Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne

by 2K Games

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005YTYK
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 7.2 x 1 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: June 15, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,511 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

From the Developer

Awakened to join an immortal group of wizards in the Circle of Evermore, you must restore balance to a world on the brink of collapse. Powerful spheres of magic are thrown against one another in a war of wizards the likes of which have never been seen before. By mastering magical forces of creation and dealing with the deities who govern them, you must establish a fantasy empire and confront other wizards in your quest to the Wizard's Throne.

Age of Wonders II is the sequel to the award-winning Age of Wonders. Delivering an invigorating mix of empire building, role-playing, and warfare, Age of Wonders II offers the ultimate in fantasy turn-based strategy. Explore a world full of mythical creatures and mysterious lands. Build an impressive force as an all-powerful wizard through dangerous perils and exhilarating challenges. Now is your time to embrace your destiny and take your rightful place at the head of the Circle, forever.

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Turn-based Fantasy Fans: Be Advised! Check It Out!, July 8, 2002

By 

Taylor Rand "samuraijack" (Florida, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne (CD-ROM)

Age of Wonders is a turn-based strategy game that is very closely related to Disciples II or Heroes of Might and Magic IV; however with its own unique gameplay specifics. The previous reviewers, I think, have already described how the emphasis of this game is on wizards who, for the most part, reside in wizard towers and aid their subject heroes in battle by casting various spells ranging from simple healing to catastrophic fire blasts. For the most part, rival heroes lead small groups of soldiers throughout the Age of Wonders world searching for gold, mana, artifacts, and allies while battling hostile forces wherever they encounter them, eventually capturing their cities, resources, and killing the enemy wizard.

Generally, you play on a main world map in your troops move through colorful terrain seeking to capture mines, energy nodes, gold, and exploring ruins and caves. When you battle, you can choose to command your troops personally or have the computer automatically resolve combat. Combat is fought on a large tactical map in which you choose a target individually for any ranged units (e.g., archers, slingers, swashbucklers, etc.) and assign targets for your melee units. The battles are fought in sequential fashion (defender fires, attacker fires, repeat) and take into account magic spells, distance, height, protection, morale, etc. It is complex without being complicated.

I really enjoy Age of Wonders 2, and for the most part, would say that it is a relatively safe purchase for those players who like turn-based fantasy strategy games: it is not stunningly original but it is fun and almost a must for players of this genre and type.

I must beg to differ with some of the reviewers' comments about Age of Wonders:

1) You do NOT "need at least 256 RAM," to run AOW2. I use only 128 RAM on an 800 MHz Athlon and it runs well with no slowdowns of any sort.
2) The differences between races are not "more cosmetic than functional." There are real and important differences between the races that greatly affect the way a player commands them. Don't be misled by a superficial glance at the game manual and say, "Oh, each of the dozen races has 8 unique units, each of which has a counterpart in the other races." Not really true at all: no one has a counterpart to the Tigran's prowlers which are fast, pantherlike, and scale city walls like level ground. Only the humans have the swashbuckler who, being armed with pistol and sword, is tough on defense and offense. Each race has something that will change the way you play them. Elves are fast through forests and very good at concealment. Dwarves move through mountains easily and the Undead have large, cheap zombie armies capable of regenerating if not quickly beaten. Saying that the units are generic "Age of Empires" type units, I think, is completely inaccurate.
3) It is not true that the "interface is awkward and you must click 10,000 times" to do anything. No. No. No. It is simple to click once to find the next active unit, simple to learn how to detach a unit from a battlegroup, simple to access your stats. As for not having a "restart a level from the beginning button," I have to roll my eyes; all you need do is quickly load the original scenario.

So, am I simply an uncritical admirer of AOW2? No, there are things that I wish were included or different in the game:

1) I like random map generators but AOW2 doesn't have one. It's so much fun to just be able to quickly generate a map and play without concern about winning or losing since you can always create a new, unknown map. Still, there are about 20 huge maps in the campaign and over 20 individual scenarios, as well as player-designed and Triumph Studio designed scenarios to download, so I don't think I'll run out of maps anytime soon - if ever.
2) The story line (or plot, if you will) is not particularly compelling. Your task is to master each of the spheres of magic and once you master, for example, the fire sphere, you move on to the next and DON'T TAKE your heroes or new abilities with you.

