Elemental - War of Magic review

Although Elemental: War of Magic doesn't bring anything new to the 4X genre, it does a good job of drawing the player in with deep, addicting gameplay. My apologies for the quality of my voice, as I was a bit ill and my voice wasn't at full strength while recording the review narrative. And a special thanks goes out to the retailers who broke the release date, enabling me to complete this review less than 24 hours after the "official" release date.

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• elemental
• war of magic
• review
• stardock
• 4x
• strategy
• war
• magic

[wakkaboom1987]

My friend can you review this game again with the current patch, I would like to know how it improved or if they made it worse, I would like to know your opinion if you don't mind replying here. Thanks!

[dcalpha007]

@wakkaboom1987 Quick review (because I lost my voice and can't speak very well). Stability if the game is greatly improved. Population and city development are completely revamped for the better. There's more "magic" in the game. Combat (if played out) is also better refined. General AI improvements, although you still have to play on higher difficulties for a challenge. Overall, the changes have been improvements.

[isusmen]

Looks like a Age of Wonders ripoff...

[dcalpha007]

@isusmen Personally, I'd have a difficult time coming up with a fantasy-themed strategy game these days that didn't copy elements from other similar games. These days, it's pretty much all been done before.

Even so, you're not far off: Stardock tried unsuccessfully to secure the rights to the "Master of Magic" brand name; Elemental was originally planned as something of a remake. Age of Wonders was yet another spin on the same thing. The similarities you see are actually intentional.

[dcalpha007]

It's worth noting that, to a large degree, this review doesn't even apply anymore. With the 1.1 patch--and with a 1.2 patch coming very soon--Elemental is now a different game than it was upon release. I personally think it's a better game, but I had to relearn everything. The single-player campaign is still dull, and the in-game "encyclopedia" is still poorly done and generally uninformative. You'll have to read the forums to really understand how to play the game.

[Ididsubmititalready]

They think they are cool calling this 4x instead of turn based. It's TURN BASED. If it quacks like a duck...it's a duck.

[dcalpha007]

@Ididsubmititalready I'm not sure I understand your comment. Elemental IS a "4X" game; the 4X meaning "explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate". In fact, the vast majority of 4X games are turn-based strategy games. Perhaps you're confusing the the definition of "4X" with something else? "RTS", perhaps?

[dcalpha007]

@Jackalofdeath No habla Ingles? :)

[lampuiho]

I can say that FFH2 is better just by watching your review.

[Luciffrit]

@Luciffrit Oh I actually threw this game in the bin...

[Luciffrit]

@Luciffrit it*

[Luciffrit]

Ok my review... I wasted $24 on this game. Major issues with updating it let alone playing the game. I would seem heaps of people have an issue where the game crashes on the loading screen.

[Luciffrit]

hmm I installed and patched the game... and it crashes before it even loads.

[Luciffrit]

@dcalpha007 I typed rts in and got this. I have been eyeing it off in the game store though. Might be the first 4x that I'll own. Never really liked the genre when I first started playing games like CIV and Settlers.

Hmm I guess Disciples might fall under this kind of game, I have 2 and 3, though haven't really played them much.

[Luciffrit]

I have one question... Is Tom Hanks doing the commentary? =O

[Zataku]

Honestly, this game is really fun. If they'd released the finished and polished version with all the crashing problems fixed and all the patches in place, I would have honestly no complaints.