I missed Alpha Centauri when it was originally released but was and still am a HUGE fan of Civilization (well I don't care for 5, but maybe it will grow on me.) Anyway I dl'ed this game last night and...WOW. Why hasn't this game been getting the same love and upgrades that Civ has? Its absolutely phenomenal. I was initially worried about the "storyline" in my sandbox 4x game, but it was done so well that it enhanced the game rather than distracting from it, I was also really impressed and pleased with the way units could be customized, although to be fair many times the relentless upgrading got to be tedious as I tried to keep my production options screen tidy. The factions had great differences and advantages/disadvantages. Also the "atrocity" mechanic is simply superb, although I've found that regardless of adopting Democracy I'm at heart a neural stapling, planet buster missle using, nerve gas emploiying tyrant when I get irritated. Any way, This game is absolutely top shelf and a classic and I'm mystified why it hasn't been carried forward like Civ because with a modern UI and perhaps a few graphical upgrades they'd have another bestseller on their hands. Bottom line: Buy THIS and cheerfully toss your social life in the toilet and flush.
I initially wasn't going to review this title, in fact, due to the comments made in the AOW forums I had low expectations for it. Everyone cited Shadow Magic and the original Age of Wonders as leaps and bounds above this one. Well, personally I found the first AOW to be fairly irritating. Mostly my own fault since I played Shadow Magic first, but the interface in AOW and the frustration of not being able to do all the things you can in II and III just caused me to fly back to Shadow Magic and then try II. AOW II IMHO could be the best of the series. Don't get me wrong, I like Shadow Magic quite a bit and realistically they are almost the same game, but the presentation here in II just gels better for me. I switch back and forth between II and III, but I find myself more and more choosing II because quite simply I have more fun. I can't be certain, but I believe the AI seems a little more vicious and cunning in II. Also, though many people bemoan the campaign in II it seems alright to me. True, the intros are short and give you little more than the basics of who's who and why you need to kill them, but it does seem to advance the story of reuniting the Council on Gabriel's behalf and I'm always eager to see what new I can learn about what happened and why. If you are only going to get ONE AOW, then I'd say go with this one, but Shadow magic is a close second and offers more raves and a slightly streamlined interface. The first AOW seems ...okay and I'll eventually play through it I'm sure, in fact on its own w/o comparison I'd probably be singing its praises. But, IMHO, if you don't have nostalgia specs on it falls very short of its two sequels
