Age of Wonders 4 - PS5

ESRB Rating:
Release Date: 5-2-2023
Critic Score (1-100): 80
Genre(s): Strategy / tactics, Fantasy, Turn-based, Diagonal-down, Free camera, 4X, Point and select, Multiple units/characters control, Turn-based strategy (TBS)
Media Type(s): Physical

Pre-purchase Age of Wonders 4 and receive the following content:

• Age of Wonders 4 Base game
• Aric Rex Ruler
• Lion Plate Armor Set
• Athlan Crown
• Imperial Cape

Rule a fantasy realm of your own design in Age of Wonders 4! Explore new magical realms in Age of Wonders' signature blend of 4X strategy and turn-based tactical combat. Control a faction that grows and changes as you expand your empire with each turn.

Triumph Studios' award-winning strategy series has emerged into a new age, evolving the game's iconic empire building, role-playing, and warfare to the next level. A new storytelling event system and hugely customizable empires provide an endlessly replayable experience, where each game adds a new chapter to your ever-growing saga.

Powerful Wizard Kings have returned to the realms to reign as gods among mortals. Claim and master the Tomes of Magic to evolve your people, and prepare for an epic battle that will determine the ages to come.

• Craft your followers by combining bodily forms, societal traits and arcane powers. Build anything from a clan of cannibal halflings to mystic moon elves, or recreate your favorite fantasy tropes
• Seek powerful tomes of magic to enchant your armies and evolve your people! See your people physically change as they morph into angelic beings or scions of chaos to face their enemies.
• Seek glory through brutal domination, cunning alliances, or ultimate arcane knowledge, and write your legacy into the very fabric of the realm itself!

• Every choice opens up new possibilities and tactical advantages; deep, multilayered strategy allows you to try new tactics or explore new powers at every turn
• Tactical turn-based battles bring your armies to life, showcasing their power in an environment shaped by your decisions. From skirmishes with roaming monsters to vast sieges with dozens of units on each side, with the addition of a morale system and more features, every battle brings a fresh challenge
• Tremendous variety in empires, units, and environments keep the game endlessly replayable. Age of Wonders is more moddable and open-ended than ever in the series' history

• Explore a new realm with each game - or create your own! Challenge new variations and combinations of locations and features, from frozen wastelands ruled by ice queens to desolated ruins where dragons roam
• A new event system provides unexpected levels of storytelling for 4X games. See your decisions shape the world around you, from growing cities and roaming armies to world-warping magic effects
• Guide your empire to greatness - but the story doesn't end with your victory or defeat! Ascend your rulers to an in-game pantheon and unlock ways to further customize your experience. Encounter your own creations as potential rivals or allies in subsequent games, and experience the next chapter in your own story!

Age of Wonders 4 is a 4X turn-based strategy which returns the franchise to its original fantasy setting. Despite this, it combines gameplay elements from both Age of Wonders III and Age of Wonders: Planetfall with numerous changes and additions.

The most obvious change is the absence of conventional races. When starting a new game, players have to choose a template for the race (humans, elves, orcs, goblins, animalkin, etc.) and then select various faction focus types, followed by customizing the traits and visuals of the ruler unit. Upon a match's end, rulers can ascend to a pantheon, from which they can be reused with their acquired skills in future matches. This will also unlock points and new cosmetic customization options. For the first time in the series, units can also be visually customized, albeit to a lesser degree than rulers. Randomly generated worlds now have 8 slots for custom options, which handle basic features like map layout and neutral army strength to modifiers for the gameplay itself.

Each player now has a limit on the number of cities they can claim, but each city can annex a considerably larger amount of regions (which are also smaller in size than in Planetfall). These regions are automatically claimed with a specialization building from the assigned city's screen. A major change is seen in the city production aspect, as unit recruitment is handled by the new auto-generated resource called Draft instead of sharing Production with city buildings. This also means that cities now have two production queues, one for buildings and the other for units. Settler units have been scrapped in standard gameplay, as cities can only be claimed from others or evolved from outposts built by hero/ruler units. Heroes no longer join the player randomly, but only when their hero limit is raised, most commonly by building/claiming a new city. Finally, city sieges have been introduced as a gameplay mechanic.

Diplomacy has seen a slight improvement as well, with different and more meaningful proclamations added, some options even being brought from Planetfall covert operations. This allows for more varied communications between players. Free cities also make a return, with diplomatic options vastly expanded. Full vassalage takes more time to build up relations towards, as there are multiple relation stages, but phases in between bring their overlord economic benefits.

The techtree is represented by a literal tree graphic split to several different branches, and its elements require the Imperium resource to purchase. Tomes are a more combat-oriented military research option, with each one bringing a new level of spells, upgrades and units which can be mixed to the player's liking.

Side quests no longer require visiting specific sites, and can occur seemingly at random, with several options given to the player, each bringing different bonuses and/or penalties. Hostile NPC army spawners have also seen an upgrade - they take up an entire region instead of a single tile, and are initially dormant until their territory is trespassed upon. They vary in size, with larger ones being better-defended.

The game is playable in single- and multiplayer (online and hot seat), with a map editor and several other tools bundled in. Cross-play multiplayer capabilities between platforms were implemented in the Watcher Update on 15 August 2023 (at launch, only players who purchased the game on Steam, GOG.com or Epic Games Store could play with each other, while Windows Apps and Xbox Series players were separated in their own cross-play segment).

*** Data by MobyGames.com ***

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