Review: Age of Wonders II - The Wizard's Throne

Discussion in 'Games' started by lung, Jan 8, 2004.

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    Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne
    Genre: Turn-based Strategy

    Chances are that most people in this part of the world have not even heard of the first instalment of this game. However, the original Age of Wonders turned out to be such a terrific game that it even churned out an expansion and now, a sequel. In fact, the series have had such great successes over in the United States and Europe that a stand-alone expansion for The Wizard's Throne has also been made available on the shelves recently.

    For those uninitiated, the original Age of Wonders is a turn-based strategy game that plays similar to the highly successful New World Computing's Heroes of Might and Magic series. However, Age of Wonders plays a bit differently, and what draws me to the game is that it tends to play more like a clone of the retro hit game, Microprose's Master of Magic. Unfortunately, fans of Master of Magic like myself will find this second instalment a bit disappointing, as it now plays and feels just like any other regular clones of the Heroes of Might and Magic series out there. Well, maybe this is what the developers had in mind all along...

    If it works, do not fix it

    Keeping to the tradition of the Age of Wonders series, this second instalment is set in a fantasy themed world, and the gameplay is turn-based. In each of the scenario played, you are given a hero unit, in which you can use to explore the surrounding area, cast spells, recruit armies, conquer towns, and so forth. Although you can still use your regular army to do most of these stuffs, having a hero to lead them can give them a huge tactical advantage. Other than the hero unit and your army, which can consist of several unit types, in most scenarios you will also be given a town or two in which you can train more units or build structures to improve the town(s). An improved town can build more unit types, and also can provide more resources for your perusal.

    In most scenarios, your goal will be to build a powerful army and to take over all the enemy towns, subsequently defeating the enemy wizard. When your army meets an enemy army, the game will switch to a tactical combat mode, where you must now command all your units, including your hero, individually. Most of your units have some pretty impressive special abilities, ranging from simple ranged arrow attacks to powerful magical blasts. If you want to save some time and spend more on the map instead of combat, you can always opt for an automatic 'quick-resolve' option, in which the computer will just skip the tactical combat mode and gives you a quick result of who won and who lost (and which units perished in the battle). Of course, then you will miss half the fun the game has to offer.

    So what is new in The Wizard's Throne? Well, first of all, the graphics. Like most sequels, the graphics in this second instalment is a vast improvement over the original. Despite being on an isometric map like most turn-based strategy games, the landscapes are much more colourful, the units are more detailed, and... You get the idea. Other than the graphics, The Wizard's Throne is also now much more complex, with more spells to cast, more unit types to train (and to kill), and more building types to build. Beginners will probably find themselves overwhelmed by the vast scope of the game, although this may imply to some seasoned veterans as well.

    Merlin the Wizard

    The story in The Wizard's Throne basically has nothing much to do with its predecessor. It begins with a young adventurer, named Merlin, who somehow almost drowned but was timely rescued by an aged and powerful wizard by the name of Gabriel. As fate would have it, it turns out that Gabriel is the leader of the Wizard's Throne, a circle of elite spell casters. This circle, however, is deeply troubled by some internal conflicts. Sensing potential in the young Merlin, Gabriel decides to groom him to become his successor. Thus begins Merlin's adventure - Your adventure. In the process of 'training' him, Merlin was sent to numerous different lands, for one reason and another. Of course, everything is not as simple as it seems...

    In The Wizard's Throne, magic is basically divided into six different spheres (or categories), namely - Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Life, and Death. Each sphere has a playable race tied to it, and this means the units as well. Each mission, about around twenty of them in all, also has a particular sphere 'theme' tied to it. Basically, at the end of the game, Merlin would have become a master of all the magic spheres and ready to assume command of the Wizard's Throne.

    Explore, build, attack, explore...

