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Difficult , but rewarding.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 24 / 24
Date: May 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

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!

Lords of Magic-Special Edition

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 16
Date: November 15, 2002
Author: Amazon User

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.

DO YOU DARE TO FACE DEATH FOR THE FATE OF THE WORLD?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: February 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

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!

The funnest single-player game I've found so far.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: October 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is an old game, but it's stayed very popular among fans, and still has a newsgroup at at Sierra's community page that is great for getting help.

Before I talk about why I think it's one of the best games out there, I'll let you know this: If you are looking for fast-click games, or kill-a-minute multiplayer, this isn't the right game for you. The multiplayer is slow, and best on direct cable, LAN, or modem.

The feel of the game is like an RPG, and lends itself to characterization, but there's no puzzle/clue/do-this-next kind of story line. Your chosen character and a few nameless friends (you can give them names) are thrown into a basic, simple situation (Bad Guy with magic is trying to kill everyone) with some complications (he's interrupting a 7-way war in progress, by trying to kill all the combatants, who wish he'd just go away and leave them to kill each other in peace) and some limitations (you can't raise much of an army until you prove you can kill something important). So you start with a simple quest. Find some big monument nearby that looks important, and kill everything inside. (Not to be confused with your own capital city, where people are likely to be surly but moderately helpful, and won't actually appear on screen, so there's nothing to kill). When you've found the right one (it's got an introduction message that fills the screen) and liberated it, the game changes. Suddenly you have renewable resources, new friends, a city at your disposal (more or less), and no one else tells you what to do any more. Literally. Except for the fact that someone's going to come looking for you eventually, and it would be a good idea to kill him when he does, there are absolutely no quest requirements for you to accomplish. You just explore, upgrade your buildings, and leave certain champions in training buildings to improve any new recruits or to rediscover forgotten spells. If you are more interested in assignments and puzzles, the game also includes a quest pack with a handful of quests with step-by-step objectives (but no way of stopping you if you decide to go the other way instead).

The game is turn-based, and moves to real-time only when you enter combat. The graphics are simple, like pictures in a story book, and the over-land music is nice but not loud or adrenalin-pumping. Different music plays depending on where you start, and combat music is more lively.

The landscape, people, and music work together to make you feel that this is a world worth defending against evil. Landscape ranges from lava and desert to swamp to meadows and grassland, and the landscape is 3D. An editor is provided so you can make your own maps. Some amazing results are possible. There is an extensive library of community-created maps available on-line from fan sites if you get tired of the default map.

The magic and team (Faith) system is robust, with 8 different magic schools and sets of available characters. Although the types of characters are predictable (warrior, thief, mage, foot soldier, cavalry, ranged weapon, scout, magic creatures), the differences from one Faith to the next mean that you could easily have Knights facing Demons, or Dwarven axe-throwers facing Skeletons and Dark Elves. There are 8 different versions of every unit, except for the cavalry (only 4) and the magic creatures (32, from will o' the wisps to gargoyles, to dragons, to a Lich). The Faiths are elemental: Earth/Air, Fire/Water, and arcane: Order/Chaos, Life/Death. The units are predicted by the Faith, so Earth gets Dwarves, Air gets Fairies, Chaos gets Barbarians, Order gets Knights, etc., but you can trade for units or capture capitals and training facilities as you expand.

Each faith has its own selection of spells, which can only be cast by a particular type of mage. Some of the spells have cool special effects, some of them just have a default flash or smoke ring, which might make it hard to tell what they've done. The spells range from Death's curse (light damage) and Life's Cure wounds (light healing) to Fire's Inferno (all units take deadly or near deadly damage), Death's Lost Soul (instant death, on contact, to any one enemy unit) and Life's Resurrection (restore any unit on battlefield to life). The spell books slowly become accessible, as you station mages in the library for "research."

