Age of Wonders III

 PC
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 627 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 444 out of 627
  2. Mixed: 116 out of 627
  3. Negative: 67 out of 627

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  1. GunnerFire
    Apr 1, 2014
    10
    AOW3 its my first game in the series, but as big fan of Heroes series(3 was the best for me) and fallen enchantress, i can say AOW3 is what heroes should evolved, its play very same as heroesFE but this time you got much more units,spells,quests.

    in the tactical combat there are couple of new new ides and when you play you feel the depth, every unit had its own abilitys, i not too    AOW3 its my first game in the series, but as big fan of Heroes series(3 was the best for me) and fallen enchantress, i can say AOW3 is what heroes should evolved, its play very same as heroesFE but this time you got much more units,spells,quests.

    in the tactical combat there are couple of new new ides and when you play you feel the depth, every unit had its own abilitys, i not too much(only couple of hours) but still i see and feel to whare its go...

    moreover the graphics are very good and the preformance is stay on 60FPS(my card is 660gtx ti 2gb, ultra settings)    … Expand
  2. AwesomeLion
    Mar 31, 2014
    10
    So what are my thoughts on Age of Wonders 3? Let me just start by saying this is going to be a subjective review. There is two ways about it. I love TBS. I love tactical combat in TBS's. I love fantasy setting and I love unique and varied races and units. Age of Wonders 3 hit all these perfectly for me. This is the game I have been waiting for and wanting.

    Let me underline that I have    So what are my thoughts on Age of Wonders 3? Let me just start by saying this is going to be a subjective review. There is two ways about it. I love TBS. I love tactical combat in TBS's. I love fantasy setting and I love unique and varied races and units. Age of Wonders 3 hit all these perfectly for me. This is the game I have been waiting for and wanting.

    Let me underline that I have been participating in the beta for 2 months and have over that time clocked 180 something hours (all within the limitation of real life) in both online and offline modes (yes, you can play offline). Over that time I have gotten a good impression of what the game is about, what it delivers, but more importantly, what it can deliver. The game has such a solid mechanic, that any additional content will just improve more and more on the game.

    I am not a reviewer and I don't know how to write reviews, but what I can do is give you my thoughts on the game. It is complex, it is deep and it really covers the 4X expectations. You get to explore a beautiful map, you get to exploit treasure sites by entering them, fighting the guardians and taking their loot (everything from weapons/equipment to mounts, secret spells, resources, prisoners who will join you and more). You get to expand by building new cities or by having other cities join you through diplomacy, bribes, quests or just conquest! And you get to exterminate all who stand against you in a glorious tactical combat.

    You have heroes who level up and can pick traits, skills and spells as they increase in power, decking them out in magical equipment and riding fantastic mounts from spiders to hell hounds and beyond. You have units who rank up and become stronger and learn new abilities, increasing their tactical value. You have access to great spells that can shape the land, makes cities riot, devestate armies on the strategic map and summon creatures from other places. Spells that can turn the tide on the battlefield and give your opponent a surprise he or she never saw coming.

    There is this and so much more! I am quite horrified to see three votes giving 1 score even before the game is released knowing everyone who has participated in the game so far has been nothing but happy with it. For me, this is just the game I have been waiting for and it combines the best of master of magic, heroes of might and magic, civilization and fallen enchantress. Seeing the game as it is and knowing it is just so incredible fun and that with each addition to it, it can only get better, this is my highest rated TBS game of my so far life time, including all the oldies and classic.

    I can't wait to see other people get to try the game and leave their thoughts on it. I look forward to reading other peoples opinion on the game and I feel confident that any TBS fan will find this game to hit the mark for them.    … Expand
  3. RedKey
    Mar 31, 2014
    10
    Finally the perfect game to scratch my TBS/4X itch! I have a feeling that in 15 years or so I will still be playing Age of Wonders 3. I make this prediction because once in a while I still play the original AoW and it came out in 1999. So unless they come out with an AoW4 or standalone expansion that is even better in every aspect I think this game will stay on my computer and my nextFinally the perfect game to scratch my TBS/4X itch! I have a feeling that in 15 years or so I will still be playing Age of Wonders 3. I make this prediction because once in a while I still play the original AoW and it came out in 1999. So unless they come out with an AoW4 or standalone expansion that is even better in every aspect I think this game will stay on my computer and my next computer and the VR headset after... a long time.

