Age of Wonders III: Golden Realms Review
We liked Age of Wonders III quite a bit; in fact, you can read what we thought of the base game here. Golden Realms, however, is the first expansion to hit Triumph‘s turn-based strategy game and, alongside the DLC, a free patch was also released which improves the AI and tackles some community-requested features, which makes it a perfect moment to load up a new match or jump in for the first time.
Age of Wonders III: Golden Realms introduces the Halfling race, a highly requested race from the original games which didn’t make an appearance in the third installment. Halflings, unlike other races, don’t fare too well in direct combat and, as a result, suffer from a 20% physical weakness. What this means is that you have to play your battles very differently, relying more on ranged units and only striking directly when you know you can get the kill - or at least do considerable damage. To offest their physical weakness, Halflings also have the Lucky trait; a trait which gives them a chance to completely evade an enemy attack, taking no damage. Luck is directly influenced by your units’ happiness and morale, meaning that taking good care of your units is key, as well as using pells that enhance these stats.
Obviously, alongside the new race, Golden Realms also introduces a large amount of new content including a three scenario Halfling campaign, over twenty new units, new items and artifacts for your hero, a new Partisan specialization and new locations and enemies. Some of the new units that stood out for me were the Brew Brothers - a ranged unit which has a very short range but throw cleavers at their foes dealing massive damage - and the Jesters - another ranged unit which launches fireworks that have a chance to dazzle opponents in an AoE. Without a doubt the Golden Realms expansion is rich in content and when paired with the new patch, one must really commend Triumph for supporting their game so well after launch with lots of great, high quality additions.
Not only were a lot of issues brought up by the community addressed, Triumph also listened to the community regarding changes and additions which leaves a very good impression for future DLCs and expansions.
The new campaign is rather lengthy despite only having three scenarios. The length varies greatly depending on the game’s difficulty and player skill, but I think it’s fair to expect at least 10 hours worth of content from the campaign alone and plenty more for singleplayer and multiplayer matches. Even players who have played Age of Wonders III to death will find the game revitalized thanks to the new race, units, scenarios, game options and much more.
Another remarkable feat is how polished and bug-free Golden Realms is on release. Throughout my playthrough I encountered absolutely no bugs or technical issues, the game ran smoothly from the beginning to the end.
I was glad to see that Triumph handled this DLC just like it handled the base game of Age of Wonders III; the Halfling race really feels like an integral part of the game rather than a new race tacked on as DLC after release.
Whilst not many, I did have a few issues with the Golden Realms expansion: some units, more specifically the melee ones, feel really bland in comparison to the rest. I am aware that the whole point of the Halflings is that they aren’t very good at melee combat, however, this might have been a good opportunity to introduce a more unique kind of melee unit. The other issue is that if the Halfling race doesn’t spike your interest, there isn’t a very compelling reason for you to pick up the expansion. Sure, the new creatures, environments and items are a nice addition, but if you don’t like Halflings then you won’t be missing out on anything truly essential.
Even so, Golden Realms is still as high quality as you might expect from this kind of expansion and at $12 or your regional equivalent, the asking price is fair for what’s offered. Regardless, this expansion makes me very optimistic in Age of Wonders‘ next expansion which will introduce the undead race, a personal favorite of mine from Heroes of Might and Magic, and I can’t wait to see them getting the Triumph treatment.