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Great Follow up to AoW I

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: October 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Several new changes that make it more of a challenge, yet keep the spirit of AoW I. Really enjoyed this game play.

best tbs game around

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: March 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

i bought 4 copies of age of wonders to give out as christmas
presents to the friends who enjoy table-top wargames and that
liked to get together every so often to play.
about a year later i bought 2 copies of age of wonders 2 for me
and my brother inlaw to play,we've even got my wifes dad
involved in playing..
great game,just as good as Heros of Might & Magic.

Finally played it

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

As I clear the back log of games to be played, I was surprised that I enjoyed the game. I play AOW and didn't really care for it. There were different races but they all felt the same to me.

AOWII changed that. There were definatly strength and weaknesses to each. You get to find them as you have to play each in the game

The underground made for some planning as the enemy could double back and attack lightly defended rear cities.

The main character(you) isn't all powerfull on the battlefield. I found it was best to put Merlin(could there have been a better name?) in a town with a level3 tower and farcasting ability and let him rain death from afar. At times it carried the battlefield.

Probably the hardest level was Death 1. You could not build up forces on a defense war. Starting out attacking didn't help either. I found it was best to pull a "Shermans March" and build up a few bone dragons, leave some forces and to delay the enemy and march and look for Meander. As I found a town with a tower, I took it sold off they tower and the champion builds and moved on. Maybe I was lucky.

The finaly battle I did find the AI to be a little stupid with Juliach. She would come in with superior numbers and I with one Red Dragon and she would use two hell storms and wipe out her army. Red dragons carried the day.

Many spells to choose from. Didn't get to use them all.

Overall I played for many hours and was happy to see it finished. Though the final movie could have been more.

Hopefully an AOWIII will happen!

Good game, but campaign mode is difficult

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I would recommend getting Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic over this game. It is basically Age of Wonders 2.5 and adds its own campaign with an easier starting gradient as well as new units, races, spells and balance tweaks. All of the single-player downloadable maps for AOW2 are still available and useable for Shadow Magic as well as new maps just for it.
Oh, and this is a turn-based strategy game if you didn't know already, kind of like a complex boardgame (think Fantasy version of Risk times 5) where the computer takes care of all of the complicated stuff.

Good, but lacking

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: October 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

After playing the original Age of Wonders (and becoming hopelessly addicted to it), I was ecstatic when AOW2 was released. I rushed right out and picked up a copy, hoping for great improvements to one of my now favorite games. Unfortunately that was not the case. While the graphics and audio are mildly improved, I felt gameplay took several steps back, at least in the single player campaign. The new units were nice and had a good variety between the different races. Unfortunately, the wizard/hero system that this game revolves around is terribly one dimensional - spell reasearch is your only real option, unlike the original where you had many different skills to choose from, so you could basicly make your leader/heros into whatever you envisioned them as being.
The single player campaign is fun to play through, the first time. After that it's gets pretty boring. Scenarios are fun, but I liked the campaigns of the first AOW, where you really had a choice in the direction the game went. You could start as good guy and end up on the side of evil, or vice versa. You be righteously good (as the Highmen), plain old good (as the Elves), run-of-the-mill bad (as the Dark Elves), or evil incarnate (as the Undead). This made for massive replayablity, which is lacking in AOW2 - You're Merlin and no matter what you do the game ends the same. The multi-player options are fine and might give more play options, if you like multi-player gaming (I don't, as I prefer to start a game and play at any time - not worrying about others schedules).
Overall, not a horrible game and fun for a while, just not up to the standards of the original.

Great game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Great strategy games. One of the greastest strategy games ever made. You can choose between classic game play style where 1 person takes a turn at a time or RTS style where its all at once.
Other similar games: Populous, The Settlers Games, The Empire Earth Games, Civilization, Warzone2100, The Nations, and about every other strategy-empire building game out there that there is. I would definitely recommend it to everyone who owns a computer.

My favorite game of all time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I love turn-based strategy games, and this one is my favorite. I started playing in January and didn't stop till September, when I immediately bought the sequel, Shadow Magic. That should give you some idea how worthwhile this game is.

