Age of Wonders 3 Deluxe Edition

AoW3 has been said to be the spiritual successor to Master of Magic and I've got to say that that's pretty much spot-on. The game is very sleek and stream lined to avoid too much micromanagement. Also, all the math is kept simple and easy to understand. But too be fair it also has some faults as well. Here's my pros and cons list. Pros: -You leader is also a combat unit, which adds a lot to the experience. -Very sleek and streamlined. -Significant and clear choices. -Lots of things to do on the map like quests and clearing out dungeons. -Tactical combat is fun and rewarding with just the right amount of challenge. -Ability to skip tactical combat with a single button so you don't need to waste time on given victories. Cons: -Enemy movement is updated while you look around the map which often has an effect that you can't predict. And it's not just showing you what had happened. Like if you see an enemy move onto a tile, but then reload and move to the tile before the system can move the enemy, you will in fact beat them to the spot. That's just sloppy design for a TBS. -Aesthetics make it difficult at times to assess the map. -The GUI could use some better design. I must have clicked end turn rather than spells at least 10 times in one play through. -The end game turns into a real slog where you're just clearing out the remaining 80% of the map when your victory is already a given. -End game units lack variety. Every race and every leader ends up with one clearly superior unit that is cheap and easy to make. Manticore. Manticore. Manticore. At the end of the game just set all cities to churn out manticores and march them across the map. -Not a lot of choices when making a leader. You pick a class, a race, and get 3 perks. But the perks are absolutely bare minimal. You can pick from 6 magics and 2 non magic perks (one of which is completely a useless).

Starts out exciting and enjoyable enough. However after about 50 or so turns it devolves into more of a chore than a game. It's basically a newer version of Master of Magic, but it's lacking something I can't quite put my finger on. If its on sale and you want to play a newer MoM clone, then go for it. Just be prepared for your enthusiasm to peter out about mid-game.

If you want some nice time well, that ereases your free time, look no further. As a fan of previous instalements I launched this game at like 9 in the morning, just to make some turns, see what changed, and trivial stuff like this. In a blink of an eye, it was 6pm, and I was trampling wild fauna under my rolling engines of war (Juggernauts, forever and ever) making red pulp of my enemies with my mortars, laughing to the cacophony of grinding gears. The game plays fairly quick, with strong "one more turn" factor and random map events only make this more enjoyable. Now for a thing that may bother some people, but for me it's in plus - there are no huge wizard towers, and player is kind of hero, the same that will ask you for your gold in exchange for their servitude. Plus they have made completely "techy" class, which is instalike for me. Long story short: for me, this game is absolute top. Buy it, play it, wonder why the hour is this late. And then rinse and repeat.

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.

After a year of playing this game... I can still say it is amazing and I love it. the Devs are awesome. Patching + new content (2 expansions) which are great. To me it is the best 4x strategy game nowadays. - Great gameplay - Love the graphics (combat graphics could be more detailed and it have some UI issues, but thats fine) - love the fact its briefly inspired by Lyonesse trilogy (Suldrun's garden) - hundreds of hours of gameplay (pretty scenarios are hardcore) - Great soundtrack - I don't care about that DRM...its basically pointless how they've done it. You have to play online either way so they should get rid of it now. Some people will say Endless legend is better... I didnt like that one much. Mostly because I dont like those overdesigned graphics and UI, which looks uber cool on screenshots, but in the game It distracted me often (basicaly graphics in style of intro credits from GOT). Both games are probably great, but I like AOW3 more.