Customer Reviews

Dominions 3

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Dominion series is a turn-based multi-player fantasy strategy "god" game. The technology is not new (it's a few steps-up from text only) but the sheer depth of this game has to be seen to be believed. If you are a fan of turn based strategy or fantasy, you owe it to yourself to check this game out by downloading the free (and very capable) demo at Sharpnel Games website. Illwinter is obviously most interested in putting out a product that gives players options . . . thousands of options . . . and a compelling reason to play a game again and again and again. Appropriate comparisons for this game include any of the old turn-based map strategies, Master of Magic and the Total War series.

The mechanics of game play are basic. The bulk of play is executed by issuing orders to "hero" units. These heros can be military commanders, mages, priests, scouts, assassins, or even your pretender-god. You can also build armies to assign to your units. After all orders are issued and build queues are filled, you process the turn results (this is when battles are fought) and repeat.

Sounds simple but there are dozens of different hero types, each with a couple score attributes, a few magic item slots, the possibility of magic and other unique abilities, and even different potential order options (assassination, preaching and casting spells are not available to just anyone!) Add to this hundreds of spells, magic items, unit abilities and units, and you begin to see the possibilities.

Combat is unique in this game because you script your starting tactics and battlefield positions beforehand and then let the computer duke it out between forces. The net effect is you can determine how you will start your battle . . . but after that the tide of war determines how it ends (frighteningly similar to actual war in the ancient world.)

Victory conditions can vary as with almost a dozen other game options so it is hard to say what your ultimate goal is. Crushing the other pretender gods can't hurt!

The game background draws heavily from history, mythology and fantasy. Units range from grecian hoplites to hindu-influenced monkies to lovecraftian deep ones to clasic undead to the physical forms of the Pretender Gods themselves (dragons, demi-gods, mages and . . . weirder) Notably absent are the "normal" fantasy races . . . if you are looking for tolkienesque elves you'd better keep looking.

Just to help you wade through this mire of options, Illwinter has included a 300 page game manual. Not only is this a normal manual but it includes tidbits like quick-lookup tables and even a smattering of "standard" play strategies (which are a great starting point when you have this wide of a set of choices.)

Quick list of pros and cons:

Cons:
Graphics and audio (sprite based grahics, surprisingly good music but not much of it, "Cute" sound effects)
some potentially objectionable themes (human sacrifice, demons, raising the dead, magic, claiming godhood)
overwhelming array of options (you'll probably spend more time designing your pretender-god than actually playing the first few games.)
Price (not cheap)
No downloadable game.

Pros:
Options, options, options make for great replayability (which offsets some of the bite in the price)
Spectacular "atmosphere" on top of some very inventive background.
Simple enough to play right away even with the variety of options.
Simple system requirements.
Broad range of OS's.
Dedicated and global multi-player base.
Wonderful demo to try . . . and get hooked on.

So give it a go, you have nothing to lose and a whole lot of exploring ahead of you!

As of version 3.21 (Nov 5, 2008)
Windows, Mac, and Linux versions come on the same CD. The Linux version is VERY webserver friendly. Its TBS and supports solo, hotseat, direct tcp/ip, and PbEM multiplayer play. The graphics and sound is ok but not great. However this makes it very laptop friendly and shares the computer well with other games (its easy to shell out to check mail and such then jump back in)

The maps can be as large as 1,500 provinces. There is a random map generator built in, and 2 downloadable player-created generators.

There are 72 unique nations. And a total of 95 nation slots allowing for play with player modded nations.

There are 2088 different units in the game. Over 1000 pieces of equipment that can be given to them with various abilities, 709 magic sites to be searched for which can grant gold, magic gems, the ability to recruit or summon other units, and some which have bad effects.

There is 9 areas of magic. Fire, Air, Earth, Water, Astral, Death, Nature, Blood, and Holy. Spells are in the categories of Conjuration, Alteration,Evocation, Construction (creating magic equipment to give your commanders), Enchantment, Thaumaturgy, Blood Magic. And Holy altho Holy doesnt need to be researched. Some spells are cast in magic labs you build in a province, some are battlefield, and some are global. There are 755 major spells.

Each nation can be played by a human and will support online playing against other people, and hotseat playing for two people on one computer. They can also be set to play as AIs with settings of easy, normal, difficult, mighty, and impossible. The AI has not been proven to do any cheating but mostly just gets more creation points to spend setting itself up at the beginning. (Impossible is of course NOT impossible but it is far beyond the little toy AIs in other games which serve only as tutorials). Since each nation is so unique you will find that those AI settings mean different things in play. Some nations mighty AI will be another nations easy AI but the difference is how well you play against that type of nation so that comparison would be different than another persons going up against the same nations.

