Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim

"Innovative but too repetitive"

In a genre overrun with wannabe warcraft and C&C clones, it's nice to see a game that incorporates a few new elements. Majesty provides the same point and click madness as other RTS games, but in an entirely different way.

GAMEPLAY:7
Unlike traditional RTS games, in Majesty you don't directly control your heroes - you simply build the structures that produce them and place rewards for attacking and exploring and hope that they take interest in the gold. The heroes have a simple kind of personality, acting of their own accord. Although sometimes frustrating, such as when your numerous heroes ignore nearby monsters despite a large reward, it is a refreshing change to let your units manage themselves.
For the first few scenarios it's extremely enjoyable to build up your kingdom, produce a bunch of mighty heroes, and watch them lay your enemies to waste. As with many games of this type, having to rebuild pretty much all of the same structures over and over again is far too tedious, detracting greatly from the pleasure derived from the unique style of gameplay.

Story:6
There are 3 difficulty levels of scenarios in the campaign mode - basic, advanced, and expert. There are also several scenarios which cannot be played until unlocked through completion of various missions.
Each scenario has it's own background story (with an amusing Sean Connery style voice-over)and objectives. The scenarios really are quite random in nature and there is no real sense of continuity. Despite that, the individual scenario plots are well crafted and enjoyable to play through.

Audio/Video:8
For it's time, this game looks and sounds quite good. There is a nice variety in terms of the environments and structures. Majesty boasts a rich color palette and well designed high fantasy elements. The sounds of battle as well as the voices unique to each type of hero are quite good.

Replay:7
Although it's nice to jump in and play a random scenario, I found it hard not to get sick of the repetitive play about 2/3 through the ''campaign'' game.

For its time, majesty was a solid game offering quality production values and a refreshing take on RTS play. The interface is efficient, and it's easy to jump right in and have a good time. Unfortunately, with games like Disciples: Sacred Lands, Warlords Battlecry, the Myth Series, and the Warcraft series, it's tough to justify paying more than $5 for this game now.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/26/02, Updated 03/26/02