|
Majesty 2: Battles Of Ardania January 25, 2011 | Franklin Pride |
|
Majesty 2 Collection includes the following:-Majesty 2-Kingmaker expansion-Battles of Ardania expansion-Monster Kingdom expansion The Kingmaker game editor enables players to create their own missions. Also included is every item, quest, unit and building previously only available for purchase using the in-game store. In the world of Majesty, you are the ruler of the kingdom Ardania. At your service are your loyal and somewhat obnoxious subordinates, who have their own minds about how things should be done. In fact, Majesty is the only game where your heroes decide on their own what should be done and when, leaving you to try to control them through. In the world of Majesty, you are the ruler of the kingdom Ardania. At your service are your loyal and somewhat obnoxious subordinates, who have their own minds about how things should be done.
Click to enlargeDragon Pile! |
Review:
There really isn't much you can add to a game like Majesty 2. New heroes, perhaps. New campaigns, always! In this case, it's just the latter. Battles Of Ardania, from Virtual Programming comes with four new multiplayer maps, several new monsters, new sets of weapons, and the quite expansive new eight mission Heirs of the Night campaign. It revolves around a monster uprising created by a shadowy figure, which leads to the creation of a large number of dangerous creatures like werewolf nobles and paladin rats. They aren't too dangerous alone, but they don't come.... alone.
The gameplay is one-hundred-percent unchanged in the new campaign, and it doesn't bring anything you haven't seen before. Each mission has a series of pre-spawned monster dens that spew monsters your way, you fulfill the requirements for various small quests, and you build up an army of heroes to eventually swarm the concentrations of enemy encampments. It's nothing new, but it's still a welcome addition in lieu of what everyone really wants, the Majesty random level generator.
You can use the level editor included with patch 1.3 to create levels if you want, but the classic level generator just made the experience so streamlined. You'd pick your modifiers, like spawning trolls from the edges of the map, creating every monster wave in the game over time, or even just a mild vampire placement. It allowed for endless replayability, and was easily one of the best points about Majesty. Until it's included in an expansion or patch, no level expansions will be enough.
When considering the included campaign, though, it's still plenty fun. The final boss level seems a little too long for how easy it is, but it's sufficiently climatic to allow for a full use of your level thirty-eight paladins and archers of Helia. Some of the levels in the middle are slightly unforgiving, though. There's one in particular where you have to completely repair various ancient guard towers scattered around the map. If you miss even one, you can't finish the mission. This wouldn't be that bad, but you don't even find out you've lost until the time ticks out for the mission. Defending them is also darn hard unless you completely ignore rangers. Their scouting tends to reveal the towers before you're ready.
If you're used to handling the nasty bosses from Majesty 2, though, all of the expansion levels are easy to handle. You still have access to the magical artifacts, so you can always pump the orb for money and the crown for defense. There are also loads of locations for temples in a few missions, so you can mass up on the impenetrable doomsday warriors, the paladins. When you get around eight of those over level sixteen, nothing can stop you. You still have to be careful around the groups of fifteen of the tougher rat paladins, but you can handle those with a few clerics on the side.
The overall experience can really just be summed up in a few words. It's just like Majesty. The graphics are the same, with a few new monsters, the sounds are the same, with a few new grunts and squeaks, and the gameplay is the same, with a few new missions. If nothing else, it'll give you at least another fifteen hours of playtime, which makes the price worthwhile. You can do a lot worse for $15.
Final boss battle allows players to make full use of their high level heroes
Cons:
Still no random level generator optionMajesty 2: Battles Of Ardania |
Mac Version: Virtual Programming |
Buy Majesty 2: Battles Of Ardania now at MacGameStore.com |
Pages: | 1 | Gallery |
Developer(s) | 1C:Ino-Co |
---|---|
Publisher(s) | 1C, Paradox Interactive |
Series | Majesty series |
Engine | Gem3 |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X |
Release | September 18, 2009 |
Genre(s) | Real-time Strategy |
Mode(s) | Single-player, Multiplayer |
Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim is a real-time strategygame developed by 1C:Ino-Co and published by Paradox Interactive.[1] The game was announced on April 18, 2008 and was released on September 18, 2009.[2] It is a sequel to Cyberlore'sMajesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim.
A Mac OS X version of Majesty 2 was announced by Virtual Programming on August 13, 2010.[3] Virtual Programming published the Mac OS X version of the game on November 16, 2010.[4] The publisher released the Mac OS X versions of the first two expansion packs, Kingmaker and Battles of Ardania, on December 15, 2010.[5] In January, 2011, Virtual Programming published the third expansion, Monster Kingdom, for Mac OS X.[6] In April, 2011, Paradox published a collection of the three expansions plus Majesty 2, titled 'Majesty 2 Collection', for PC.
