Age of Wonders III for Windows

Build an empire in this turn-based strategy game

Contrary to what other online reviewers say, there is a single player version of Age of Wonder 3, and it is better than the multiplayer version. Once you have played Age of Wonder III from both perspectives of each opposing side, you may create new scenarios with the random map generator. Expand your kingdom and your power with heroes and villains fighting in your corner.

A turn-based RPG command and colonize game

Age of Wonder 3 is very similar to Heroes of Might and Magic III, with a touch of Civilization and Total War. Move across the map and make friends with new civilizations, or engage them in war and take their lands. Colonize different places and defend your colonies. With Age of Wonder III, you can see how they have built on the previous iterations of the game, from the graphics to the number of places you may explore. You do not need a high-end computer to play the game, but you will need a reasonably new computer because the three-dimensional scenes require a lot of processing power. The turn-based combat is a little clich‚ with games such as this, but the only other option was to allow battles to take place independently where you may join, or to do what Total War did and have the end-turn or user prompt real-time fights. The developers of Age of Wonder 3 decided to stick with the same mechanic the franchise was built on.

Watch others playing before you play

If you are a fan of the franchise, then you will probably buy Age of Wonder III after seeing a few screen grabs. If you have never played the game before, then it is imperative that you watch a few YouTube videos of people playing it. Not only will it help you understand what the game is about, it will also show you how to play the game because the tutorial is forgiving, but so dull that you may be tempted to skip it and try the game without it. There are other games like Age of Wonder 3 on the market, but this is a modern take on a very over-used idea, and it isn't bad.