Developers from the Dutch company Triumph Studios delighted fans of turn-based strategies by announcing the release of Age of Wonders 4. They even released a video of the gameplay so that players could understand how the project differs from previous parts. The game already looks impressive, but it contains mechanics that could put an end to its future – and that’s scary.
Age of Wonders is a legendary series of turn-based strategies in a fantasy setting. This is a cruel world where numerous races fight for their survival. It is darker than Heroes of Might and Magic, but still does not reach Disciples.
Compared to other turn-based strategies, Age of Wonders stands out due to the elaboration of all game elements:
- The assault on the fortifications is a whole event. The player can break the gate to go straight through, or launch a saboteur who can climb walls. It is possible to smoke out the enemy and smash him in an open field. Over time, ordinary soldiers learned to climb the walls, but the siege and defense did not become any more boring.
- Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of fighters allows you to gain the upper hand even in the most difficult battles. You will have to keep in mind the characteristics of all units, their skills and resistance, and take into account the location of the units on the map – if there are allies near the enemy, they will come to the rescue.
- A variety of magic – both in battle and on the global map: summoning creatures; making life easier and more difficult for the enemy; laying new roads. The only limitation is imagination.
- A flexible leveling system allows you to create a hero to your liking. A high-level hero is an indestructible machine of destruction that strikes enemies with magic, arrows or a sword.
- Improving relations with other races and forming alliances is an important aspect of Age of Wonders. The player is free to destroy other people’s cities and resettle the inhabitants – then the affected race will become the worst enemy, and the soldiers of this race will not want to serve in the player’s army.
- The size of the army depends on the economy – just like in life. Soldiers and summoned creatures require gold and mana for their service, respectively. If you have no money, you will lose your army.
The games take place in the world of Atlas. It all starts with bloody events: people slaughter the elves and seize their territories. But the further the plot goes, the more epic the events become. In comparison, the conflicts between individual races seem insignificant.
The design of fantasy creatures and their descriptions give the game a special charm – sometimes you get engrossed in reading it and don’t notice how time is passing. And the music is top notch – it perfectly complements what’s happening. And Age of Wonders 3 will delight you with the voice acting of the heroes at a phenomenal level.
New mechanics
There was a lot of interesting things at the announcement stream, where Age of Wonders 4 was presented and its gameplay was shown. Based on what was shown, we can draw the first conclusions about the game:
- The great Wizard Kings, who featured heavily in Age of Wonders 2, are back with worlds to invade and conquer. Moreover, the world can be created according to your own taste.
- There are ready-made races, but you can create a new one from scratch. During creation, basic parameters are set, and development depends on the method of passage – choices affect the appearance and characteristics of the race.
- The player will be allowed to choose their preferred type of magic and customize their leader. At the beginning, you will be offered a low-level magic volume with a small set of spells. It will become the basis of the magic used.
- An editor has been prepared for the wizard king, where you can set any appearance – of course, within the framework of the created race and species.
- During the passage, players will encounter random events – as in other global strategies. The occurrence of events will depend on the style of play. If you play the bad guy, get ready for the consequences and the hatred of others! Do you like to be good? The game will react to this too!
- Age of Wonders 4 looks beautiful – bright, full of detail and animated objects.
No matter how skeptical I am, nothing shown causes rejection. The project looks well thought out – as it should be.
The past announcement presentation leaves a positive impression of the game. But the mechanics of “sculpting” races raises concerns for the future of the game.
Races have already undergone changes in the Age of Wonders games. The high elves were divided into dark and forest elves and united back, the dragons became humanoids, which gave them the opportunity to create cities. Age of Wonders 3 even added classes: technocrat, archdruid, sorcerer and others, which significantly influenced the gameplay. Thanks to them, such offspring as orc-succubi and goblin-angels appeared.
Races were also changed with the help of higher magic. For example, frostlings already existed in the original Age of Wonders – these ice imperialists were created from ordinary goblins. But the races still had a foundation. They had a worldview, strengths and weaknesses. This shaped the perception towards them, made us hate them or empathize with them. If we are allowed to mold races according to the wishes of the left heel, then it will be more difficult to worry about them.
The past announcement presentation leaves a positive impression of the game. But the mechanics of “sculpting” races raises concerns for the future of the game.
Races have already undergone changes in the Age of Wonders games. The high elves were divided into dark and forest elves and united back, the dragons became humanoids, which gave them the opportunity to create cities. Age of Wonders 3 even added classes: technocrat, archdruid, sorcerer and others, which significantly influenced the gameplay. Thanks to them, such offspring as orc-succubi and goblin-angels appeared.
Races were also changed with the help of higher magic. For example, frostlings already existed in the original Age of Wonders – these ice imperialists were created from ordinary goblins. But the races still had a foundation. They had a worldview, strengths and weaknesses. This shaped the perception towards them, made us hate them or empathize with them. If we are allowed to mold races according to the wishes of the left heel, then it will be more difficult to worry about them.
In addition, the mechanics of race evolution are highly developed. At the presentation we were shown that all changes are reflected on the creatures and their animated avatars. But did the developers have enough strength and attention to work with established races? Will they also be fun to play in story campaigns? The story of the world has always been Age of Wonders’ strong point. And it will be bad if this element is worse than in previous parts of the series.
New worlds also raise suspicions. Will they make the game too massive? Will there be anything worthy among such diversity? Or will it turn out to be a mishmash of ideas and mechanics? Disciples: Liberation is a perfect example when they tried to make the universe bigger and more epic, but because of this it only got worse!
The publisher also came under the spotlight of doubt. They are still waiting for news from Paradox Interactive about Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. And their habit of dividing the game into DLC will introduce races, worlds and even story campaigns for a separate fee – players with standard editions will be left out of work.
Analysis
Age of Wonders 4 is an ambitious project. Players are offered not only to immerse themselves in the universe of a fantasy game, but also to customize it for themselves. If everything works out, then players will get another interesting and atmospheric game. And the well-developed editor of races and worlds will make you play it again and again. Otherwise it will be a Paradox fantasy sandbox with a ton of DLC and wasted potential – a shell with the name of a great series.