The combat screen is technically challenging and may have resulted in some frustration in those who give up easily. Although the units will attack automatically if someone comes in range, they don't do their best work that way, and mages are entirely helpless (magic on command only). The difference between letting everyone do their thing and managing all aspects of combat usually range from losing everyone to coming out without losing anyone. There's a pause button, that should be used liberally. You can give commands and begin casting spells while paused, and they hold action until you un-pause. Units generally begin together, unless your army is extremly large, but they occasionally get cut off. The game automatically saves as you enter combat, so you have a chance to go back and redo fights to correct what you did wrong.

There are a handful of known bugs, but none of them significantly affect gameplay. Most of them can be worked around or even exploited to your advantage. If one of them is giving you grief, sierra's user newsgroup will quickly offer answers to your questions.

You are likely to find that when you first start playing, minor achievements will seem difficult and rewarding, but as you gain experience the range of abilities will increase, and you may begin to focus more on exploration than on survival.

The replayability of this game is extremely high, because there are 25 basic starting positions, 7 faiths x 3 character types + Evil Balkoth (after you beat him) + 3 other Death Lords available in custom games. Each of those positions can be customized with different starting resources, followers, spells, and artifacts, and of course, by playing different maps.

Could have been great, but is merely good.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: September 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is very much worth buying at its listed price. This game has so much potential, but is somewat awkward and buggy in its interface. Let me give you some examples:

1. Real time combat: As mentioned in the editorial review, this is extremely problematic and awkward. Because it is based on a 3/4 view, you lose sight of some of your units, and often it seems they do not immediately respond to your commands. Units end up in a scrum at the center of the screen, and don't readily disengage or advance. This is dissapointing considering "Lords of the Realm" which was not perfect either, had a much cleaner interface, and it is an older game. Lords of Magic would have been a much better game if the battle view was adjustable, and the speed of combat as well. If the units were more "Diablo" sized, or somewhere in between, it would have been a vast improvment. Also in ths same area, when entering dungeons and the like, your party can randomly turn up in strange places on the battle scape map, e.g. your sorceress is on the other side of the map all by herself, next to a group of trolls, when all her protection is on the other side separated by a physical barrier like water. This can mean certain death for a character you have spent much time developing, and makes no sense. If your party goes in as a unit they should appear that way on the battlescape. This is just poor design.

2. Hero Status bars: On the "overland" view, your heros have a pop up status card, showing their items, level, etc. These are so sparse that once you gain multiple magical items you have to create new heros just to have someone to off-load the items to in order to take an inventory of your items. When you have many parties on the board, this is maddening!

3. Overland spells: There is no feedback on overland spells (spells you cast while in the "world view"). You have no way of telling whether they worked, or what the affect was. ALso there are some spells that seem to not work at all, like transporting a magical item via magical means.

4. Fortesses: These are far to weak, and are awkward to defend. If any of you have played Lords of the Realm you know that castles are easily defended. Not in this game. There is no ability for your archers/javeliners to man the walls of the castle. You can direct them to that area, but often they just stand there or run around. They also gain no advantage from the height of the walls or the cover provided thereby. You just end up with a scrum at the front gate with everyone bunched together like Mattel vibrating football.

This game is worth playing just to be able to use Balkoth after you complete it. The spells that "Death" can cast are really cool. Overall, I recommend this game at it's current listed price. It has some beautiful graffics, interesting story, and combines party based roll playing with RTS and turn based strategy. With some conceptual changes, this could be the greatest game ever.

Perhaps the finest videogame released to date

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: February 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The first thing that catches you about Lords of Magic is the music. There were a number of times I'd pause the game at night and leave it on just to have the music playing in the background as I slept. Yes, the soundtrack is THAT good. Once you've digested that, the ease of gameplay becomes LoM's most attractive (and important) feature. LoM is one of the games that lifted battle control from the old Darklands model, and rightly so; there's a reason Darklands still has a core of followers after almost eight years on the market. The maps are gorgeous, the sound even better, the game easy to play and engaging. The only drawback is that the voices get repetitive at times, but the developers thankfully included an option to turn them off. Few games are this good at what they do and deliver what they do as simply and attractively.

