"My favorite PC game of all time"

I was very surprised to see that no one had written a review for this game yet, so I decided that I would.

First of all, keep in mind that this game is getting to be quite old. You probably will not be able to find a new copy of it. If all else fails you can probably find it on some abandonware site.

The premise of this game is that you are a Wizard trying to become the undisputed Most Powerful Wizard in the World. You can do this either by defeating all enemy Wizards by capturing their fortress town and banishing them, or by researching and casting the Spell of Mastery. You do this by founding cities, recruiting or summoning armies and battling enemy wizards and other foes. Of course you also have access to a large array of spells, which are divided into five colors (a la Magic:The Gathering). At first Magic is largely ineffectual compared to armies, but later on Magic can be the deciding factor with very powerful, very large scale spells showing up near the end.

The graphics and sound are pretty dated. That's not to say that they are bad. On the contrary, they were quite good for their time and I still find them sufficient. So I'd say:

Graphics:8 (for it's time)
Sound:6

If you're looking for a game with a story, look somewhere else. There are no Campaigns and no pre-made Scenarios. Every game map is randomly generated at the start, so every game is different. Plus you have the 5 colors of spells to chose from (you can specialize in one color or dabble in several) as well as many secondary abilities. There are also many races to chose from from High Men to Dark Elves to Klackons (from Master of Orion). Every race has their own special units, city building capabilities and other special attributes. With so many options, including five difficulty levels and varying land mass size, no two games have to be the same.

This game is easy to compare to the Heros of Might and Magic series. Master of Magic may be missing the story elements of this series, but as far as actual strategy is concerned (which is the whole point of this type of game) Master of Magic wins hands down. You can found your own towns, build roads, have diplomatic relations with other wizards, make your own artifacts (or find them) and of course cast many powerful spells. Also, since you are limited to no more than 9 units per army, and you have to pay upkeep for your amrmy, either in food, gold or mana, battles rely much more on strategy and less on simply outnumbering your opponent. So:

Gameplay:10

So if I like this game so much why do I give it a 9 instead of a 10? Well, there are some bugs, even in the last version. Also the computer AI could stand to be a bit better. In fact, at the hardest difficulty level it is almost neccesary to take advantage of the flaws in the AI to have any chance. Probably the biggest problem though is the lack of multiplayer capability. Supposedly there is a shell available that will allow two players to play at the same console, but I've never tried it myself.

Still this is a great strategy game. If you like HoMM 1-3 at all then I suggest you give this game a try.

Overall:9

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/21/00, Updated 04/21/00