Age of Wonders III expands with Golden Realms

The new expansion pack for Triumph Studios’ excellent strategy title Age of Wonders introduces desert isles and halflingses aplenty. Almost 20 minutes of gameplay post jump.

So as you can see, a terrific game already gets a fair sight bit better with a ton more content in the Golden Realms expansion. Halflings are just the tip of the iceberg here as you’ll also find over 20 new units to face off against, new specializations and scenarios, and more.

We reviewed Age of Wonders (the base game) a while back and found it to be a terrific strategy experience an that it was a ‘perfect’ update to a classic PC series. Click here to check that out in full, or scroll down to view all the new stuff in text that you just saw in the trailer. Or do both, who am I to stop you?

–       The Halfling Race: The little folk are back, with new units, heroes and leaders. The jesters shoots fireworks which dazzle the enemy and the cleaver flinging brew brothers keep the Halfling armies fed while on the road. Halflings can be used with all classes and introduce the new Luck mechanic which allows them to dodge incoming attack while they’re in good spirits.

–       Golden Realms Campaign. In this three scenario campaign, you help the Halfling survivors of the Heartwood Massacre rebuild an empire in an exotic land and confront an ancient evil.

–       Exotic Map Locations: Capture the Naga Dwelling, home to serpentine queens and giant man-snakes, and discover new treasure sites such as the fabled Lost City to benefit your empire.

–       Over twenty new units: Encounter new exotic units such as the filth throwing Dread Monkeys, alluring Mermaids and the fearsome Glutton who can swallow whole regiments in one bite.

–       New Hero Items: The Golden Realms contain 50 new magical artifacts to discover and use. Wield the enigmatic Crystal Skull, or wear a stylish Witch Doctor’s Headdress to mix in with the locals.

–       Wild Magic Specialization: Unleash wild magic. Cause spontaneous mutations, warp equipment and turn orderly battles into a pandemonium where the lines of battle are violently warped.

–       Partisan Specialization: Use new skills for guerrilla warfare. Create concealed hide-outs and develop ambushing skills.

–       Two hand crafted scenarios:  Playable single and multi-player these new stand-alone scenarios are built around the new features of the Golden Realms expansion.

Features:

–       Mystical City Upgrades: Arcane treasure sites located in your domain unlock new unique upgrades for your cities, making the location and specialization of your cities more important than ever. Building a city near a Crystal Tree unlocks the Enchanted Armory which reinforcing your armored units.

–       Empire Quests: Achieve empire building goals before your rivals to unlock unique rewards for your realm. This introduces a new type of indirect competition between players. Examples are the Eternal City: be the first to build a metropolis and get an awe-inspiring Monument of Prime Good and Evil, where the first player to achieve full good or full evil alignment has a party of champions the respective alignment join at no cost.

–       Seals of Power: A new King of the Hill style victory condition where players must capture and hold the dangerous Seals of Power structures in order to achieve victory.  Don’t sit and hold back as broken seals attract extra-dimensional beings wanting to take the Seal back.

–       Defensive City Upgrades:  Each race has a unique city defense to build.  The Draconian’s Firestorm Pillar sets ablaze those who dare attack their city. Or the Bell Tower for the Humans which rallies the citizenry to shoot volleys at oncoming enemies.

–       All the new content and features mentioned above are integrated into the updated Random Map Generator.