Posted on: November 4, 2010
Boaan
Jeux: 369 Avis: 4
Lasting fun and appeal
This game has stolen more time from me than I care to share. I don't know exactly what makes it so addicting, especially if you plan out long hot-seat sessions with friends, but I can try and explain in my own words: Firstly, it has a greatly refreshing formula compared to other turn-based strategy games out there. The fact that it relies heavily on your wizard which, if lost, means game over, while the wizard, in turn, compliments the dispatched units across the playing field really struck me as awesome. Your wizard can learn spells that can be cast within your range of influence that expands if your wizard is located in a city with specific buildings built, and skills that benefit your overall economy or army. Before every skirmish round you can customize your wizard to specialize in specific areas, this determining what types of spells you can research and subsequently use, along with race/faction, power alignment, etc. Aside from your wizard, you get the chance to employ various heroes to lead your army. Each army unit can only be comprised of a maximum of 8 individual units. The hero is no exception, but you always want to have a hero in your pack whenever possible as they provide their own area of influence (provided your wizard is in that city with the special building I mentioned previously). The great thing about this game is how it handles positioning in battles. Since the grid is hexagonal you can surround and enemy unit with six of your own. When one of them attacks or if one is attacked all the surrounding units (provided they're withing one hexagon range) get dragged in the battle. It can end up providing such strategic options you're never gonna have a boring game. Two new races are added to the ones that were kept from the previous games, making this installment feel like a steal. They're all very diverse, very fun to play in their own unique way and best of all, it can take a while to discover all they have to offer which provides a great incentive to keep on trying the same race until you've squeezed all there is out of it. The campaign itself is lighthearted in dialogue, serious in events but very engaging altogether. You'll find yourself wasting just as much time here as you will in multiplayer skirmishes or custom maps. I don't want to spoil anything but the intro will provide a good sense of what the campaign focuses on. The visuals and audio, in my opinion, should be tackled together. They compliment each other so well it immerses you completely the second you start a game. Some unit sounds can get on your nerve every now and then but I've always looked at them as good comic relief and frequently would taunt my hot-seat friends with them. Good fun. The levels themselves are all full of detail, never bothering the eye with blandness or repetitive tiles. Spell effects are also impressive and add a sort of dreamy fantasy feel to it all. This is where the sound really compliments as not only are spells recognizable based on sound, they also accentuate the feeling of power they have. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone that wants a slightly more refreshing twist on the turn-based strategy genre. While it may seem complex at first, it's really easy to get into even without having played previous installments or other staple games of the genre.
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