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Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic

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Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic
Developer(s)Triumph Studios
Publisher(s)Gathering
Director(s)Lennart Sas
Producer(s)Chris Lacey
Designer(s)Lennart Sas
Programmer(s)Arno van Wingerden
Writer(s)Raymond Bingham
Josh Farley
Composer(s)Mason B. Fisher
SeriesAge of Wonders
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NA: July 24, 2003[1]
  • EU: August 29, 2003
Genre(s)Turn-based strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic is a turn-based strategy video game in a fantasy setting. Shadow Magic is the third incarnation of the Age of Wonders series, and is a stand-alone expansion to Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne. All three games were developed by Triumph Studios. The series is the spiritual successor to Master of Magic, featuring strategic overworld and tactical combat layers.

Core game elements

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Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic overworld screenshot, showing a Wizard to the left of a city with a Wizard's Tower

The key element of the Wizard's Throne and Shadow Magic are the player's leader, the Wizards. In contrast to other iterations of the series, they do not gain experience and are weaker in direct combat than Heroes, who can be hired. As with preceding games, players can research spells from chosen elemental spheres of magic, cast at vastly longer range when residing in AOW2's defining Wizard Towers, returning less prominently in Age of Wonders 4. There are fifteen races in the game, of varying good and evil alignment.

The overworld contains basic Civilization-style cities, with unit and building production, along with gold and mana strategic resources and locales like dungeons. Game scenarios offer three different layers, the Surface, Underground and Shadow World, added in Shadow Magic, which returns in AOW 4: Eldritch Realms as the more hostile, dungeon-focused Umbral Abyss. The campaign focuses in part on its titular antagonist, the Shadow Demons.

As with its predecessors, Shadow Magic was designed for single-player and multiplayer, retaining a more active multiplayer community versus its AOW2 baseline. While the graphical engine is the same as that of The Wizard's Throne, every race received new buildings and at least one new recruitable unit, three new races, and new maps. Much requested by fans, Shadow Magic introduced random map generation to the series.

After the end of the official support with patch 1.3, the game was unofficially developed by the fan-community via a community patch.[2][3] The franchise was re-released on Stardock's Impulse digital distribution service in September 2010,[4] soon after via GOG.com and GamersGate,[5] and finally through Steam service.

Reception

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The editors of Computer Gaming World presented Shadow Magic with their 2003 "Strategy Game of the Year" award. They wrote: "Of all the strategy games we played this year, Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic is the only one with the 'just one more turn' addictiveness that distinguishes the best of the best".[11] It was a nominee for PC Gamer US's 2003 "Best Turn-Based Strategy Game" award, although it lost to Combat Mission: Afrika Korps.[12]

References

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  1. ^ Calvert, Justin (July 24, 2003). "Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic ships". GameSpot. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  2. ^ "Massive Unofficial AoW:SM Game Update Available!". Triumph Studios. 2005. Archived from the original on 2005-12-17. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  3. ^ Unofficial Patch v1.4
  4. ^ "Age of Wonders II Heaven". HeavenGames.
  5. ^ "AGE OF WONDERS® SERIES DIGITALLY RE-RELEASED!". Triumph Studios. Archived from the original on 2012-05-19. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  6. ^ Jackson, Jonah (October 1, 2003). "Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic". Computer Gaming World. Archived from the original on May 31, 2004.
  7. ^ Vederman, Greg. "Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic". PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on February 13, 2008.
  8. ^ Bemis, Greg (August 18, 2003). "Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic (PC) Review". X-Play. Archived from the original on December 5, 2004.
  9. ^ Cobbett, Richard (September 2003). "Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic". PC Format (152). Archived from the original on May 20, 2008.
  10. ^ Sones, Benjamin E. (October 2003). "Opinion; Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic". Computer Games Magazine (155): 86, 88.
  11. ^ Editors of CGW (March 2004). "Computer Gaming World's 2003 Games of the Year". Computer Gaming World. No. 236. pp. 57–60, 62–69.
  12. ^ Staff (March 2004). "The 10th Annual PC Gamer Awards". PC Gamer US. 11 (3): 38–40, 42, 44, 45.
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