Lords of Magic: Special Edition (Jewel Case)

by Sierra

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001NFS5
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: September 9, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,272 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Lords of Magic Special Edition combines the turn-based exploration and real-time combat of the enhanced Lords of Magic with the all-new Legends of Urak Quest Pack.

Product Description

This software is BRAND NEW. Packaging may differ slightly from the stock photo above. Please click on our logo above to see over 15,000 titles in stock.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Difficult , but rewarding., May 24, 2000

By 

Keith R. Hartman (West Hollywood, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lords of Magic: Special Edition (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)

Right up front, you need to know that this is not an easy game. Video jocks who play all those fast paced (and basically brainless) real time strategy games will probably not go for this one. However, thoughtfull players with some tactical skill who like a real challenge will find this game very rewarding.

The heart of the game is its tactical combat system, which is by far the best that I've seen in any fantasy game. Maneuver plays a big part in it: Using your faster units to circle around and hit your opponent's archers. Using your slower melee units to screen your archers from his troops. Using the terrain to set up "kill zones" that you can lure your opponent into. It will take a little getting used to, so expect to loose your first few battles until you figure out how things work.

The game has an interesting variety of units and spells, and a particularly nice selection of artifacts that you can find in dungeons and such.

The strategic level is good but not great. You collect resources, you build things, you research spells, same as in most games. One nice addition is the ability of high level characters to train new units, letting them start off with some experience. This solves the problem that occurs in so many games of this type, where new units starting late in the game are basically hopeless.

The two real weaknesses in the game are 1. A very limited diplomatic engine. There are a total of eight powers in the game, but your options for peacefull interaction with the other seven are pretty limited. 2. Weak AI players, at least on the strategic levels. Some of the computer players do absolutely suicidal things, like walking their undefended leader up to one of your strongholds. Even the toughest, Balkoth Lord of Death, isn't nearly as aggressive as he should be.

Overall, this is a challenging but very interesting game that players with some tactical skill will really enjoy.

Oh, and one fast note for new players: The hardest part of the game is the opening. To maximize your survival chances, make your starting character a wizard of life, then on your first four turns, attack four level one dungeons. Then use all your resources to hire mercenaries and attack the great temple.

Good luck!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lords of Magic-Special Edition, November 15, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Lords of Magic: Special Edition (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)

FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T PLAYED BEFORE:

This game is very exciting anc challenging, even on the easiest setting. You play a Lord (A barbarian, human, gnome, elf, dwarf, undead guy, etc.) who sets out on a perilous quest to slay the terrible Lord Balkoth, who is planning to (what else?) rule all of Urak with his undead army.

You start out with little of anything. Your first priority is to liberate your Great Temple, and then amass a large army to fight with.

This is a sort of turn based strategy game. You group your units into little groups, and select Champions to lead them. You'll need to spend and gain 3 resourses: Ale, Crystals, and Gold.
You also can direct little followers to work in the various buildings of your kingdom, to give you more recourses.

RIVAL LORDS: There are seven other lords as well, each building their own empire. Some like you, some hate your guts. There is a very good AI system they use, allowing you to barter and fight with them as you wish. The best part is slaying an enemy and then taking control of their empire as well!

GRAPHICS: The graphics are so-so. They aren't 3D, but they are beautiful and painting-like.

MUSIC: The music, I think, is beautiful, pulling you into the world of Urak. Sometimes haunting, sometimes thoughtful, it always makes you think. Why? I don't know.

COMBAT: This is really cool. No matter where you are, if you initiate combat, you zoom from a bird's eye veiw of the map to a close-combat realtime mode, where you can direct your troops into battle! The combat system is very developed. You can fight a number of enemies, explore a number of lairs and dungeons and caves, and invade a number of strongholds. You can pause the game a lot, though, so if you want more strategy, you can play it in a more turn-based fashion. You also have the option to Autocalc combat--where the computer automatically calculates the outcome for you, instead of animating it.

REPLAYABILITY: The game is very replayable. There are 62 different starting conditions, so that it's different nearly every time you play!

MULTIPLAY: The game lends itself well to multiplayer. I haven't tried this yet, but it looks great. I can't wait to try it over LAN!

MAP EDITOR: The game includes a map editor, which you can use for multiplayer or a special quest. This is lots of fun to try out.

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE PLAYED THE ORIGINAL GAME ALREADY:

The new Special Edition version offers even more features to try out!

LORD EDITOR: Now you can decide which artifacts, recources, creatures, even Champions and spells you start out with, using a point0buy system. Hey! Even more replayability!