Gameplay[edit]
The core gameplay of Majesty 2 is essentially the same as the original Majesty. Players take the role of 'the sovereign', placing buildings and recruiting units as in other real-time strategy titles. Individual units ('heroes'), however, are semi-autonomous; each has their own statistics and inventory and interact with the game world according to unit-specific AIs (for example hunters will scout unknown areas of the map while warriors prefer to attack or defend locations).[7] The player can influence the actions of hero units by placing bounties on particular actions, such as exploring an area or defeating a specific enemy unit, using a variety of 'flags'.[8] They also supply heroes with equipment and other items via trade buildings, which both improves the hero's abilities and allows the player to recoup the money heroes have gained from flags and defeated enemies.[9]
Multiplayer[edit]
Unlike the original, Majesty 2 does not feature freestyle play nor co-operative multi-player as part of its release offering. Because the new engine does not provide the technical capability to randomly generate maps it is unlikely that a freestyle game mode, of the sort found in the original game, will be provided. However, patch 1.3 introduced randomized non-quest monster dens, and places for construction of temples and trading posts. The patch also included a map editor.[citation needed]
Plot[edit]
Majesty 2 returns to the gently satirical, high fantasy world of Ardania featured in the original, a magical realm populated by elves, gnomes, dwarves and various monsters, as well as humans.
According to the game's back story, Ardania was unified 500 years previously by a great ruler. Since that time, many celebrated kings ruled, who vanquished many legendary foes. The last king, Leonard, however, had no enemies left to conquer, and became worried over his place in history. He summoned a powerful demon in an attempt to banish it and win renown himself, but the demon killed the king and usurped his throne. Under the demon's rule, Ardania crumbled and fell back to its chaotic past, and many pretenders tried and failed to win the throne. The player assumes the role of the 'true heir' to Ardania, who sets out to defeat the demon and purge the realm of evil.
Expansions[edit]
The first expansion pack named Majesty 2: Kingmaker was released on March 26, 2010 for PC and on December 15, 2010 for Mac OS X. The story revolved around his majesty battling the evil Grum-Gog, lord of pestilence, and God of Goblins. It introduced a randomized map feature that will move the enemy den and trading posts to different locations, and a map generator for custom scenarios.
A second expansion pack named Battles Of Ardania was released on November 10, 2010 for PC and on December 15, 2010 for Mac OS X.
A third expansion pack named Monster Kingdom was released on January 11, 2011 for PC and in mid-January, 2011 for Mac OS X.
A collection of the three expansion packs plus Majesty 2, named 'Majesty 2 Collection', was released by Paradox on April 19, 2011 for PC.
An unofficial expansion pack named Cold Sunrise was released on November 16, 2011 for PC.
Reception[edit]
Reception | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Majesty 2 For Mac High Sierra
Majesty 2 received mixed to mostly positive reviews, with a Metacritic average of 72%, and scores ranging from 50% to 88%.
IncGamers enjoyed the game, saying it was 'lots of fun, remains true to the original and has some great new features.' They only bemoaned the 'lack of [a] freestyle mode.'[15]
IT Reviews said that 'there's some initial enjoyment to be garnered here, [but] developing your heroes and coaxing them around soon starts to feel like a chore. The missions become repetitive, despite the constant drip-feed of new buildings and heroes, and we found the whole experience less than Majestic in the end.'[16]
Majesty 2 For Mac Os
PC Gamer magazine in the UK agreed, stating that Majesty 2 is 'an intriguing spanner in the strategy game works, but one that causes too many malfunctions to justify its existence.'
GameSpot critiques it, citing 'Repetitive, formulaic missions' giving it a 6.5 out of 10.[17]
Majesty 2 For Mac Computers
Majesty Mobile[edit]
Mobile 'Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim' is developed and published by HeroCraft and released on January 20, 2011.[18]
Sequels[edit]
A sequel stand alone game, Defenders of Ardania, was released on March 14 of 2012.[19] The gameplay is very different from either of its predecessors, having switched genres to tower defense/offense.
References[edit]
- ^Press Release (2008-04-18). 'Majesty 2 – The Fantasy Kingdom Sim Announced'. Paradox Interactive. Archived from the original on 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
- ^Susana Meza (2009-08-27). 'Majesty 2 Release Date'. Paradox. Retrieved 2009-08-27.
- ^'Virtual Programming Bringing Majesty 2 to the Mac'. MacGamer. August 13, 2010. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
- ^'Majesty 2 Released for Macintosh'. MacGamer. November 16, 2010. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
- ^'Majesty 2 Expansions Released'. MacGamer. December 15, 2010. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
- ^'Virtual Programming Ships Majesty 2: Monster Kingdom'. The Mac Observer. January 18, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
- ^'Majesty 2 - Heroes'. Paradox Interactive. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^'Majesty 2 - Indirect Control'. Paradox Interactive. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^'Majesty 2 - The Economy'. Paradox Interactive. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^'Majesty 2 aggregate rating'. GameRankings. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
- ^'Majesty 2 aggregate rating'. Metacritic. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
- ^Biessener, Adam (2009-10-08). 'Majesty 2 review'. Game Informer. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
- ^Todd, Brett (2009-09-18). 'Majesty 2 review'. GameSpot. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
- ^Haynes, Jeff (2009-09-15). 'Majesty 2 review'. IGN. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
- ^'IncGamers'. IncGamers. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
- ^'IT Reviews'. IT Reviews. Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
- ^Todd, Brett (2009-09-18). 'Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim Review for PC'. GameSpot. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
- ^'Official page of Majesty Mobile'. Herocraft.com. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
- ^'Defenders of Ardania (PC) - Paradox Interactive'. Paradoxplaza.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-28. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Majesty_2:_The_Fantasy_Kingdom_Sim&oldid=959329569'