    My favorite part of AoW3 is its focus on tactical combat while still including all the 4 Xs (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) plus RPG elements. There are cities to form into an empire, heroes to level up, spells to research, dungeons to loot, resources to manage, etc... On top of it all players are engaged in battles early and often. The battles are killer fun tactical experiences that take place on their own maps separate from the primary strategy map. When a hex is attacked on the strategy map the armies/stacks in that hex and all neighboring hexes get pulled into the tactical battle. This means there could be 42 units (7 hexes x 6 units/hex) in the same battle and they could even belong to several different players! The combat mechanics like attacks of opportunity, flanking, guarding, and 3 action points to use for movement, multiple attacks, or multiple reactions are very well done. When playing single player I almost always choose to fight each battle manually because they are so much fun, but there is an option to automatically resolve them if you wish.

    One thing that is disappointing about AoW3 at first glance is the number of races. Past AoW games had at least 12 races but AoW3 is releasing with 6. However, this is made up by the new class system which did not exist in previous AoW games. The developers have done an amazing job making both race and class matter. An elven archdruid feels different than a draconian archdruid or an elven warlord. Thus, instead of having simply 12 races to choose from you have 36 race/class combos (6 races x 6 classes). There are also specializations/spheres that further customize your leader and playing experience, similar to previous AoW games. I expect more races to be added in DLC or an expansion and am fine with that.

    The only bad thing I can say about AoW3 is that it feels like the morale systems need to be flushed out a little more. My wish for morale is that your starting/ruling race should have more influence on the morale of your cities and units and diplomatic relations with independent cities. It was important in past AoW games. These things will probably get improved with some patches, and should not stop anyone from buying the game.

    There was a period of years where I played a lot of Civ4 and some Civ5. Eventually I found myself thinking - I wish there was more action in these games and battles were more realistic like... Age of Wonders. Before AoW3 was announced, I searched for recent games with gameplay similar to AoW but nothing seemed to be on the same level. Warlock was too simple and too Civ-y... Total War just didn't draw me in... Others didn't even look worth buying. Age of Wonders seems to fill a special niche that no others do.

    Bottomline: AoW3 takes many of the best parts of its predecessors plus some new goodness to create a masterpiece of the TBS/4X genre.    … Expand
  4. daanelf
    Mar 31, 2014
    10
    Normally i dont write a review on day one. But after watching 60+ hours of content. Visiting the aow3 forums daily and reading most of the reviews on the internet. That have been written by people who spend some effort into analysing the game. I must say this game really has a smooth launch. The game is near perfect for this niche market and beginners and veterans will just love this game.Normally i dont write a review on day one. But after watching 60+ hours of content. Visiting the aow3 forums daily and reading most of the reviews on the internet. That have been written by people who spend some effort into analysing the game. I must say this game really has a smooth launch. The game is near perfect for this niche market and beginners and veterans will just love this game.

    It has good graphics, solid/great AI, clear information, a tome of wonders to look things up. endless amounts of content, a great map generator, editor, good community, great strategical depth. The game is not rushed but ready to play from day one. I could go on and on and some people have done that out here.

