PC

Shadow Magic is my first introduction to the “Age of Wonders” series, but if this title is anything to go buy I might have to seek the previous games out. I’m a huge fan of the “Civilisation” series of games, and AoWSM is quite similar in some ways, yet adds a role-playing element that makes it similar to Warcraft 3. Either way, it’s a damn addictive game. The game won’t appeal to those who like their games to be quick, but for those of us who are lucky enough to have a lot of time on our hands, this game will let you while away the hours gathering resources, building cities, and create armies to wipe out the opposition.

The Campaign explains that Merlin, head of the Wizards, is trapped on an alternative plane of existence, and you have to battle what are known as the Shadow Demons to save him and your planet. But not only is there the Demons to contend with, there’s Phobias, the Human Emperor who blames the Wizards, elves, dwarves, and other races for bringing the Shadow Demons into the world. The Single player campaign starts off with a simple 3 part tutorial that introduces you to the game mechanics, and teaches you how to move, construct cities and units, how to capture other cites and so forth. It will all be quite familiar to those who have played other Real Time Strategy games. The main aspect of the game is typical resource gathering – in this case it’s gold for your cities and armies, and mana for your magic.

There are 3 planes of fighting: the Land, Underground and the Shadow World. There are races better suited to fighting in each area, but what is really cool is there can be cities in all three of these planes. This makes the game much more tactical than other RTS games: Is it a matter of taking over one plane, and moving onto the next, or establish bases in each of the planes and attack from each?

The magic part is what makes this game really interesting. In each city, you have the option to make Wizard Towers, which amplify the wizards power and allow you to cast spells over the land. These can range from those that heal your armies, hide your cities, and hinder enemy movement. There are also Heroes, who rise in level and power as the game progresses, and as long as there is one city with a Wizard Tower under your control, you can cast spells whenever your hero goes into battle. When you go into battle, either against a city or against an army in the fields, the screen zooms in, and you get to control your units, directing them to attack and casting spells to devastating effect.

There are a few problems with this game. The graphics freak out where there are too many units moving on screen, particularly those with flapping wings. Whilst there is a zoom mode, the graphics do not scale well, unlike in Warcraft, and look bitty and fuzzy when you zoom in. Battles take far too long, and whilst there is the option of doing a “quick battle”, that often leaves the attacker at the mercy of the AI. Whilst the AI is not totally mindless, it is rather predictable and you can learn it’s patterns and defend yourself better against it.

Those faults do not make the game unplayable though. In fact, I had to drag myself away from the game to write this review. The gameplay is addictive and the story is quite enthralling. I’ve been playing nearly two weeks straight, and am only up to the third campaign, there’s meant to be five, plus there’s a whole host of single scenarios, plus a random map generator. Already there is enough to keep most gamers happy, but add to this the multiplayer aspect, then you have a lasting and fun game that’s well worth the money.