Age of Wonders 3

I do not own the game myself. But though gog team says that offline issues are solved, you CAN NOT PLAY OFFLINE LAN. you need to connect to the triumph studio server with registration for matchmaking. I suggest this should be marked heavily on the game buy page to avoid bad reviews later because of this.

This game is not DRM free. The strategic elements of the game are excellent but the whole thing falls down in the tactical arena. All the basics are there, good graphics, polish, voice but it's just too hard to bother finishing a game because of the actual mechanics and the lack of anything fresh. One of the core problems is the Strategic AI sucks so badly they have made the tactical battle much harder if you wait too much so a rush is the only boring way to win. Definitely not a game for turtles.

I know it says DRM-Free, I know abotu guest mode, but hear my out. The game doesn't allow normal LAN. If you want to play LAN, you need to go online and authenticate your game. So, I need to go online to set up a LAN game, and even then, the CD-key is locked as "in use". So if you have 4 people who all want to play on a LAN, you'll need to buy four copies of this game, as well as all go online. Online Authentication is a from of DRM, and I'm disappointted in this games developers... Guess I'm not buying the DLC now. ...For those wondering though, yes the game itself is quite fun, I love the custimization, unit variety, and feeling of Masters of Magic meets HoMM. But, much like Diablo 3, I'm pretty stuck on my inability to play LAN should the internet go out, and/or being demanded to buy multiple copies of the game. You do get hotseat though, it just takes forever to play compared to simultanious turns on LAN, which is restricted to online play only...

I adored the first and second Age of Wonders. The graphics are colorful, the music is great, the artwork of all of the characters looks perfect, and the stories drive you forward. The scenarios are challenging, and with your Heroes of Might and Magic experience, feel just that more rewarding when playing and completing them. But Age of Wonders 3 is a huge letdown for me. I expected more of the same, but within minutes of starting up the game, I realized this was not to be the case. The graphics are downright ugly when compared with its predecessors. Characters lack personality and look bland. Not once during a single game did I feel in control or felt it that what I was doing had impact. I was thoroughly confused. I played around 10 hours, and then decided to leave the single player mode alone for awhile. In multiplayer, me and my friends quickly felt like playing the older games again, which we did after a few hours of trying AoW3. I'm not sure why they decided to go for a totally different look. The drawings and paintings were so much better in conveying the feel of a fantasy setting than the 3d polygon models they used for this game. The worlds all look bleak and are generally uninviting. The only positive experience I got from AoW3 was that I wanted to boot up the old games and lose myself again in the wonderful world before this third disappointment.

Love this game, I wish AoW4 was more like this.