    Normally i would rate this game around 8.6/9.2. I dont usually give that high grades. But what would you ever want more out of a game that is cheap and could be one of the greatest games of its kind. Ill give it a 10 because of people who give this game a 1/0 for minor issues like fair prices on gog or minor launch problems on day 1 (i dont have any) .    … Expand
  5. Dryden
    Apr 2, 2014
    10
    This game is great and was worth waiting for. Age of Wonders 3 brings the beauty of all the previous games re-envisioned with better graphics. I also love the ability to create new customized characters and gear.
  6. Sephro
    Mar 31, 2014
    10
    AoW3 is for me the best fantasy 4x experience you can get to this point and in the near future.
    i loved age of wonders - shadow magic (AoW 2.5) and had clocked many hours into the game. this new entry is loaded with depth, known from older titles with all its beloved core features. it also adds some nice new mechanics like classes, some improvements to tactical combat (flanking,    AoW3 is for me the best fantasy 4x experience you can get to this point and in the near future.
    i loved age of wonders - shadow magic (AoW 2.5) and had clocked many hours into the game. this new entry is loaded with depth, known from older titles with all its beloved core features. it also adds some nice new mechanics like classes, some improvements to tactical combat (flanking, opportunity attacks, etc.) and wonderful 3D visuals!
    the AI right now is very good, which for me is one big factor if a strategy, more importantly a 4x game is worth the buy. lets be honest, multiplayer is nice but most 4x lovers play singleplayer because they like epic campaigns and that is exactly what you get here. the random map generator gives out maps which just look awesome and could very well be made by hand which shows the degree of effort they put into these feature to present organic and believable playgrounds.
    the customization in this game is wonderful, starting with the many options of customization for the maps to advanced gameplay rules and not even ending at the superb character designer where you can create your leader after your liking.

    i really can't understand who would give this game a negative score. has it a deep diplomacy system like the grand strategy titles (europa universalis, etc.)? no, the game is more focused on exploration, tactical combat (one if not THE main meat of the game) and RPG elements loke leader / heroe classesk, itemization and leveling. has it 100 buildings which each give +x generic production or +generic modifiers? no, it doesn't try to be an town building / management game like civilization. what the game offers is great depth in parts of 4x fantasy which every fanboy was craving for over the last decade (since AoW:SM came out).

    only reasin i imagine people giving this game a 0 / 1 is if

    a) they believed it to being an egoshooter

    b) an CGI filled adventure / RPG game

    or c) if they are warlock 1 / 2 fanboys which feel threatened by this game somehow, even though its focus is more towards the 4x (hardcore) lovers. before someone cries "fanboy yourself" then yes, i love the AoW-series. warlock 1 was nice and warlock2 seems to become a decent game which is more focused on casual gamers and cheeky humour. people should stay calm and just enjoy these games instead of feeling butthurt over their own misperception.

    or of course there is d) its the internet and people are just trolling.

    i say it again, everyone who loves fantasy 4x or TBS games should consider this game a must buy! there already several lets play series on youtube duo to the developer handing out preview builds to many lets players cause they stand behind their product.

    peace :).    … Expand
  7. Jonhuggs
    Mar 31, 2014
    10
    Let me preface this review by saying that I don't have a lot of experience in this genre outside of the civilization series which I have played since Civ II. With that being said I find this game to be excellent. It is easy to pick up and play but has depth at the same time. I love the inclusion of a story based campaign mode. Downloading and installation was painless and after I set up anLet me preface this review by saying that I don't have a lot of experience in this genre outside of the civilization series which I have played since Civ II. With that being said I find this game to be excellent. It is easy to pick up and play but has depth at the same time. I love the inclusion of a story based campaign mode. Downloading and installation was painless and after I set up an account, verified the email (which came to me in like a minute), put the settings to ultra, and away I went. All in all I highly recommend this game to any tbs fans or anyone interested in trying the genre.… Expand
  8. LordTheRon
    Mar 31, 2014
    10
    Finally the return of this Dutch masterpiece. Almost 12 years after the latest installment Age of Wonders returns bigger and more intruiging than ever. This is a must buy for every TBS gamer. It's fun, it's deep and it's challenging. The tactical combat is imho the best to ever grace a TBS game. It's not overly complicated but has so many things to tinker with and most of all is satisfyingly fun!
  9. Goakhley
    Mar 31, 2014
    10
    Awesome return of an epic game! Looking at the new features, e.g. 3D-engine or class-race-combinations, I am excited to finally see this game returning. Had kinda lost all hope to ever see it again, but yay! :)
  10. vfxrob
    Mar 31, 2014
    10
    This is the best TBS game hands down I have ever played. I had played the old ones and have been actively looking for something that gives the same experience. The tactical battle there is no other game like it, its like table top battles, it takes that idea and brings it to life, using squads of a variety of things like archers, and cavalry and play on siege base scenarios or swamps andThis is the best TBS game hands down I have ever played. I had played the old ones and have been actively looking for something that gives the same experience. The tactical battle there is no other game like it, its like table top battles, it takes that idea and brings it to life, using squads of a variety of things like archers, and cavalry and play on siege base scenarios or swamps and bridges. Or if your into games like XCOM where cover and flanking can change the game and look after your units and heros as they gain metals.