Even after years there is no "killer strategy" found like in other games. People are still coming up with new tactics and discussing them on the forum. It takes a LONG time to play it all solo and settle into your favorite nation and the build choices of that nation. At that point you can shift to multiplayer online games which come in many styles. Or start checking out the mods created for adding new nations, improving the AI, or just throwing surprises into the game. This game has extensive replayability.

WARNING: as much as I love this game, it is NOT for everyone. Altho the demo is way out of date with the many patches and upgrades, it still does give a good impression of what the game play is like. I HIGHLY recommend downloading the demo before deciding to buy the game.

Dominions 3 is an an amazingly deep game, there is nothing like it at all on the shelves of your local software store. If you at all enjoy strategy games, you are doing yourself a disservice by not owning this game. Personally, I place it alongside such legendary titles as: the Total War titles, the Civilization series, and Alpha Centauri. It's that good.

In an era of sleek overproduced software titles, software companies have largely failed to deliver a title which rewards patience and a thirst for depth in a fantasy game setting. This is an exception. It's certainly a throwback, and possesses what I feel is a great retro and authentic game feel. With playable nations based on real-world myth and legend, this game can teach as well as an entertain. With around 20 nations per age, and 3 ages, there are somewhere on the order of 60 different nations to play. A staggering number, considering that the differences actually *do* make a very big difference in game play, I'm not talking about most games having 'different' units which simply dittle the graphics but basically fulfil the same role. You get actual replayability here, moreso than any game I've ever played before.

Fair warning: the sound and graphics of this game are clunky when considered against modern standards, and the AI is a bit predictable (of course) but it more than makes up for it in almost every single other aspect of game design and game play. This is a game that after you play it, you want to quit your job and become a game designer.

Dominions 3 is the latest gem in the Shrapnel Games fantasy strategy franchise. It's a terrific example of gameplay overcoming graphics.

The premise is simple. You create a fresh-faced new god as your character that leads an army of warriors and monsters to spread your "dominion" throughout th land while your enemies do the same. Each turn, you build temples and castles, move and raise armies, and fight it out over territory against your rival gods. Researching spells, fortifying your territories, upgrading and outfitting your commanders, and spying on rivals are also activites to occupy your time.

The nuances are what makes this game so good. Your god template has a number of variable attributes that can change how you play the game drastically. The range of spells available to you, the preference of territory, the armies willing to swear fealty, and even the mobility and appearance of your avatar has an effect on what you do. Maps can be randomly generated or customized by importing any 2D graphic and drawing territory lines on top of it. (Fight in Middle-Earth! Battle it out it Faerun! Divvy up the lands of Narnia!) Artifacts can be found that help to kit out your generals and confer battle-winning attributes to them.

Since the game is based on taking turns, multiplayer is a great way to play the game. Play by email and user servers are supported avenues for multiplayer. Going against other humans is a blast as the added variable of diplomacy makes the game that much more addicting.

The only fly in the ointment is a big one. Huge, in fact. The graphics look absolutley atrocious. In an age of 22" LCD monitors, the static low resolution sprite based graphics of Dominions 3 are a real letdown. (This coming from someone used to playing 2D wargames all the time.) Ugly doesn't even cover how bad this game can look while in play. Unfortunatley, this is going to be a big problem for a lot of people.

If you can get past the graphics, Dominions 3 offers some of the finest strategy gaming around.

Most software companies fall far short of the mark that Shrapnel Games hits with this title. With only a team of 2 people, they have produced a highly complex and diverse strategy game that has immense replay value. This is not a glossy high profile title with 3D graphics and real time online play, but despite that it is one of the best games I have played in my life.

I hesitated on buying this game for a while. The interface seemed a little klonky, the graphics are not great to say the least, and the price is steep. Yet everything I heard made it sound like the kind of game I have been looking for...so I had a coupon to bring the price below $50 and went for it.

Beware, if this is your type of game (turn-based, epic fantasy war) then this game will suck you in like no other. Especially fun is the community and ability to play MP games via email and through servers. You can create a pretender diety ranging from an ancient witch, to a mighty titan, to a mysterious statue. You will recruit heroes, forge magic items, scout exotic lands, find magical sites, assassinate enemy commanders, raise gigantic armies, research spells that can cast the land in darkness, siege fortresses and on and on...It has an epic feel and reminds me of the excellent Mazalan Book of the Fallen series.

So that is it. I love the game.

UPDATE August 2008

Almost a year and I am still playing Dom 3. The forums are very active and helpful and the multi-player games are a blast. There is so much to learn and so many tactics and counter-tactics that the game continues to captivate me unlike anything I have ever played. IMHO it is the best game of all time. Nothing else compares in terms depth, strategy, fun, humor and learning. The closest game to Dom 3 in terms of fun and longevity is MOO2.

