Elemental: War of Magic is an interesting strategy game that I picked up on late though have found myself greatly enjoying. The first thing that struck me about the game was the creative freedom one has. You are able to design your own factions, your own worlds, and your own units and heroes. It is definitely a game for those with a tendency to build their own stories in their mind while hammering their enemies into the ground with powerful soldiers. Hit read more and I'll go into some details.
This game was made by Stardock Entertainment and it has a good portion of the aspects I enjoy in my strategy games. If you play through the Campaign mode, it gives you a bit of history and a good introduction into the gameplay style, which in a manner reminded me of Heroes of Might and Magic. Though when that was done, I was quickly interested in moving on to more, and delved into a randomly generated world. The game allows you to choose between playing a Kingdom which leans good or an Empire which tends to favor evil. There are different strategies employed by both, based on the buildings and unit types. Something that I liked about this game was that you had a lot of opportunities to make your faction truly yours. In the Workshop mode you can make your own Kingdom or Empire, picking their race and their starting bonuses or faults. You can do the same with the Sovereigns, the leader of your nation. Surprisingly when you get into the game you can also do this with the types of armies you construct, by choosing what gear they have and balancing this with the various resources you have in store.
Initially I found the gameplay rather difficult, even when I started on novice. It takes a bit of familiarization so don't be discouraged by the initial large battles. Combat takes place when two units meet each other on the field and you are transported to a tactical map. The two armies assemble on their side and a turn based battle takes place. Gathering resources and researching technology will give you a key advantage. In this game, you can also send your Sovereign and the various heroes they recruit to quest nodes, which can offer some goods to make a difficult beginning a bit easier, and with more research, you'll open up more of these nodes. Another thing I found enjoyable was the Dynasty system. By recruiting a hero of the opposite gender, you have the ability to wed them and will eventually get children who will inherit upon your death, or can be used to politically align yourself to other nations. While the game does have multiplayer capabilities, it seems to be designed more for one on one play, though I found the single player strong enough to make it worthwhile.
Graphically, while the game isn't the end all be all of graphics, the level of customization you get to do with your characters and the buildings they dwell in more then makes up for anything missing. The terrain will conform to match the style of your nation, Kingdoms will grow grass while Empires will turn hard and barren. The games controls are nothing vastly complex for anyone with strategy game experience, though they do leave something small to be desired. Moving your sovereign can end the turn and move on to the next season before you are ready, and I did at times click on a unit without closing a town window and ended up constructing an unwanted building which wasted my town's money. Overall however, I found Elemental: War of Magic to be a fun game to play with great replayability. I am looking forward to seeing what Stardock Entertainment does with the planned sequel, Fallen Enchantress. The CEO has said that the game will take place in the same general world, though will be a stand alone game in its own right. The gameplay will shift more towards a Civilization feel and I have to admit I am curious and excited to see how the team there puts their spin on it.
RATING: 8/10
REVIEWER'S NOTES: They're still patching Elemental: War of Magic so there may be changes ahead, I got started on the 1.3 patch, and will probably throw up some future notes if the patches warrant it.
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