    It also has a great character customization, diplomacy, I like games where I can form alliances with other races to defeat enemies, and the best thing good old hotseat! so I can play with my GF and bro.    … Expand
  11. verglia
    Mar 31, 2014
    9
    This game demands time,and end-turn strategies are not for everyone.All who liked Heroes,king's bounty and aow1,2 will adore this game.It's complex game,nice looking,pretty demanding on specs.Do not buy it if you don't want to invest time and good will,this is not 'relax mode' game,it's serious and will eat you alive on harder diff. 8(just casue it's for true gamers,not casuals).10 forThis game demands time,and end-turn strategies are not for everyone.All who liked Heroes,king's bounty and aow1,2 will adore this game.It's complex game,nice looking,pretty demanding on specs.Do not buy it if you don't want to invest time and good will,this is not 'relax mode' game,it's serious and will eat you alive on harder diff. 8(just casue it's for true gamers,not casuals).10 for hardcore gamers for sure.… Expand
  12. bwort007
    Mar 31, 2014
    10
    A beautiful game for core of pc player. Its very polished with a lot of content. This is real pc strategy gaming. It feels like the xhild of civ and homm but it really stands in his own.
  13. Dano13
    Apr 1, 2014
    9
    A very solid game and polished game. Stable too! I have played for about 4 hours and have been amazed at the depth and beauty of the game. Its been a LONG time since I played a turn based 4x game of this caliber. It also ships with an editor that looks pretty darned sophisticated (I haven't been able to explore it too much as it also looks pretty complicated).
    A lot of the negative    A very solid game and polished game. Stable too! I have played for about 4 hours and have been amazed at the depth and beauty of the game. Its been a LONG time since I played a turn based 4x game of this caliber. It also ships with an editor that looks pretty darned sophisticated (I haven't been able to explore it too much as it also looks pretty complicated).
    A lot of the negative reviews are complaining that you need an account to play the game. I can't understand their rage as their is a big checkbox on the front screen that says "Play offline/guest account". I have played for about 4 hours and haven't even tried to get an account yet. I am pretty sure that account requirement is just for multiplayer - but I concede that perhaps it could have been presented better.    … Expand
  14. Ali-Sayani
    Apr 1, 2014
    10
    Improves on almost every features of a.o.w.s.m and for those who're saying that races aren't as unique, please play this game for some more time, the races are very unique just give them some more try. there can be as many as 6*6 variations of races and classes in game.
  15. Chassel
    Apr 1, 2014
    10
    Absolutely delivers on everything that made Shadow Magic one of the best TBS ever made and more. Combat significantly improved, increasing unit health and eliminating misses and adding flanking makes is a huge improvement in the way combat plays out. Character creation is rich, random map generator so far seems to be a great improvement as well. The tools are also fairly robust so IAbsolutely delivers on everything that made Shadow Magic one of the best TBS ever made and more. Combat significantly improved, increasing unit health and eliminating misses and adding flanking makes is a huge improvement in the way combat plays out. Character creation is rich, random map generator so far seems to be a great improvement as well. The tools are also fairly robust so I suspect we'll be seeing some amazing maps out of the modding community.… Expand
  16. Khyrid
    Apr 5, 2014
    3
    I played the first two Age of Wonders games a lot for years and I love them. I hate to have to say it, but this third game is a disappointment. It forces the player's strategy too much, limiting you to one option. You are put in positions where you need to rush and that's all you can do if you hope to win vs the poorly programmed cheating supplemented AI.

    You have to send out small fast    I played the first two Age of Wonders games a lot for years and I love them. I hate to have to say it, but this third game is a disappointment. It forces the player's strategy too much, limiting you to one option. You are put in positions where you need to rush and that's all you can do if you hope to win vs the poorly programmed cheating supplemented AI.

