Being the head of an entire nation isn’t all fun and games, you know. You’ve got to make sure you’ve got enough coinage for the gryphon roost, and at least enough mana coming in to rain poison blades down upon your enemies. And that dungeon over there ain't going to raid itself. Age of Wonders III isn’t your regular empire building strategy game, nor is it just that game with a gleaming coat of fantasy paint. It’s a marriage between overworld strategy and surprisingly deep RPG-like battle tactics, blending into something that might actually resemble what warfare would be like in a mystical realm of dragons and magic. Those without much time to dedicate to ruling a fantasy kingdom may want to turn back, but if you’re willing to put in the effort to understand the systems, you’ll definitely appreciate the depth of Age of Wonders III.
Unfortunately for us co-op enthusiasts, the campaign is entirely single player. The scenarios and random maps, however, can feature up to eight players, any number of which can be humans or AI. You and a friend can face off against six angry computer wizards, or if you’re feeling really mean, you and six other friends can band together and trash one poor, lonely AI.
In case you’ve never played any of the AoW games, let me break it down for you. Age of Wonders III is one of those fancy 4X games (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate), and you’ll be running your empire from a top-down perspective. You’re entirely in charge of your cities' production, exploration, unit management, and what spells you want to research.
You could take a quick glance at a screenshot for Age of Wonders III and think it’s just a Civilization clone wearing a fantasy mask. But, oh, how wrong you would be.
Sure, you have the overworld stuff, unit grouping, and city management to take care of, but what happens when two or more forces clash on the battlefield? Well, you have the option to simply “autoresolve,” where the computer crunches numbers and the victor emerges, while the loser’s army feeds the crows. The other option, however, are the “manual battles.” This is where the magic really happens, and where AoW proves it’s by no means a Civ clone.
Depending on the terrain you are standing on, be it wilderness, road, a gold mine, etc, you and the other humans in game are taken to a visually appropriate battlefield. It is here where the curtain is pulled back to reveal the second game hidden away inside AoW. What you thought was once a simple 4X strategy game harbors a fully fleshed out, and terribly engaging, tactical RPG battle system.
This is by far my favorite part of the entire game. Triumph Studios has given every unit in the game a unique set of stats, skills, and abilities. Everyone, from the lowly irregular units for each race to the powerful tier V units have their own strengths and weaknesses which you will want to exploit whenever given the opportunity. Some units are weak to poison, others to fire, cold, etc. Even the type of terrain you are currently fighting on grants advantages/disadvantages to different units.
Special Hero units, which can level up in combat to gain different abilities and increased stats, can lead your armies into battle. They can also find weapons, armor, and special items in dungeons or the like, which they can utilize in combat. You can find yourself getting attached to unique heroes, and nothing is more devastating when you’ve invested the time to level them into war machines, only for a golden dragon to crush them in a single attack.
The battles themselves play almost like tabletop RPGs. Your units have movement points, various attacks and abilities, and all the great trappings that make pen and paper RPG combat fun. Your leader unit (more on that shortly) has a presence in the fight even if they aren’t physically in it, by casting spells to either help friends or harm enemies. Tactical minds may rule these battles, which can easily turn the tide of an entire campaign. If you kill an enemy hero and they drop their sick Mace of Face Stomping, then it’s finders keepers. Who knows! Maybe that’s the edge your team needed in this entire, brutal war.
You might find yourself asking “So where does the co-op fit in?” Well, what kind of battle would it be if your friends weren’t there to help out? On the overworld map, any armies beside the attacked unit, no matter who, are immediately embroiled into the conflict as well. This counts whether you choose to auto resolve or manual battle. Want to see what your ally’s draconian mystics are capable of? Get in position and launch the offensive. If you’ve played the Total War games cooperatively, you’ll already be familiar with that concept. Assaulting an enemy city by yourself is gratifying, but teaming up massive forces to break the enemy’s Throne City is some of the most fun this game can offer.
Out of the 8 scenarios, “A Mirror Pact” and “Taming of the Great Khan” are the only two promoting co-op play, which is entirely too few. We mainly played on the Randomly generated maps which, aside from having an errant swatch of snow here and there, were pretty consistent in their great quality. Luckily the game offers up multiplayer options in the form of hot seat multiplayer, LAN and online.
Instead of ruling your forces from your magical mead hall, your leader can take to the streets and waste fools themselves. You can choose between a ton of pre-made leaders of different races and classes, but you may also forge your own with insane complexity. The big deals here are their race, which determines your starting city’s ethnicity, and Class, which determines what spells are available to you. A city’s race dictates what units are offered, as it would be unseemly for a High Elven Archer to pop out of an Orcish settlement.
The races feel different in terms of the variety of units, though there are only six total races. That’s kind of a bummer for any previous Age of Wonders fans out there, as Shadow Magic featured 15 different races which still managed to feel unique. The classes (of which there are also six) add an entirely new dynamic to the game, as the spells you’re learning as a Rogue aren’t even close to the ones the Sorcerer is learning. They keep matches fresh, and trying a new race/class combination makes it feel like an entirely new experience each time.
The game is unforgiving. A two hour long slog through a random map might end in an instant as your leader and your Throne City are claimed in a single, poorly-defended turn. You might spend time leveling up a hero, snagging great gear and wrecking your adversaries, only to stumble into an ambush, leaving your hero slain and all of that sweet equipment in the hands of your enemies. It’s rewarding to play smart, and devastating when you err.
Though there is is a learning curve to Age of Wonders III it is genuinely satisfying when you overcome the challenges. Teaming up to destroy a much larger foe, working together to plan out cities and choke points with your ally make it worth the time investment. It’s got some issues, but if you can appreciate the blend of strategic empire building and tactical combat, you’ll get a kick out of this one.