What's wrong with a little competition

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: September 16, 2000
Author: Amazon User

First of all, this is not necessarily an easy game to play, at least from the strategic standpoint. I found the graphics great, the interface very workable, and the flexibility of the possible scenarios outstanding. The game can also be used with initial defaults, if you don't want to be flexible. The game is a basic game of good vs evil, with eight (8) "Faiths", or groups of people in the fictitious world of Urak. Each 'faith' has it's strengths and weaknesses. I prefer the Order faith, but that's because I like the Medievel group of Knights, Paladins, and Wizards. This game was not easy for me in the beginning. I got knocked around pretty good when I first started. But, after a couple of times of getting beat up by a Hydra, I learned pretty quick. I'm glad the game was challenging. That's why I buy a game, to be challenged a little and to test my brain. This game can definitely be complicated, with all the possible characters and scenarios. For instance, each faith has its own version of a warrior, a thief, and a mage user. That's 24 different beginning characters types. Not to mention the ability to choose what the beginning character start with in the way of experience, or other characters. Then, there are 8 different maps that come with the game, and a map editor that allows you to create your own.(This part wasn't always easy, though). I have won adventures taking as short as 40 'days'and as many as 400. Somehow, I get more fun from the 400 day adventures. 1.(The regular game starts with all 8 groups of people taking turns in sequence. When all groups have had a turn, that's one 'day'. this takes about a 30-60 seconds after the player is finished with his/her turn, barring any conflicts)

Difficult To Love, But Worth The Effort

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 16
Date: July 22, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Find a demo first! What fans of LOM don't mention is that it is a SLOW paced game for a looong time. You start out with very little in the way of resources - either money or troops, and even with an unbroken chain of victories you'll go forty/fifty turns before your army starts to amount to more than three units! I didn't find the tactical game (the "heart of the game" according to one reviewer) all that compelling - the battlefields are similar, your opponents are generally more experienced and more numerous, and after dozens of encounters recapturing outposts, mines, etc. from random marauders, I am thankful for the autocalc option. I am frustrated by the long time(two/three turns)needed for my handful of troops (basically, my entire army!) to recover from their wounds since more marauders and enemy faiths continue to move through my land with impunity. The artifacts, experience bonuses, character improvements, all of those details that make you want to play one more turn, are just not impressive! Tiny amulets, unusuable potions, weird spell buttons, clumsy unit grouping/ungrouping, are all put offs. I've grown to enjoy LOM but I invested a lot of time in it, and I don't know whether many will want to do the same.

Intellectually higher than most, but very slow paced...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: February 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is basically a take-off on other turn-based stratigic games. Be expected to read through *and practically memorize* a large, over 100 page, manual. The music and animation is very well done, I admit. Basically, you get to pick one of several elements *no suprise there* and compete against others based on turns. You are expected to gain power, political standing, and skill as you proceed. Your ultimate goal is to unite with others and defeat the dark underworld-esc army. It's a pretty simple concept, but very drawn out. If you do love these stratigic games that give you ample mount of time to plan out and conceptualize whatever your next move may be, this is a good buy for you. However, be warned that this requires a lot of time and effort if you want to master it.

A Truly Magical Game...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: November 22, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The title says it all. This game has a feel of magical and fantastical proportions. From the graphics, to the music, to the units. Everything lends to an atmosphere unrivaled in any other game.

The strategic aspects of the game are not great, but the tactical combat is excellent. Battles can be hard until you learn a few tricks, such as using parrying warriors as decoys, or flying missile units.

The best part about the Special Edition(the only one you can get), though, are the epic quests. They are TRULY epic, with two that are REALLY REALLY epic. My favorite is the good old fashioned Arthur quest. You get to play as Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, and the rest of gang through a story derived from Sir Thomas Malory's version of the Arthurian legend.

All in all, this game is worth every penny you spend on it.

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