The Age of Wonder Bread. Review

The Age of Wonder Bread.

There is no zergling rush. There is no undead assault. There are no frantic moments tying your fingers in knots trying to remember your unit and map location hotkeys. Best of all, you can get up to go make a sandwich whenever you want.

These are turn-based strategy games, and I think new ones arrive so infrequently because developers know their fans are by nature a patient bunch. Should I attack that city first, or go capture another gold mine? Hrm…. I’m going to think about that while I make a turkey on rye.

But

even I, with a capacity for patience that would embarrass a Zen monk, have been

getting antsy waiting for a new good turn-based strategy game. The astonishingly

bad Empire of Magic, which I was recently

forced to play, did absolutely nothing to slake my hunger. So while Age

of Wonders: Shadow Magic is not an entirely new game, I’ve been enjoying

it more than I thought I would.

I should point out that Shadow Magic is not an expansion

pack and works without Age of Wonders II: The

Wizards Throne. This is great because new, hungry players can get started

right away, but it also means that it comes with the slightly higher full game

pricetag of $40, which will cut into some people’s sandwich money.

The story picks up right after the events of Age of Wonders II.

The realm, united under the magical power of the wizard Merlin, comes under

attack by mysterious demons from the unknown and dangerous Shadow Realm. Merlin

himself is trapped in the Shadow Realm, and the human population blames the

wizards for their current plight, turning their hatred against all things magic.

As a practitioner of magic yourself, you’ll need every trick in your spellbook

just to survive, not to mention helping the imprisoned Merlin save the world.

Although I had only a lukewarm feeling for Age of Wonders II,

I was more prepared for Shadow Magic. I knew right away, for

example, to turn off the very poorly designed auto-move feature in the Options

menu. I also had some familiarity with the complicated interface and the strategies

of combat. But even if you’re not as well-equipped, the excellent new tutorial

missions will bring you up to speed with little pain. For players new to AoW,

this game is actually a better starting point than its predecessor

because of the great training element.

From here on out, though, the game feels more like a thorough expansion pack

than anything else. New videos and voiceovers flesh out the continuing story,

but the in-game graphics are identical to those in AoW II.

Like before, the highly detailed and well-animated sprites look good from a

distance yet suffer when you zoom in close. There are some new map objects and

the spooky Shadow realm, but for the most part, the game looks exactly the same

as before, just like all the sandwiches

at Subway.

The audio is also ported over from the first game. The soundtrack is mostly

the same – a decent score, but eventually it wears thin. The sound effects,

which could have used some upgrading, haven’t been upgraded. A little extra

effort and maybe some spicy mustard would have really helped out.

The

gameplay is absolutely identical (noticing a pattern here?), with your armies

moving around and capturing the all-important cities, while your wizard stays

back in his tower, flinging spells about the map. It works fine and those new

to the series won’t really notice that it hasn’t changed much. Still, there

is a fair bit of new stuff, including plenty of new spells, a new unit for each

race, new dwarven siege units to help you tear down walls and three new races

you can fight or control.

Two of the new races are native to the Shadow Realm and have some interesting new abilities. However, most importantly, they do not suffer from the debilitating shadow sickness while traveling or fighting through the Shadow Realm. The other new race, the Nomads, have the unique ability to pick up their cities and move them elsewhere, adding new quirks to the multiplayer game strategy.

While the multiplayer game hasn’t changed at all, Age of Wonders

continues to serve up super-sized portions with fries on the side. The lengthy

single-player campaign will take you through 16 long levels, some of which might

take you more than a full day to complete (depending on how well your fridge

is stocked with luncheon meats and bread). Now add to that a dozen stand alone

scenarios, a smart random map generator and the full AoW toolset,

which lets you edit everything from maps to items to units, guaranteeing more

downloadable fan content than you can imagine. You’re definitely going to have

to make a run to the deli.

Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic is like an unexpectedly good

BLT. It’s based a little too heavily on Heroes

of Might and Magic, making you long for the days of the Armageddon

Blade, but with some nice crisp bacon and cool fresh lettuce, it still makes

for a satisfying sandwich. Even though Shadow Magic is a sequel,

it’s the better starting point for the AoW beginner, although

current AoW addicts should rightfully feel a little cheated

by the full game price.

But for the time being, Shadow Magic has satisfied my hunger.

I will enjoy chewing through all the scenarios until a more robust Reuben or

other serious tummy-busting sandwich shows up. Any developers out there want

to answer my prayers for Incubation 2, or maybe another X-Com

game? Go for it, but hold the mayo.