched any other 4X strategy game, because this game just resonates with me. If you haven't tried it yet, I would give it a try for sure. If you like strategy games, I seriously think that this is a must have. Note: All expansions are really well made, and worth every penny.

Wow. This game is remarkable. I've been a fan of the Age of Wonders series for quite some time and this incredible title has managed to both play homage to the classics and bring fresh life to the series. The greatest strength of AoW3 is the replayability. There are endless strategies of race/class combinations that keep you thinking about the game even when you aren't playing it. The random map generator is perfect and the art style and music really immerse you into the game world as well. I often set up "good vs evil" games where I play a Human Theocrat or a High Elf Archdruid, setting myself up against and evil warlord/necromancer/or rogue. Because of the aforementioned art style and music, I always feel immersed and often create my own stories as the game progresses. AoW3 really encourages this type of imagination. I feel like I'm playing an early 90's rpg, where I create stories in my head to make up for the game not being able to display it graphically. Which always ended up being a more memorable gaming experience. AoW3 has no graphical limitations, but because it is so well crafted I often feel like I did back then. Phenomenal. Lastly I will touch a bit on the actual gameplay. The combat, as I'm sure you've read by this point, is the strongest gameplay element of AoW3. It is deep and strategic, yet is is simple enough to grasp right away (easy to learn, hard to master). Perfect combination there. While detailed empire building is indeed not the major focus of the game, I still feel it is better than many give it credit for. Planning your expansion cities to make sure you get specific resources that enhance your armies is critical and extremely fun. Plan expansion accordingly! As a tip, most people don't think to play with neutral AI cities and dwellings off. If you do this, you and you alone are responsible for expanding properly and before your opponent. Great fun and adds even more depth. Buy the game people. Full price + expansions. Well worth it.

This game really captures the 'just one more turn!'-feeling. It is addicting and the game becomes better with each patch & DLC. Pros: [list] [*] A beautiful strategic map [*] Combat is fast, brutal and entertaining [*] It is fun to level your Heroes and Leader; it adds RPG to the game. Also quests that can be gained from independent cities or dwellings add to RPG-feel. [*] Concept of Race & Class for your Leader provide much variety in play. For example, you can play as a Orc Sorcerer, Dwarven Warlord, Elven Rogue etc. [*] Classes are really different from each other; this applies to gameplay, spells and units. See [url=http://age-of-wonders-3.wikia.com/wiki/Classes]this wiki[/url] for an overview (click the class name for more info). [*] Nice campaigns with different outcomes [*] A pretty good Random Map generator with tons of options [*] Users make custom scenarios and challenges with Map Editor [*] Great music [*] Triumph Studios listens really well to the community and has fixed (almost) all bugs/issues [/list] Cons: [list] [*] In general races could be more varied. The good news is that Triumph is working on this and it is expected to improve in the next patch. See [url=http://ageofwonders.com/improving-race-variety-starting-perks/]this official dev journal[/url] (nov 2014) [*] Although the idea behind alignment is nice (good/neutral/evil is based on your actions and not on your race choice), it remains a bit shallow imo. [*] MOD-tools are not released at this moment (nov 2014). They most probably will in the future though. [/list] Other comments: [list] [*] For new-comers to the game it can be difficult to learn and to master. It is recommended to watch some videos on YouTube if you are new to the Age of Wonder-series. For example: How to play Age of Wonders 3-videos by iHunterKiller. Link: [url=http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhAjLeSwzp3hLPeLqY2p-R7Ubbauwhxpe]http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhAjLeSwzp3hLPeLqY2p-R7Ubbauwhxpe[/url] [*] I cannot comment on Multiplayer as I didn't have much experience on it. [*] At release the AI was in certain situations not very clever. With the patches this has been greatly improved making it a real challenge on higher levels. [/list] Overall I recommend this game to anyone who has an interest in Turn Based Strategy games.