Age Of Wonders III is a much anticipated sequel to a ten year old game. The game will set players into the role of a political military leader and they must overcome an age old conflict. With a release coming very soon, we got a chance to go hands-on with the first hour or so of the game.
Players will have a few various options as far as game modes but for this we took a dive into the Campaign mode, specifically the Elven perspective of the story. This campaign serves as a nice tutorial for newcomers or those who are in need of a refresher. Players take control of Sundren, the princess of the High Elves as she looks to take back her land. Soon trouble befalls her and she is thrown into a battle for survival. Unlike most strategy titles, the game strategically mixes story and adventure within this well-crafted fantasy world.
That is not to say there isn’t your basic strategy game aspects that fans of the genre/series will be familiar with, you have your cities, your random encampment settled by thugs or grunts of the game and then there’s the upgrade system. The difference with this compared to other strategy builders is that you are able to constantly upgrade without really mining for resources at all. You come across resources like gold and other aspects but mostly gold is used and the bigger your city the more gold it produces. As it continues to grow it also expands on it’s own.
After some progress during my time with Sundren, I meet a Draconic fellow who decides to help me on my quest to avenge my brother and reclaim my kingdom. So I spend the next 20 or so turns building my two cities and my military as I explore the fast and very detailed map. Soon I find that the enemy has been trying to flank me via a cave. After taking out the sneak attack group, I go to the cave and realize that there is an underground system. I was surprised to see a dual layered world to explore and it was rather cool, complete with a teleportation portal. After more progression around the map and building of my military, I started my conquering of surrounding random villages and enemies which culminated in a fortified city that required a lot of my resources to take down.
Once occupying a new town or city, you have the option to absorb it into your empire or other nefarious options. It is all the more resourceful to absorb it. By doing so you have the opportunity to have a varied army of humans, fairies, elves and goblin military units, each with their own attributes. Combat is even unique in Age Of Wonders III, by allowing the choice of a manual turn based style or the classic auto-battle which calculates HP, units and power of your army versus the enemy. It’s great for those who want to quickly go through most of the battling. There are also unique spells that can be used against units or entire towns/cities as you invade them as you level up. The game has a solid feel of an RPG deep down with a progressive leveling system for main characters, as well as attribute points and special skill allotment as you continue in the game.
That is my experience of a little over an hour with Age Of Wonders III. It has all the missing elements in many strategy titles but gives even more with a deep story and action oriented combat. The RPG elements really allow for some unique gameplay that really sets it apart in the genre. It looks like it is shaping up to be the game fans want and newcomers can really get into and enjoy.