    You have to send out small fast units to grab undefended AI cities which feels more like an exploit than normal game mechanics.

    In combat I was fighting to siege an enemy fort and our armies were evenly matched, so obviously I wanted to use some strategy and position my forces for the best approach. Not in AoW3. In this game you're penalized for using strategy. A message popped up after only a few turns saying that no unit had been damaged fast enough and the battle was ended. The only option I have is to rush at the gates so my forces can get cut down by their defenses.

    I don't have time for games like this. It's unbalanced. The AI gets bonus money to spam OP units on normal or higher. Any difficulty easier than that is too easy and no challenge.

    Here's some advice for the devs, actually try to program AI routines. Not just a few basic ones, stop think about why the AI is losing strategically and make routines for dealing with those scenarios. It's obvious you didn't even try. You should probably try to hire me to fix your terrible AI.    … Expand
  17. Vasot
    Apr 1, 2014
    9
    Great game and certainly the best of the series and the Enemy AI is one of the best i have ever seen making the game pretty challenging at times. There is a lot of quality for a 4x strategy game
  18. socokid
    Mar 31, 2014
    8
    Aside from the earliest reviews here... getting 10's from people who have one review (this game) before the game was even released...

    I have been playing for about 20 hours'ish now. The button design makes me think something isn't in focus, but otherwise I am having quite a bit of fun. The first few hours were disorienting (spend the time to do the reading when learning something new),    Aside from the earliest reviews here... getting 10's from people who have one review (this game) before the game was even released...

    I have been playing for about 20 hours'ish now. The button design makes me think something isn't in focus, but otherwise I am having quite a bit of fun. The first few hours were disorienting (spend the time to do the reading when learning something new), but it has since settled in nicely.

    Save... a lot. Currently having a blast.    … Expand
  19. Miskin
    Apr 1, 2014
    10
    What a gem AoW3 is! How beautiful and enjoyable! Satisfying my inner turn based strategy addiction and going further beyond...

    Sid Meier is going to play AoW3 so hard, he will probably forget the release of Civ6 for 10 years! Alas another 10 years of wait till AoW4 and Civ6. What a terrible fate for all TBS lovers!

    Take my 10 and let me play!
  20. naroom
    Apr 1, 2014
    10
    This game is the best in the series, and a fantastic turn-based strategy game. And the soundtrack is incredible! This should have been the music to Lord of the Rings :)
  21. balvan64
    May 30, 2014
    4
    At first I thought this is a good game, but after a few hours in I realized I was just fooling myself, it's a bad game.

    * After killing 11 out of 12 soldiers in a squad it still does the same damage as if nothing changed, * Not enough ruins and such to explore, you barely get 2 items per game. * Strategic battle starting positions are insane. * Heroes customization has too many    At first I thought this is a good game, but after a few hours in I realized I was just fooling myself, it's a bad game.

    * After killing 11 out of 12 soldiers in a squad it still does the same damage as if nothing changed,
    * Not enough ruins and such to explore, you barely get 2 items per game.
    * Strategic battle starting positions are insane.
    * Heroes customization has too many useless traits, and even level 10 heroes aren't that powerful.
    * You can only cast 1 spell per combat round, but what if you have 2 casters? or 3?
    * Casting global enchantments is pointless, whatever you cast is immediately dispelled the following round.
    * Heroes only give their bonuses if they are leaders, so you can't stack two heroes in an army. why?!
    * All races have the same buildings.
    * There is almost no different between the units of each race (priest shots fire, priest shots poison etc...)
    * It takes ages to clear a map, and it's mostly waiting on your cities to produce enough units to take down the 3 army stacks the computer has holed up in his castle. really really boring.

    I can go on for ages, this is a bad game, they did not think this through, this is a big disappointment!    … Expand
  22. Zalzany
    Apr 2, 2014
    3
    Imagine AoW from days of old. You had the large detailed filled UI that took up about 1/4 the screen at times over 1/3. It has detailed info, and descriptions when your magnet things in the city, or looking at unit stats. Now imagine a free Ipad app with generic bubble themed buttons, and pop ups that are transparent and disappear out of sight like one big mouse over tooltip. Now smashImagine AoW from days of old. You had the large detailed filled UI that took up about 1/4 the screen at times over 1/3. It has detailed info, and descriptions when your magnet things in the city, or looking at unit stats. Now imagine a free Ipad app with generic bubble themed buttons, and pop ups that are transparent and disappear out of sight like one big mouse over tooltip. Now smash them together with some old 3d graphics, a few new features that sound awesome.

