Age of Wonders III: Eternal Lords Reviews
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Given the fact that it's been available for nearly a month now, it seems like a good time to wade through the various critiques that have been posted online for Triumph Studios' Age of Wonders III: Eternal Lords expansion pack.
GameSpot gives it an 8/10:
Strategy game legend and Civilization creator Sid Meier once said, "Games are a series of interesting decisions." By that metric, Age of Wonders III: Eternal Lords is excellent. Your possibility space is vast, and you can craft your adventure and your nation in any number of ways. Systems of morality, player races and classes, and governance all work together to create an interlocking web of player-driven narrative potential. This expansion's only real weaknesses are those endemic to the structure of the base game, but Eternal Lords is a worthy follow-up and fresh take on the classic turn-based strategy game formula.
GameWatcher gives it a 9.0/10:
Like all good expansions, Eternal Lords doesn't just throw in a bunch of new content at random (though that's not to say there isn't a ridiculous amount of new goodies, because there is). It carefully re-considers the mechanics of the core game and offers interesting new ways to approach familiar problems. The big draw here is the inventive Necromancer class, which is just heaps of fun, but both the two new races and the range of smaller changes, like the new options for a peaceful victory, are smart additions that will make Age of Wonders 3 feel fresh again to even the most jaded player. Take note, developers; this is how you do a good expansion pack.
eXplorminate gives it a "Recommended" verdict:
The Eternal Lords expansion for Age of Wonders III adds the much anticipated new races (Frostling and Tigran) and a new class (Necromancer) alongside other improvements, such as: cosmic events, three alignment-based specializations, a racial upgrade system, and a new victory condition. The new class and races fit extremely well into the existing lineup while considerably adding to the diversity in content for the game. The Necromancer in particular stands out as an exceptionally well-conceived approach to playing the Undead that is fun, challenging, and thematic. The new specializations make strategic choices with alignment impacts more important to the gameplay, as you now have a compelling reason to maintain a particular alignment. The racial upgrade system and the new Unifier victory condition are both clever ideas that are fun and original, however both systems feel a little tacked on and disjointed. If you have been waiting to try out or return to AoW3, Eternal Lords is a great addition to a solid game. In conjunction with concurrent release of the 1.5 patch, AoW3 is now a more complete and engaging fantasy 4X game.
OnRPG gives it a 4/5:
I'm in love with Age of Wonders III all over again. It's a terrific fantasy strategy game with something new and fresh being offered in both expansions. New victory conditions, new classes (or returns of old favorites), new characters, lore areas, lengthy and challenging campaigns! Sure, the game is unforgiving and difficult, but it's a nice hearken back to older strategy games of my youth such as Heroes of Might and Magic, as I have probably said before. Kudos to AoWIII, they are really offering something unique, fun and suitably difficult. And I have to say, I love resurrecting cities in my own grim visage. That was one of the coolest points to be offered in the new expansion. Though I have to say that I still hate the controls. I do not feel they have gotten any better. Sometimes simply clicking on a unit is not enough and that drives me mad, but not enough to hate this title.
FamiGami gives it an 86%:
Age of Wonders III: Eternal Lords adds on a decent amount of content to an already good game and should provide several additional hours of fun for fans of the base title.
And CGM gives it an 8/10:
In the end, this scratches my Necromancer itch pretty nicely. You feel like you're raising the people of a nation to serve you as undead, and becoming an immortal god-mage in the process. Combining it with other schools of magic and even pursuing the .ood' alignment (necromancy is not truly bound to an alignment, and you can play good or evil if you wish) opens up quite a few possibilities. I'd say this expansion is fairly worth the money, if you really want to add onto your Age of Wonders III experience as a death-defying binder of souls.
