As a long time RTS fan, Age of Wonders was my first foray into TBS games,and it truly was a wonderful discovery. Age of Wonders seamlessly blends a traditional Fantasy Turn Based Strategy with a complex Magic system allowing players to explore strategies that would otherwise be completely impractical. There is nothing as satisfying to teleport a small strike force into your enemies backlands, drawing away his army, only to blitz in and take his strongest position. This fantastical element allows players to be amazingly creative and spontaneous, particularly when playing online against other human players, which keeps the game fresh and tense. With a branching story driven campaign and an endlessly replayable skirmish and multiplayer mode Age of Wonders manages to hold a gamers attention for an astoundingly long time (particularly considering it's measly 157mb size). The AI in both the campaign and skirmish modes can range from polite and accommodating to brutally challenging. The music present in this game is beautiful and does an excellent job of creating the Tolkeinesque atmosphere of the Age of Wonders world. This game has aged beautifully and the sound and graphics, though in many ways more simple than more modern games, can still draw the player into the world of the game; Age of Wonders is no less enthralling in 2011 than in 1999. This game would make an excellent addition to any strategy fan's collection. Age of Wonders is an excellent example of why we as gamers really appreciate GoG, because good games do not stop being good when they get old, they just become Good Old Games.
