Elemental: War of Magic - MP this week, Reviews

First, Brad Wardell previews Elemental v1.08, which includes multiplayer and they hope to release late this week.

On to a couple of reviews.  Big Download reviewed the pre-release code and yet they still came up with a "must own" verdict:

Elemental is, as we have said, the best game Stardock has made so far. It really is a wonderful title, and despite some incredibly poor design decisions, it stands out in a tired genre. Post-launch support aims to elevate the game beyond the relatively simple status it is at now, and we welcome it with open arms. It's worth noting that this is the first time we've found ourselves sitting on the fence regarding buying or waiting, but in the end, buying wins out. There's plenty of game there for those that get it now, future updates will make it incredible, and the developer could definitely use the support.

IGN, on the other hand, says the game "still feels like a beta" and awarded a score of 6/10:

Sadly, even when the game was working there are some issues with the A.I. that make it pretty frustrating to play against. The A.I. often takes its Sovereign into battle in foreign lands, making it easy to kill – which in turn eliminates the empire from the map. But should the enemy empires be smart enough to avoid this, they'll usually amass amazingly large armies and march on you, even if the victory through conquest option has been disabled. In all the matches I played I never once saw the A.I. try to win by any other way than wiping out the other nations, making it so I had to focus on my military to a point where I could never effectively pursue the other victory conditions.