    What you get is an ugly thing that looks like it should be on an Asian website as F2P and be for your tablet or facebook profile. Granted it is a bit big for that. It has lots of stuff to it, nice new features like researching unit tech suppose to just needing to hit X city size and have y production to make the building needed to train. I love all the the stuff on paper, but visually it looks like a knockoff of the franchise, and like it as little work and thought as possible was put into the UI.

    Every thing is designed so you can look at the pretty most the time still back ground like you paid 39.99 to preorder a back drop that moves from time to time. No detailed info at easy access, no feel that the old ones had that every decision mean something. It went from a game of chess, to a kids travel edition checkers, easy to use, and folds away out of sight when not in use. Went from detailed chess pieces stored off to the side of the bored when not in play to generic magnets with pieces of plastic glued to them that just get stuck to the board, then easily vanishes under the the table that doubles as a box as far as unit and city details went    … Expand
  23. tranxhdr
    Jun 10, 2014
    6
    As for turned-based strategy games go, this one is by far the best one currently available. The game gets quite repetitive quickly which gets a little boring after a while.
  24. Sethland
    Jun 7, 2014
    6
    AOW3 is an OK game, but not much more than that; For me I think the main attraction was it being a turn based strategy game, which there are not many off, and I had much fun with AOW2. However, AOW3 does not in any way live up to either AOW2 or the HOMM series.
    Maps are extremely boring, with few resources, points of interest or other goodies. The "dungeons" you can explore are quite fun    AOW3 is an OK game, but not much more than that; For me I think the main attraction was it being a turn based strategy game, which there are not many off, and I had much fun with AOW2. However, AOW3 does not in any way live up to either AOW2 or the HOMM series.
    Maps are extremely boring, with few resources, points of interest or other goodies. The "dungeons" you can explore are quite fun however. The graphics in general are lackluster, and it's very hard to see on the world map where resources, POI's etc are located.
    Hero building is pretty good and diverse, and the fact that your hero is a unit is something HOMM could learn from. The larger scale combat maps and siege type combats work well too.
    However there're just too many cities to conquer, be they from another faction or from independent parties, and large and huge maps are just not very enjoyable. It's the same stuff - fight 3-4 mobs manually (because the auto combat function is **** 5 times or so every turn and then build a few things.
    The only break in monotony is boss battles where you fight e.g. 18 vs 18; those are fun and requires just a minimum of strategic planning - all other battles don't as the AI is horrible.

    In conclusion, I'd say that I'm fairly disappointed by this game and that it doesn't reach HOMM 4-6's level at all. Your money would be much better spent getting any of those games.    … Expand
  25. Babutto
    Jun 21, 2023
    7
    It's a cool game. But the time when I enjoyed it had passed.

    Pros.: - They finally let you play orcs, goblins, etc. during campaign without drawing them as forces of evil (as before). - Cool graphics. - Good old mechanics. - Many units and development. - Choices. - The story is decent. Cons.: - Even though the game tries to be as old I didn't feel the vibe. It was hard for me    It's a cool game. But the time when I enjoyed it had passed.

    Pros.:
    - They finally let you play orcs, goblins, etc. during campaign without drawing them as forces of evil (as before).
    - Cool graphics.
    - Good old mechanics.
    - Many units and development.
    - Choices.
    - The story is decent.

    Cons.:
    - Even though the game tries to be as old I didn't feel the vibe. It was hard for me to feel the vibe of the game before with all its complexity. But now its even harder because the game is more variable.

