Once again we
enter the world of Ardania, and once again we find ourselves looking to
save our kingdom from the vile evil that plagues the land, but instead
of the small limited kingdom we saw in the DEMO, we are granted a vast
kingdom with heroes galore. As we again watch our kingdom grow we
notice little touches. There seems to be a few more frames of animation
than we remember. The spells seem a bit more spectacular.
Many of us found
the DEMO small, easy and limited in replay value. The full version
is like the difference in night and day. There are so many building
options and hero combinations, that mixed with the random map creation,
the scenarios never play the same way twice. With 19 different scenarios
and multiplayer capability, the Majesty world seems vast. You can
easily spend hours upon hours playing this game. I am an avid game
player, but to be honest, the only single player game that I have ever
played all the way through was FreeSpace, and that game had more missions
in the tutorial than in the game itself (I exagerate of course).
It took me about a week or more of dedicated play to finish Majesty.
I finished it, not because I felt obligated to, but because I HAD to finish
just one more scenario..then the next...then the next. It may come
to a point where Majesty may need to be a controlled substance. It
is very addictive.
The scenarios fall into one of three levels: beginner, advanced, and
expert. To be honest, I would like to unofficially add a 4th I like
to call Massochistic. This applies only to the very last level that
you can only play when you beat the rest; but rest assured, it can be beaten.
In the beginner
level scenarios you will be forced to learn the basic laws of the land.
You will learn proper building placement and how to make money or die trying.
Each step up in difficulty adds new challenges and seems very balanced
in this regard. Each scenario adds something a little different.
A special monster here, a unique plot twist there. Each time you
are asked to adjust your play style to facilitate the destruction of a
new evil.
Each scenario is independant from the rest. You may play them
in whatever order you wish excluding the final one. You will not
be able to carry heroes over from one scenario to the next, but after playing
the BETA it is easy to see that doing so would sap the fun from the game.
It is easier to think of yourself as the ruler of all of Ardania where
you have many seperate kingdoms spread across the land. The game
only gives you the luxury of handling those kingdoms one at a time.
RTS fans watch
out! If you head into Majesty expecting to control each of your heroes
one by one like mindless drones, you are in for a big surprise. This
has to be one of the most difficult concepts to grasp while playing.
You have no direct control over your units. At first you are confused,
then you get angry, then it sinks in. Suddenly you are having fun.
This aspect has not changed since the DEMO.
One thing that definitely does change in your perception from the DEMO
is your desire to continue playing beyond the completion of each scenario.
In the DEMO it was always tempting to try and see how big your could get
your kingdom AFTER you have completed the objectives. I have found
that in the full version, that desire is gone. There is always a
new scenario to beat or something new to try.
There a few nice
features built into the game. As in the DEMO, each hero name is randomly
generated and therfor unique and endeared to their king. In the full
version you can rename your heroes once they reach 10th level. So,
if you feel that your warrior would be better served being named "Sir Robin
the Chicken-Hearted" then so be it. Your buildings can be renamed
as well. After all, they are your buildings.
A couple of other features missing from the DEMO but available in the
full version is Kingdom Zoom and Game Speed Control. It is pretty
easy to figure out what Game Speed Control does, but the Kingdom Zoom allows
you to zoom out from your kingdom to get the big picture. This is
a very handy option for when you kingdom begins to get large.
Don't get me wrong, Majesty has its flaws. You cannot change screen
resolutions. It is always stuck at 800x600. There also is no
map editor. Maps are randomly generated from requirements that can
be adjusted in a freestyle mode, but don't expect to pull the same map
twice. Random means random.
Overall Majesty rules! I don't think you can get more bang for
your buck and as always Cyberlore has been open and responsive to the requests
and needs of the fan base. It is certainly unlike anything out there,
and now we hear that they are already working on an expansion set and Majesty2.
Sleepless nights ahead! |