Age of Wonders 3 Tryout and Review [video]

[Green1]

I realize this genre is not usually this site's usual fare, but I figured I would share my practice in video making and gameplay.

This is part one of a video I made to show off the latest installment of Age of Wonders. Much like Alpha Centauri, the Age of Wonders series is considered a cult classic. Also like Alpha Centauri, various iterations of the game have maintained a rabid fan base for over a decade. Age of Wonders is known for it's Master of Magic style mixture of strategic and tactical combat. The tactical portion of the game has easily always been the strongest points throughout it's history.

Mixed in are RPG elements such as leveling and equipping heroes like the venerable Heroes of Might and Magic series.  Later in the game you can actually forge your own items. The music is also quite good and lends itself perfectly to a high fantasy environment.

Game is made by Dutch indie developer Triumph Studios, who also made the console series Overlord. This late entry in the series was made possible by private financing from Notch, creator of Minecraft. So we have him to thank for a modern update to this classic. Too bad SMAX does not have a Notch type angel investor.

It is available on both Steam and GoG. GoG version is nasty DRM free.

http://youtu.be/Lkjl0gpWdcg

[Buster's Uncle]

[Try Out Age of Wonders 3 patch 1.1] Part 1 Human Warlord

[vv221]

If like me you think AoW 3 is sold at a far too high price today, and you don't have the patience to wait for it to come in "budget" re-edition, you should look for the three previous ones (Age of Wonders, Age of Wonders 2: The Wizard's Throne & Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic).
They cost only a few bucks, and I'm having an insane lot of fun discovering them!

[Green1]

vv221 has a point.

Age of Wonders : Shadow Magic was the last iteration of the series before the current. It is not that bad. It is also CHEAP on GoG.

If you do get it, be sure to install Upatch 1.4 from heaven games. It fixes a lot of bugs and is made by Swolte and team. Those guys are like AoW's Yitzi, Scient, and Kyrub. Exception is that Swolte is an ex-Triumph employee.

The only issue you may have with older versions of AoW is the AI. AIs of AoW and SMAX's age always had issues and were very hard to fix. In Shadow' Magic's case, it is the fact that the AI does not properly use pioneers (settlers) and almost never founds cities. 

[Green1]

Part 2 and 3 are finished, but internet tonight is being flaky and keeps DCing.

[Green1]

Internet continues to disconnect randomly and videos show up corrupted on Youtube's end. I will continue to try to upload, but I have a feeling until I manage to get a day off that is not a weekend or holiday and actually go over to Baton Rouge Cox Cable on Florida blvd to pay off an ancient bill and wire the place I currently live in for it, these issues will continue. Something I probably should have done earlier, but I am a cheap tightwad. Unfortunately my hobbies are now demanding better internet and I must put money where my mouth is.