    I recommend it of course. Maybe, when I grow old, I will play again. But not now for sure.    … Expand
  26. TsukasaHiiragi
    Feb 15, 2015
    5
    Same old story with the Age of Wonders series, don't get me wrong - its not a bad franchise but with unfair AI bonuses, and even a little cheating it makes for an rather distasteful game. We all know that the AI loves to stack units just outside your vision range, meaning it knows where your cities are at all times, knows your weaknesses and will exploit them - seems to ignore commonSame old story with the Age of Wonders series, don't get me wrong - its not a bad franchise but with unfair AI bonuses, and even a little cheating it makes for an rather distasteful game. We all know that the AI loves to stack units just outside your vision range, meaning it knows where your cities are at all times, knows your weaknesses and will exploit them - seems to ignore common player problems like upkeep and even occasionally spawns 'extra' units outside of skills/summons. Overall, AoWIII isn't really that much of an upgrade to Shadow Magic, minus the fact the AI in AoW:SM was dumber and cheated less.… Expand
  27. Socram
    Apr 13, 2014
    5
    After reading some reviews where the game was praised as a perfect mixture of HoMM and Civ (which I both love), I bought this title... only to be bored quite quickly.
    The UI has some shortcomings like missing "effective" range indicators and the "all-knowing" Tome of Wonders does not contain any info on some searches that I did.
    While the graphics esepcially in the overview map are very    After reading some reviews where the game was praised as a perfect mixture of HoMM and Civ (which I both love), I bought this title... only to be bored quite quickly.
    The UI has some shortcomings like missing "effective" range indicators and the "all-knowing" Tome of Wonders does not contain any info on some searches that I did.
    While the graphics esepcially in the overview map are very aesthetic and the soundtrack is well composed, the proclaimed tactical combat lacks eye- and earcandy... the animations and spell effects are lackluster, the sound doesn't feel very impactful... things that imho were better even in older HoMM titles.
    My biggest contra is the empire management where the best procedure seems to be to stomp out as many cities and units as possible while not bothering all that much about your resources. Meaningful decisions about which buildings to get in your cities? Hardly. There are also few incentives to recruit weaker units as you can quickly progress to the highest tiers... if you know what to research. And while I normally love random elements in such games, it doesn't feel right in the research section of AoW3.
    Some of these things (like gettings many cities asap) might be changable in the random map games, but first I'd like to finish the singleplayer campaigns to get a feel for the game. And while the story with it's good english speakers can induce some atmosphere, the levels just cannot motivate me to play through them.
    On the plus side: The AI of the game seems to be well programmed, both in the strategic and tactical section.    … Expand
  28. Knight9910
    Apr 2, 2014
    9
    Age of Wonders, in a nutshell, is a series that combines the best aspects of a Civilization game, with the best aspects of a fantasy RPG, in the same vein as games like Dominions or Might & Magic.

    I've been a fan of the Age of Wonders series since Age of Wonders 2: The Wizard's Throne, and like a lot of fans I looked forward with eager anticipation to the release of a new game in this    Age of Wonders, in a nutshell, is a series that combines the best aspects of a Civilization game, with the best aspects of a fantasy RPG, in the same vein as games like Dominions or Might & Magic.

    I've been a fan of the Age of Wonders series since Age of Wonders 2: The Wizard's Throne, and like a lot of fans I looked forward with eager anticipation to the release of a new game in this series. Age of Wonders 3 does not disappoint. Combat is much tighter and faster paced than before, and there are more interesting things to do on the world map. Graphics are perfect, by which I mean that they spent just the right amount of time and resources on them - enough to look good, but not so much as to detract from gameplay or slow down your system.

    The game isn't perfect - there are still a few bugs to work out (myself and the other beta testers tried our best, but sometimes you just can't fix all of these things by release), and there isn't quite as much content (in terms of races, classes, and the like) as there was in previous installments - for example, we're down to only 6 starting races as opposed to Shadow Magic's 15 races. The developers have, however, promised to keep updating the game, fixing bugs, tightening the gameplay even further, and introducing new content. So far we've been told we'll see the return of the Halfling race, as well as the introduction of a Necromancer class and a hinted-at Merchant class.

