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I loved this game. Reording it just for kicks

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game was one of my all time favorites on any platform.

It is uniquely challenging and rewarding. It is not a game that can normally be played in a few minutes, so it does take some patience and practice, which may frustrate some people who are used to modern games that take little patience or deep thought.

As a rebuttal to those who perhaps gave this game a less than favorable review, I noticed many of those were based on percieved difficulty, particularly in the Player vs computer mode.

The Death computer DOES start with at least one extra hero, I believe two extra heros on the highest difficulty setting, but that is because Balkoth has the most enemies, and he's supposed to be over powered. It balances out though.

If you find that the computer has a much larger army than you, its only because you haven't properly balanced economy, military and exploraton. In short, try again.

I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who has never played it.

Some tips to anyone who recently bought it and perhaps struggling, or a new customer.

1) Never use autocalculate unless there is no chance whatsoever of losing the fight. Never autocalculate vs an enemy's main hero even if you think there is no chance of losing. Balkoth will murder you on Autocalculate, especially on high difficulty.

2)You MUST micro and manually fight most main enemy hero parties or you will simply lose too many units. You may get lucky sometimes with autocalculate, but in general you'll lose so much stuff over several battles that Balkoth, or some other enemy hero, will end up too far ahead of you. Manual is definitely to your advantage.

3) When you get ready to fight Balkoth, do not just use one or two battalions, especially if the game has gone on long and he is max level. Balkoth is almost strictly better than any other hero in the game, so there is no such thing as a "fair" fight against his main party.

Conquer several cities and Macro up a couple dozen battalions. Then, play hit and run, killing as many of his supporting battalions and outlying towns as possible, while avoiding Balkoth himsef. After this, corner Balkoth's main party somewhere on the map. Next, send wave after wave of "expendable" battalions to weaken him. Once most of his army is dead, send in your main hero's party to finish him off.

4) After you win the game on easy or normal, play through the game a time or two AS Death so you learn more about their strengths and weaknesses. This will be a cakewalk compared to playing vs Death, but it will help you tremendously on the highest difficulty setting because it will help you learn what they can and can't get away with.

I like classics

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is an old favorite that I cannot leave behind even though graphics and sound are dated. Gameplay is quite addicting and guess what? It runs smoothly on Windows XP even though it was created ages ago. Most oldies I like to replay I have to run on my old Windows98 machine that I keep around just for this purpose. But LoM sits comfortably next to Civ4 and Heroes of M&M V on my XP machine.

Lords of cRacK!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I can't sToP pLAYinG.!!! I rediscovered this game after running into a mod site (got google? Keyword mantera gs5 impz xorgate lomse) and downloaded the mod and more importantly MODIFICATION TOOLS that allows access to the game's engine to edit spells units artifacts and other aspects of the game's engine.

Fundamentally, the game is still the same, with that unique ability to barter and beg 6 wildcats for 1 Xena from other, more clever AI players that makes it so unique among these types of games. However the mod (and you need to get this game if only to check out the mod and aforementioned mod tools), changes things in such a way to correct bugs left over from the final Special Edition release and the later LOMSE.exe beta patch and added a few extras such as AI security for capitol and the temple.

Even without the mod this game is slamming!!!.

Load times for dungeons and encounters are quick on the XP Pentium 4's and though the mouse moves way to fast for overland and combat scroll, the keyboard arrow keys work just fine.

After 8 years LORDS of MAGIC did not get older, it got better.

UPDATE --A fan "finished" the game with release of a 3.02 patch that corrects some problems from the earlier released 3.01 beta patch (use keyword search as described above to find both patches).

Classic Strategy RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Try this game out. Even though it's old, it's worth a look. One of my all time favorites!