LEGENDS OF URAK: An entirely different game in itself. I haven't done these yet, but they are cool to look at. 5 new quests--Including an Arthurian adventure where you play Merlin guding King Arthur, and a Beowulf epic...play a hobbit like creature named Beon and battle the vicous Golem!

LEGENDARY CREATURES: Now, every Faith can summon their own LEgendary Creature at the Great Temple! This is the coolest new thing of all! These include Ice Drake, Hydra, Fafnir, Pheonix, Giant SPider...

NEW UNITS: There are a whole lot of new units and monsters who are ready to take you on now. I still haven't found all of them.

PROS:

1. Great Strategy.
2. Nice Music.
3. Very Replayable.
4. A great Map Editor.
5. Intense Multiplayer.
6. 5 Cool Sub-Games.

CONS:

1. So-so graphics.
2. Very Difficult.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars DO YOU DARE TO FACE DEATH FOR THE FATE OF THE WORLD?, February 20, 2004

By 

K. Jump (Corbin, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lords of Magic: Special Edition (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)

I first encountered Lords of Magic as a demo and immediately fell in love with this engaging, difficult, sometimes maddening but eminently addictive game. Even in the relatively spartan demo game LOM's strong points were irrisistible: the classic theme of pure good vs. pure evil, the picturesque maps, the enchanting and absolutely gorgeous music (probably the best of any game I've encountered), the multifaceted tactical combat system, and last but not least the game's superb replayability.

Naturally, when I got my hands on the full game I was hopelessly spellbound. My wife might say "hexed"! Be warned: if you do buy this game, be aware you will be investing not only hard-earned cash (though not much--the price is a steal), but huge pockets of your time. This is not only because LOM is great fun, but because it's exceptionally difficult as well. Beating this game is not easy. Be prepared to take your lumps and go through a lot of frustration (albeit fun frustration!) before you finally win the day.

The game itself is strategy-based, and runs on turns during which each of the eight paths--called "faiths"--that populate the world of Urak make their moves. Though the turn system is convenient and offers your character many choices of action, each turn does take a while. Healing and resource accumulation are based on the passage of time, so after a tough battle you will have to sit passively through a few turns to recuperate. Moreover, the map of Urak over which your character moves is pretty big, and it can take several turns just to get from A to B, during which time you may be attacked by wandering monsters or see one of your fortresses sacked by raiding parties. To put it mildy, LOM is not for the impatient!

LOM follows a straightforward fantasy formula: the world of Urak is being overrun by the armies of Death itself, led by Balkoth the Destroyer, a diabolical necromancer who commands huge armies both living and dead and a powerful arsenal of black magic. You the player must choose a champion from one of eight different faiths (Order, Water, Air, Chaos, Fire, Earth, Life, or for those who have beaten the game at some point possibly even Death)and take on Balkoth and his seemingly limitless hordes on as either a Warrior, Mage, or Thief. (I personally usually choose to be a Warrior of Order, since that allows me to fulfill a lifelong dream of being a Paladin or Knight.) Each class of character is different from faith to faith, so the possible characterizations are many and varied. Whichever type of hero you choose, your character starts out weak and unknown and must slowly, painstakingly build himself up in terms of experience, magic, artifacts, fame, money, and military might. This means liberating besieged dungeons and forts and defeating enemy troops or marauding monsters, or bartering with friendly neighbors (of which there aren't many). Battle resolution is fun and plays in real time so there's a lot of variety. Battles do feature a "pause" option if you want to reconsider things and there's also an "autocalculate" button if you want the computer to determine the battle's outcome for you, though it seems the computer often underestimates the player's strength. If things go badly, the "restart" option lets you give it another go, and you may want to save your game often. If--and I do mean if--you meet and defeat Balkoth head-to-head, you win!

Lords of Magic probably isn't for everyone. The slow pace will aggravate those more inclined towards fast arcade-style games, and the fact that you may have to play for several days on end is an understandable turn-off for others. Moreover, the game can get repetitious at times, as you're likely to have to conquer and reconquer the same territory several times and spend an awful lot of game time simply convalescing. And then there's the simple fact that LOM is a very difficult game. Merely staying alive can be a problem, especially if you're ambitious, and actually killing Balkoth may seem like an impossible dream after you've just given your 53rd character the last rites.

But you can win, if you've got the time, patience, and energy it takes. If you do, then I heartily recommend Lords of Magic to you. When you finally finally kill the Arch-Demon of Death, it will all be worth it!