Boasting a 300+ page manual, dozens of races, hundreds of magic items (the most powerful of which are unique per game) and over 600+ spells ... dominions is a statistical rich and highly detailed turn based strategy game.

What it lacks in graphics and UI, it makes up for in the plethora of strategy decisions. The AI is ok, but where the game really shines is multiplayer (which can be done hot-seat, LAN, TCP-IP or play by email (PBEM)). The design team consists of a grand total of 2 people, so it really has an independent game look about it. However, the gameplay/fun-factor is off the charts if you like this game genre.

The game starts with you creating the deity of your race. Deity creation is on of the most important (and fun) parts of the game. Once you have your deity, you start the game ... building your army up to start your conquest. You'll recruit priests and build temples to spread your religion, smiting down the heathens who thwart your mission. Some deities (in the realm of dom3 players they call these super combatants) become like amazing heroes once armed with powerful spells unlocked by magic research in your libraries and spell reagents your explorers uncover (magic gems). Combat is handled by you macroing your orders ... the game engine handles battles of thousands of armies in a matter of seconds. You can watch the battle replay at any time during the turn which they occur to afford you the ability to tweak your orders.

If you love games like Nobunaga's Ambition (with a hard-core fantasy twist) or Master of Magic you really should give the demo a whirl. Just be sure to print out the tutorial as the demo download page says (use your favorite search engine to track down a copy of the demo).

If these guys would ever add a third/fourth designer to spruce up the user interface and replace the sprite graphics (or sell their IP to some large design house) ... this game would go mainstream and easily surpass Heroes of Might and Magic ... but for now, this diamond in the rough is still very much a fun time-waster.

cheers.

I've been playing this game now a few times a week since I bought it -- a few months ago. Still haven't played all races or variations yet, I'm enjoying it immensely, despite the outdated graphics and special effects. The strategy is really well balanced. Well ... the AI is good, but could be better. Challenging enough to be fun though.

If you love deep strategy more than flashy graphics and sounds then at LEAST try the demo.

Years after its release, its still going strong. The developers have
regularly released patches which are more like upgrades than they are patch. Whole new nations, spells, equipment keep getting added. And thats not counting what the players do as more and more modding commands get added with each patch.

But what made me think of coming here and posting was this comment I made in the Dom3 forum...

[quote]
Thanks for pointing the "winners list" out. That makes me feel better. Anytime a discussion pops up here where various experts proclaim some nations worth or worthlessness I get concerned. But luckily, it tends to actually average out that no matter how strong the opinions are that fly around, the saving grace is that they dont seem to agree with each other. :)

I am still amazed at how rare that is. Ive been gaming for decades. I can remember many many games where 1 month to 1 year was just about the whole life of the game because some ultimate strategy was developed and posted. Or great games that I found out about too late because by the time I got there the expert players had their tactics so down perfect that you couldnt last long enough in a game to learn the game.

Call me a fanboi if you want but any game that can keep me trying new
things and finding new useful tactics years after its release is well
worth it.
[/quote]

I thought that maybe other people here might remember having such an
experience in games. :)

Some things not pointed out by others:
Its Windows AND Mac and Linux all on the one disc. Its excellent as an internet host server for multiplaying. And its very laptop friendly (not full desktop machine needed to run it). You can load it on your windows desktop or mac laptop AND on your linux server to use one as player and one as server without needing another serial. Legally! And this is very web friendly if you run a server and want to host games.

The command switches is PAGES long if you are into such things. For fancy desktop icons that set the game parameters or automating things with scripts. For an old server person like me thats a game unto itself.

The support forum at the publishers site is FANTASTIC. And there is an IRC (direct chat) room.

In final, Ive paid this much for many games that lasted a month on my machine. This is one of the 5 games that refuse to die even after years of playing it. If you are into deep strategy and coming up with weird tactics or you love religio-historical-mythology-fantasy then at LEAST get the demo

Dominions 2 was one of my favorite games, so I was glad to finally get this sequel. It's still a fantastic experience, full of depth that goes beyond any game (except perhaps rogue-likes, such as Zangband). There are over 1500 units, according to the manual, and that seems about right. Tons of spells and magic items and nations. For those who have not played the series, the learning curve is a bit steep. Find an online guide or walkthru to help you out. Once acclimated, be prepared for an incredible game.

The only reason I didn't give this a full 5 stars overall is that it doesn't seem different enough from 2 to justify the price. There ARE more nations and spells and units, but much of it is recycled from the previous game. The graphics are very similar (and very bad...but you get over it). The gameplay is almost the exact same. If you played a particular nation in 2, it will play VERY similarly in three. That makes it hard to give this game an unqualified recommendation. However, if you do not own Dominions 2, this game is definitely worth the price. I wish more games were made with this level of detail.