Good game, not the finest

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: May 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I remember getting this game a while back when I was younger. The game was difficult to master, which I attributed to my young age, but I loved to play it because of the nice atmosphere it gave; beautiful, fantasy surrounding, pleasant music, pretty landscape (the 3D terrain had an enhancing effect over other strategy RPGs I had played on the PC before). Overall, I enjoyed the game a lot.
Moving back to the present day, I had lost my copy and was itching to play it again, having all but forgotten what the game was like. My girlfriend and I had gotten hooked on Age of Wonders, and I wanted to investigate similar games for her.
I ordered LoM SE on Amazon not too long after. After installing and playing the game for a bit, I was a little dissapointed. I was still the game that I remember, but it seemed deficient in ways I hadn't noticed before.
For example, the graphics did not age well. I can go back and play much older games from my childhood such as Quest for Glory I & II (SCI engine) and still marvel at how beautiful the graphics are despite only 16 available colors and a screen resolution of 320x240. This is double edged, because while I feel that LoM has pretty graphics, they still seem to work out poorly in the long run.
Secondly, I still find the gameplay to be difficult. I'm not a kid anymore, and I have since mastered other fantasy RPGs, but the system in LoM seems a bit awkward and difficult to master. I couldn't play it for more than a half hour.
Overall, I think it's a good game. Even though it's not my cup of tea anymore, I can see that lots of other people really love it, so if you like the genre then I give it a good recommendation. The price tag is very cheap, and it's well worth a grab.

One Of the Best Games I've Ever Played!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: June 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

As I said above this is a really great game, even though the graphics are not 3-D. I would suggest that if you like 1 minute killing games like halo, then this game would probably not be very enjoying. But if you like Dungeons and Dragons type games, then this is the game for you! If you are a first timer, I have a few tips. Let's say you have a high leveled Thief, Warrior, or Mage. Then you should put that unit in either the Barracks, the Mage Tower or the Theves Guild. Then you wait a couple of turns, and after that look back at the "make unit" and you will see a unit that you can make at a higher level! This is also different from normal Lords of magic because you can customize and create a party. To do that you choose a faith,(Life,Air,Order,Death,Chaos,Water,Fire, or Earth,) and click on custom you should see a setup. The object of the game is to kill the evil mage death lord, Balkoth. But if you are balkoth than you have to kill all the other faiths. (You Must kill balkoth first to be death!) The big deal about faiths is that you like some other faiths, and others you hate. This game has a very, very good AI reation system, making it able to parley, or fight.(Parley means to barter over units,artifacts,buildings and spells.) Oh! And speaking of fighting, you can autocalc, which means the computer calculates the battle. (I like to use this when i'm not sure of the outcome of the battle.) Also I like to save before I fight a high Leveled area. Well, I hope you buy this game, it is a real winner!

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!

Fire is good

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have had this game for a year, but I have still not beat it. It is tough, but it is a fun tough that you get addicted to. You start the game by picking a class for your champion-Warrior, Mage, or Thief. Next you pick a faith, all with different strengths and weaknesses. You have to fight monsters in caves to build up your experience, and then take your Great Temple. That is just the very beginning. The graphics for this game are not the best considering the games that are out now like Halo and the Matrix, but the gameplay is what keeps me coming back to my computer. I have always liked strategy games and fiction; this game combines the two. I like the turn-based playing system because you don't have to worry about being attacked while your trying to do something like in Age of Empires. Resource gathering and troop producing is more realistic in this game than in any other one I've played. The special Quest are great. This is a game you do not want to use cheats on, because they make the game dumb. I give it 5 stars, the gameplay overshadowing the poor graphics.

so sweet!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 6
Date: November 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Ilove the graphics,music,the so-so battle,and the nonstop carecters.the fact that u get to be the bad guy(balkoth)after u defeat him the first time is not original but after u play as him everone else just stinks.the weapons are beutifully graphic and magic divercity is unparelel.also that u can command fallowers to mine for u and be trained up to worriors.this is the m,ost realistic medival game i ever played!u even have too summon mages to teach u spells from your library.after u play this game u will know what a pro is and forget the word con from your vocab.

Impressions of an amateur

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 13, 2003
Author: Amazon User

First of all, I'd like to say I got a demo of "Lords of Magic : Special Edition" from a friend who never liked it, and when I started playing I immediatedly enjoyed it, especially for the combination of turn-based strategy with the real-time one, which allows a lot of independence on the battlefield to the player. The way followers are being introduced to the player is also one of my preferences, but I think the methods of renewing troops is a little difficult for anyone who plays (I hate having to go all the way to my fortress to recruit warriors so that my experienced ones don't die). Other than that, the game is great. I gave it five stars.

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