It's difficult to learn at first; in fact, I almost gave up on it. Finally I bought the strategy guide (the first time I've ever done that) and it was worth it. The game is not easy to win, but it is winnable.

The graphics are simply beautiful, the sound effects are good, and the storyline is acceptable if nothing special. The spells your wizard can learn are varied and fun, and so are the units you command. There's very little to criticize in the game because it is so wonderfully thought-out and executed. If you like turn-based strategy, do NOT miss this game. It's the best.

The addictive turn-based game that you have been looking for

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: July 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

There aren't enough good turn-based games out there, but there is at least one that is superior: "Age of Wonders 2". I found this game to be as challenging, enjoyable, and addictive as my favorite turn-based games of all time: "Civilization" and "Colonization". It has the perfect blend of economics, empire-building, advancement, and fighting that you need to make a great game.

Most strategy games of this type don't offer much in the way of tactics. Battles are usually somewhat simple affairs that you don't have much control over. One of the special features that AoW2 has is that you get to play out battles on the battlefield. When a big army of yours tries to capture a city, for example, the view switches to a blow-up of the city, and you command your units one-by-one. The battles are a lot of fun to play out, but you can put them on automatic if you get tired of them. Different units have different strengths and weaknesses, and advantages in certain situations. For instance, when I am attacking an enemy wizard's castle, I have my cannons smash the gate, and then send in the cavalry to race right to the wizard and take him out. Once you figure out how to conduct your units in battle well, you can formulate a high-level strategy for winning them. That is what makes this game such a rare perfect blend of strategy and tactics.

The game is somewhat complicated, but it is not tedious because of it. You can pick up general concepts and strategies and then dig deeper after that. That is why AoW2 is such a perfect mix of complexity and playability. The interface could use more hot keys, but other than that, it is great and it makes the game managable.

The game's fantasy setting is very well done. There are a lot of different races, and although some units are somewhat redundant, every race has at least one or two unique units that make it special. The maps are beautifully decked out in bright colors, and they never get redundant. That is saying a lot, since the single-player campaign has 20 big ones. The wizard portraits look great as well, but the units are kind of small and lacking in detail. The game doesn't look quite as pretty as say,Warcraft 3, but it still looks good.

Diplomacy is a somewhat weak link in "Age of Wonders 2", since most of your missions involve defeating one or more wizards, and diplomacy is almost pointless. That's about the only fault that I find in this outstanding game. If you are like me and you have been searching for that great turn-based strategy game, then look no further. Prepare for some sleep deprivation, and break out the Doritos: you're going to need them.

This game rocks!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I saw some pretty poor reviews which prompted me to put in my two cents in. Who in the heck wants a random map generator when the game is geared towards PvP. The wealth of strategies available for the different races really brings the game to life. The depth of the AI really hit home after I released the "Fire Domain" spell which harms all enemy units within my territory. The AI counteracted with a force of about 24 Monks (healing each other like mad) and left two cities in their wake. The Scenarios are well thought out and if anything a little unbalanced - leaning more to the extremely challenging side. The beautiful graphics and sound track included are just a bonus!

Sorry, Can't play it.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 11
Date: December 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I immediately bought this upon it's release mainly due to a review on pcgamer.
What I was looking for was, of course, a updated master of magic; everything I had read was indicating that while not exactly the direct heir of MOM, it was close enough to be enjoyable.
So I bought it, installed it, checked it out...then uninstalled it.
The Random Map Generator which had been heavily praised on the pre-release version wasn't there; just standard scenarios. Gameplay-wise, If I wanted to play the standard scenarios, I would probably just whip out the AOW1 CD and play that. Sure the gameply is a little better, the graphics are a little cooler, but without the Random Map Generator, this is just a upgrade to AOW1, not the game at all I was lead to believe it was.
So, I check back to the AOW2 website occasionally, and look for the RMG....and as soon as it's available to download, I'll play the game; If they try to SELL it as a expansion, I'll probably sue them.
If you haven't played Turn based strategy before, ever, it's worth your time, I'm sure...But it's not the game they advertised it to be.

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