    I would recommend this game to anyone. If you're a fan of the series, definitely check it out. If you're not a fan, go ahead and check it out anyway.    … Expand
  29. Bogdan0x400
    May 2, 2014
    2
    I expected to play a similar game to AoW2 with old bad stuff being thrown away. But what do I see instead?
    The Cons:
    1. Gameplay has got even slower than in AoW2. There is a lot to automate in UI. Now I have to click even more buttons and messages than I've used before. I want to be able to automate most stuff so I won't feel as if I am working instead of playing. Personally for me this    I expected to play a similar game to AoW2 with old bad stuff being thrown away. But what do I see instead?
    The Cons:
    1. Gameplay has got even slower than in AoW2. There is a lot to automate in UI. Now I have to click even more buttons and messages than I've used before. I want to be able to automate most stuff so I won't feel as if I am working instead of playing. Personally for me this the biggest con, and this is why I've stopped playing this game after ~10 hours in total. I don't want to micromanage woeful stuff that mu computer should do for me.
    2. AI on strategic map is really stupid.
    3. Looks like they've spent most of their development time on graphics. Personnaly I would still buy AoW3 with old graphics, but better gameplay, and would enjoy it.
    4. No possibility to run an autocombat and then go manual combat like in HoMM. Come on, was it so difficult to implement?
    5. Most spells are useless.
    6. Cities have more structures, and most of them become useless because you'll produce 1 unit at 1 time.
    7. Ever run out of mana?
    the Pros:
    1. You can have much more casting points.
    2. Attacks and damaging spells don't miss.    … Expand
  30. ArjaaAine
    Apr 8, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am a big fan of the series, but I was disappointed here.
    The UI is very clunky compared to the older versions. It now takes too many clicks to get a lot of basic tasks done.

    One big pet peeve of mine is that you can't cycle between cities (or i couldn't find how to). You have to manually click a city and then find the next city to click too. Which would be fine, if the map was not so cluttered.

    Another problem is that the building description is a tooltip rather than a fixed menu on the right.. like the old games. So, more often it is too much of a pain to figure out what exactly does the building do.

    The unit screen is a total mess, with again no unit description menu.. So, i have to hover my mouse over the unit name and wait a few seconds to see what the unit's powers actually are. Plus there is no differentiation in the UI over tier1 -tier2 - tier3 units.. so I have to right click a unit and check its wiki before I know what tier the unit is off. In the old game, the units were organized so that the cheapest 3 were always tier1, and so on.

    There is no mini-map in the battle... Yes, let that sink in for a while.. no mini map in the battle screen. So, battling in any zoom level but the lowest is too slow and annoying.

    They have removed the strategic aspect of attacking the city from 4 sides. Now you only attack from one side.. the front.

    The hero upgrade screen is just chock full of upgrades, most of them are useless.. and there is no upgrade tree.. So, you have no idea how to unlock the better upgrades.

    I though do like the new buildings as they do offer a lot of different strategies in what buildings to build first.. but the UI is just so horrible, all the joy of city management goes out of the window.

    Too many things in the game are a mix and match between right and left clicks. Your attacks in battle would only hit if you right click.. even though you select the unit using left click. Heroes can be equipped using right click, even though you left clicked on the inventory.

    It gets tedious to constantly have the wrong click.

    It is a playable game, but not unlike AoW2 where tasks were fun and not a chore. I have played AoW2 nonstop for 10 years.. but AoW3.. i am just going to play because i paid for it.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

71
#71 Best PC Game of 2014
44
#44 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
57
#57 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 35 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 35
  3. Negative: 0 out of 35
  1. Ragequit.gr
    Jul 30, 2014
    84
    Age of Wonders III offers a very good option for turn-base strategy fans, continuing successfully the legacy of the series. It offers many hours of play, especially if you want to taste every bit of detail. Some further improvements which would force the player to ponder of his strategy before acting are needed. Nonetheless, Age of Wonders III is an amazing game that will always keep you thinking "one more turn".
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  2. CD-Action
    Jun 28, 2014
    95
    There was nothing in the way of Age of Wonders III maintaining the quality level of its predecessors. But that did not happen and instead of another solid title we got a game that will make every armchair strategist cry... tears of joy. [05/2014, p.52]
  3. DarkStation
    May 21, 2014
    80
    If you enjoyed the previous Age of Wonders games and you had any reservations about this game, then rest easy – it is a very good one.
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