    In all of the scenarios, you will assume command of Merlin, as your wizard and primary hero unit. Usually, a town will be found near your starting location and you will assume control of it, either by peace or by conquest. Then, you will place Merlin there, for the rest of the scenario. Why? Because this is another concept which is newly introduced by The Wizard's Throne, where if you place your wizard in a town that contains a wizard's tower (most starting towns have a wizard's tower in place already without needing you to build it), there are several benefits, for example, somehow the town's production will be greatly increased. After 'securing' your wizard, you will then proceed to train your army, and in most cases, you will also use the 'summon hero' spell to get yourself another hero, since now your wizard is not going to be moving anywhere.

    While doing all these, you will also need to research some new spells. Research is done automatically each turn - Just assign a new spell to research, pass a specific number of turns, and you will get your new spell. The more powerful the spell is, the more turn it will take to complete the research. Of course, you can always reduce the number of turns it takes by increasing the research amount, but doing so will also reduce your mana output each turn as well.

    On the exploration front, like Heroes of Might and Magic, there are several items on the map for you to find. There are random monsters, in which you can kill for some experience to level up your hero, and there are also ruins, where you can find weapons and armour for your hero. Of course, like all strategy games, there are also the typical resource buildings to claim, like gold mines and mana nodes.

    The insignificant other

    At certain points in the game, you may be given some mini sub-quests in the game, where you will be required to perform a certain task, like defeating a horde of monsters, or building a specific structure in a town, for example. These sub-quests' appearance seems to be totally random, and the rewards for completing them are usually some items of great power for your hero to equip, resources, or some new spells. There appears to be no bad side effects for failing a sub-quest, however.

    Also to note is that there is even a diplomacy system in the game, although in most scenario, computer players already have a behaviour script to follow, thus making the diplomacy system a bit useless. Nonetheless, once you encounter an enemy wizard, you can choose to offer a peace treaty, declare a war on him, or trade resources, for instance. All these can be performed through a diplomatic menu that can be found in the interface bar.

    Speaking of which, it seems that the interface design does not fare as well as the rest of the game. There are a lot of things that can be conveyed to the player, and the interface bar at the bottom of the screen does not seem to be able to translate all of these information to the player very well. There are a whole lot of buttons in the interface bar that you can click, which is supposed to relay different bits of data, but in fact, one can say that they are a bit... Disorganised.

    Other than the interface bar, one annoying fact is that there is also no way to cancel a move order once you have issued them. Although you have to click twice in order to actually move your unit, clicking once will outline a trail in which the unit will take to perform the move. This trail, although harmless, is quite an irritating sore for the eyes.

    This & that

    As a whole, The Wizard's Throne looks pretty appetising to the eyes. The graphics do not look too dated for a turn-based strategy game, and the hand-painted artworks of the heroes' portraits are very good. For cutscenes, like most other games, The Wizard's Throne uses 3D rendered graphics. You may them very similar to those of the Heroes of Might & Magic series, and at times may even wonder if they come from the developer. Well, to answer your question, they are NOT from the same developer.

    In terms of sound, there is nothing worth shouting out about. The game features the usual sound effects of horses' footsteps, swords' clashing... Nothing extraordinary. There is also not much variety in all the sound effects - Most sound effects are used repeatedly. The soundtrack is mediocre, with ambient music when you are in the world map view, which becomes fast paced when you are switched to the tactical combat view.

    Conclusion

    If you are a fan of turn-based strategy games like the Heroes of Might and Magic series, you will probably find this game very tempting. With huge maps and tonnes of things to explore, expect to spend a lot of time playing it. Although some people may find this game inferior to the Heroes of Might and Magic series, it is still a good game to play nonetheless to escape from all those action games that are currently crowding the PC market these days.

    Rating
    Gameplay: 3 / 5 stars
    Graphics: 3.5 / 5 stars
    Sound: 2 / 5 stars
    Overall: 3 / 5 stars

    The Good :thumb:
    Large maps with an almost infinite amount of items to explore. Packs a lot of gameplay time.

    The Bad :snooty:
    Most scenarios tend to be the same, with only minor variations. Also no random map generator for those who hunger for more.

    The Ugly :wall:
    No ugly complains. A warning, though - Game may be too time consuming and boring for some, especially those who are accustomed to fast-paced action games.

    *Note: All screenshots are taken from the official website.
     

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