Age of Wonders 3 - Preview Roundup

Here are two more previews of the soon to be released Age of Wonders 3.

Eurogamer

I need to get those things out the way now. I'm quietly optimistic about Age of Wonders 3 and after having spent some lovely evenings amidst its shimmering spires, creaking forests and flitting faeries, I've very much enjoyed myself, but I must make it clear to you that it's a little bit silly.

I suppose all high fantasy is a little bit silly, and the higher it gets, the sillier it becomes. Though I haven't yet found flocks of giant moths, walking castles or a school for wizards, Age of Wonders 3 is the sort of game that has me thinking I still might, and perhaps very soon.

It's full of things. It has all of the things. It has maps resplendent with strange magical decoration, from mysterious ruins to esoteric shrines to glowing magical nodes, sometimes so close together that you stumble out of one and straight into the other. Its strange locales are populated by wisps and trolls and goblin scoundrels. Some of its creatures are beyond bizarre, such as the cherubs that look more like naked aliens, while the leaders it offers you as avatars embody every genre stereotype you'd expect. There's a particularly peculiar opulence to its excess, something that feels closer to Liberace than Tolkien.

Space Sector

One missed opportunity, in my opinion, is that Age of Wonders 3 doesn’t feature any alternate victory conditions. Other than conquering all the enemies, or conquering all the enemies with your allies, you’ve got no other real avenue to ending the game. In addition, I didn’t seem to have access to a spell to reveal the map despite exhausting every single research option in one game. This made tracking down the enemy throne city, which was underground within a vast network of narrow passageways and waterways, a rather tedious task. I’m hoping they add something in to make this process easier, or perhaps provide a way to ask enemies to surrender to you when they are greatly outnumbered. If not, I can see myself exiting games prematurely once victory is a foregone conclusion.