Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic is the new installment in the Age of Wonders series.  Age of Wonders is a turn-based strategy, RPG, world-building game set in the Fantasy realm of Merlin, Queen Julia and Wizards.

Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic contains several new additions to the long-running series. Shadow Magic includes three new races: Nomads, the ancient Syrons, and Shadow Demons. Also included is a brand new Shadow Magic campaign, a Random Map Generator (for always having a campaign to try out), new spells & skills and an Item Forge which allows you to create your own custom Magic items. Another new addition included in Shadow Magic is New Racial Structures, such as buildings unique to a specific race such as Humans or Elves. The game also includes redesigned and balanced units, features and spells. Two very impressive features are the ability to have a custom portrait for your character and a campaign editor. The campaign editor allows you to build your own campaigns/missions or download other campaigns from the internet.

The basic premise of Age of Wonders has you playing the role of a Wizard Symon who has been selected to help Merlin and Queen Julia in their quests. Or if you choose you can also fight with the side of darkness as well. With you controlling Symon you will battle other creatures and most importantly other Wizards. Each wizard must have control of a Wizard Tower to view their land and cast spells. The Tower is very important because your wizard will spend most of his time in the tower. Symon does not gain any experience points from any battles.  You need to spend your time in the Tower researching new spells to increase your wizard’s strength. The more spells you learn, the stronger your wizard will become. This plays a crucial part of the game when you send your army into a battle.

Since the game is a combination of a Strategy/RPG/World Building, the game has a heavy emphasis on combat. Your wizard is in control of an army to vanquish other wizards, creatures and shadow monsters. Similar to other turn-based strategy games you click on your army or unit, and move them to another location on the board (grid). Once you moved your units, the computer will then move their units to another position on the screen. Depending on the characters you have in your party, you might be able to attack the enemy from remote location. Characters such as a Crossbow Man or Archers have the capability to attack the enemy with direct contact. While your other units, such as your Infantry, will engage the enemy up close and personal.   

The strategy during combat is to make sure you place your units in a location that can either trick the enemy or gives you the upper hand. Maybe you do this by waiting for the enemy to attack you directly, then unleashing a powerful magic attack. Or you position your archers on high ground and take out your enemies key units.  The possibilities are endless here in Age of Wonders.  The drawback to strategy games can be how long the battles can take.  The enemy might be tough and he’s holding back until you attack.  With Shadow Magic you have the option for either Manual Combat or Quick Battle. Manual Combat allows you to control every aspect of your army while they do battle with the enemy. Quick Battle gives you the results of the encounter, who won or lost. This is a great time saver for everyone.

The strategy portion of the game plays a huge role in how the game works, but the RPG and World Building section play just as big of a part. With the RPG section you can increase the levels of the different members of your army. The member of your army that places the finishing blow receives experience points.  Just like an RPG, your players can go up a level. But you have to use strategy to make sure everyone in your party has the opportunity to get experience. So this might be moving a more experienced character away from the battle, while a lower-level character finishes off the enemies. Also while exploring the game, you can find items that your characters can equipment and/or use.  The higher level the characters become, the easier the battles can become. It isn’t fun sending low-level troops into a large-scale battle.

The World Building section allows you to control how the growth of the different cities you control. Since your wizard is should always be bound to a tower, you need to cultivate the citizen of the tower. Making sure the citizens are happy will increase morale, which can increase gold production, which will allow you to purchase additional troops. The game allows you to control a large variety of different assets of the city. For example, you can fortify the city from attackers by building a wooden wall, or brick walls. If you want you can either build a library for the citizens or build a new boat to transport your army. You can also loot the citizens to obtain more gold, or allow them to sell more merchandise to raise more gold. You could never fight a single battle in the game and yet still spend hours building up your cities.

With all of the good traits mentioned above, the game does have some problems. The camera angle in the game can become a problem.  You can zoom in or out, but I couldn’t find a way to rotate the camera. Sometimes your units would get lost behind the buildings and you couldn’t see them. The instruction manual for the game is very detailed, but it seems tailored for players who have played previous versions of Age of Wonders. The controls are listed on the back page of the manual, but nowhere else in the manual does it have a detailed description of the controls.  When you have a unit located in a city and you try to click on the unit, the World Building options would come up.  Having to click several times on your party, but getting the city option, was aggravating.

 Gameplay 8.3
The game played smooth when exploring the different areas of the game. I didn’t notice any slow down during the game. The in-game options can be a little cluttered with so many different options to select. However, the game does come with an excellent tutorial that will guide you through the controls and the first couple campaigns. The game can drag on when in large battle, but this is common with most strategy games. But the different parts of the game, such as the RPG and World Building element, help with the monotony.

Graphics 7.5
The graphics for Age of Wonders are detailed for the landscapes and creatures. Each creature in the game appeared to be 3D rendered, but with the layout of the game you only get a 2D view of them. Veteran strategy-game fans wouldn’t have any issues with the graphics. But high-end graphic gamers probably wouldn’t be impressed. When zooming in during the battles, the graphics would get a little blurry as well.

Sound 8.5
I was very impressed with music and sound effects of Age of Wonders. The music really stands out during the game and complements the game. The sound effects are standard weapon sounds that most gamers have heard before, but the music really shines.  Sometimes I would listen to just the music while waiting to make my next move and forget what I was doing.  The music is composed of a rich symphony sound that plays well with the fantasy setting.

Difficulty Medium
With a very helpful tutorial system at the beginning of the game, everyone should be able to jump into the game without a problem. The tutorial guides you through the first few campaigns and gives an excellent overview of the game. Leveling up your characters can be problem.  Keeping everyone in the unit alive and gaining experience points at the same time can be frustrating.

Concept 9.0
The concept for Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic is excellent. The way the game combines strategy, role playing and world building into the game might seem to be too much. But all three concepts are essential to the game. The RPG elements will make you use more strategy during the game. The World Building elements will allow you to build better cities, and build better armies as well. You also have the opportunity to build and maintain alliances with other characters in the game. This opens up a trading market to obtain new items; then incorporate the campaign editor, which allows you to create your own campaigns and play other players campaigns as well. This is an excellent and well thought-out concept.

Multiplayer: N/A
The game is designed to play with other players over the Internet. The game also allows you to download campaigns designed by other players as well.  However, I was unable to test this portion of the game since no one was logged on. The Internet portion of the game is handled by Gamespy, which is a premier provider of online gaming.

Overall: 8.4
Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic is a great title for anyone looking for a great strategy game. This is also a great title for anyone looking a game that offers a little bit more. The game might not be the flashiest game out on the market now, but with the excellent tutorial and excellent concept, everyone should find something to enjoy with this game. However, the instruction manual is lacking and the controls can be a little confusing. But with all of the different gameplay elements, Age of Wonders is an excellent addition to anyone’s library.