Worlds of Magic
Review
Terribly short of magic
by Sergio Brinkhuis
reviewed on PC
Nor magical
Most of the above could be overlooked if the game worked properly. It does not. I’ve had some toe-curling experiences with its user interface for example. I cannot count the number of times that I tried to move one army and ending up moving another. It is but one example of how the interface feels like it is actively working against you. Another annoying one is how the game automatically selects another unit after you have moved one in combat, even if it has movement points left. And why can’t I scroll on the combat map?
Worlds of Magic also suffers from a few odd and painful design choices. One that particularly stands out removes an aspect of turn-based combat that it cannot afford to lose: if you do more damage to a unit than it has life points, it will somehow still be able to attack you back before dying. There are also no difficulty settings, a tough hurdle to take for newcomers facing an exceptionally slow-starting game.
*update* The game does feature difficulty settings in the setup panel.
And then there are the countless bugs, some of which game stopping. I’ve have had the game present me with never-ending enemy turns four times already and it made me start combat with 0 mana twice. Text is missing, textures are missing, special effects are missing, female archers look like male swordsmen...
Shame
It’s a real shame Worlds of Magic is so underwhelming, especially since it has some good things going for it. Units, for example, are varied and fun. Experienced units gain importance quickly and stay relevant for a long time even when stronger unit types become available. A very cool feature is the ability to strengthen your spells in combat by spending extra mana points. There’s also a handy button that will help you discover enemy units, even if it does not distinguish between real enemies and factions you are not at war with.
Worlds of Magic would have been passable had it not been so buggy. It would have been decent if the interface had received some TLC before release. It would have been good if it had a less annoying campaign map.
Alas, no magic exist that can fix this release. Only hard work done by capable hands can turn this game around. For now, we will have to wait for someone else to create a true successor to Master of Magic.
*update*
4.2
fun score
Pros
Inviting art style, good character customization.
Cons
Where do I start.