Overall: A polished game, with interesting battles, spells, races, and a complex, but not complicated gameplay. I enjoy it and I'll be playing it for months!

Gameplay: Simple to learn, similar to HOMMIV or Disciples 2, very low learning curve and a simple interface. Tactical combats are turn-based and allow for thoughtful, contemplative decision-making. Should you concentrate your crossbowmen's fire on the manticore or take out the more vulnerable Tigran shredders? Is a powerful (but mana expensive) fire spell needed or only a less deadly but cheaper energy bolt? There's time to choose whether to fight or flee, to charge or move into better position.

Graphics: A matter of personal taste (of course) but I like them: they're colorful without being too busy or crowded, units are acceptably different and easily distinguishable (although don't zoom in!) and I think they fit well with the fantasy world of Age of Wonders.

Sound: Acceptable, even enjoyable. I don't mind the background music, in fact, I enjoy it for the most part. However, what's really cool is that I get easily use my "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings" soundtrack mp3s in place of the background music. I like the sound effects of combat, movement, and other events, but they're mostly of secondary importance.

I strongly recommend that you download the demo and find out for yourself.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Turn Based Strategy Game, July 24, 2002

By 

Dr. Zoidberg (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne (CD-ROM)

Age of Wonders 2 is a turn based strategy game set in a fantasy world. The player plays an immortal wizard, and can control different races (Dwarves, Elves, Draconians, etc), each with its own special units. The player can learn specific spheres of magic (Air, Earth, Fire, etc). The main difference, in my opinion, between AoW2 and other turn based strategy games is that there is a story line. Basically, there are twenty episodes. Every three episodes are a part of a "Sphere" story, such as fire, air, water, and the character you develop continues in them. (If you learned X spells in episode one, you'll still know them in episode three). However, the story continues in all the episodes sequentially - episode four follows episode three. I'm not sure exactly how that makes sense (how can the player forget what he learned between episode three and four if the story continues?!), but that's how the game is. AoW2 is pretty much a "standard" turn based strategy game. However, the graphics and music are gorgeous. I've never played a strategy game with such richness and depth: all the units are animated, and are absolutely a joy to watch. Strangely enough, the tactical AI (I'm usually too lazy to actually do my own tactical combat, I like to use the 'Auto' feature and watch) is beyond terrible. I've seen times I attacked an enemy with ten of my units against seven and lost without killing a single enemy unit, and when I controlled the combat myself I won without any loss. This happens ALL the time. I've stopped using 'Auto' because of this feature. I wonder why AoW2 is so bad in this aspect.. never seen anything like it. Other than that, the game play feels pretty much like other games of the genre. The scenarios are somewhat repetitive, but it's such a refreshing idea to be "forced" into a situation, and the scenarios are different enough that you have to try different tactics.
Overall, I think AoW2 is really a great game. The AI could use a serious overhaul, but it's still a lot of fun.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenally good!!, June 15, 2002

By 

Erick Greenwalt (Virginia, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne (CD-ROM)

I won't expound on this games features or interface, others have already explained this far better than I could. I will say, however, that this game is a masterpiece of design and erudition. For those who are fond of the Heroes of Might and Magic type of fantasy strategy game, this tittle will come as a welcome surprise especialy considering the latest incarnation's(Heroes of Might and Magic 4) deaad AI. The AI in this game is tremendously cunning, you can never realy predict what it's planing and it's positively vicious on the more difficult settings. I think that the campaign is very ingenious and well done in Age of Wonders 2, much better than in it's predessor. The graphics are stunningly beautifull and add a greater feeling of emersion into the world of Evermore. Overall, this game will bring back nostalgic remembrances of "Master of Magic" for the fantasy grognards out there, it sure did for me. Thank you Triumph Studios! There are only a few minor greivances such as the omision of the in-game clock but they are nothing compared to the greatness that is AoW2.