Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne

 PC
Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne Image
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 93 Ratings

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  • Summary: Delivering an invigorating mix of Empire Building, Role-playing, and Warfare, Age Of Wonders II offers the ultimate in fantasy turn-based strategy. Explore a world full of mythical creatures and mysterious lands. Build an impressive force as an all-powerful Wizard through dangerous perilsDelivering an invigorating mix of Empire Building, Role-playing, and Warfare, Age Of Wonders II offers the ultimate in fantasy turn-based strategy. Explore a world full of mythical creatures and mysterious lands. Build an impressive force as an all-powerful Wizard through dangerous perils and exhilarating challenges. Now is your time to embrace your destiny and take your rightful place at the head of the Circle, forever. [GodGames]… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. Gamer's Pulse
    100
    A phenomenal game.
  2. PC Gameworld
    95
    With beautiful graphics, a smart AI, and a dragon’s hoard of replayability, Age of Wonders II is a winner.
  3. Yahoo!
    90
    A balm for those left unchallenged and disappointed by "Heroes of Might & Magic IV" and those still thrilled by "Disciples II."
  4. Game Informer
    85
    A terrific way to spend a lazy afternoon. [August 2002, p.89]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. Armchair Empire
    82
    There’s a big list of spells, many details to track, loads of different units to recruit, train, and summon, a good level of challenge, an interface that doesn’t get in the way of playing the game, and a very intriguing end-game sequence.
  6. Adrenaline Vault
    80
    It's one of those games you can start playing one evening, and then the next time you look up it's three in the morning.
  7. Game Revolution
    67
    It's bland food that is only slightly improved by the huge portions.

See all 20 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. daedalus_
    Aug 8, 2018
    10
    amazing game, one of the most addictive, enjoyable and fun TBS to play

    16 years later it still shines and offers a lot of fun, a true gem
  2. AlbertoC.
    Jul 17, 2002
    10
    I can say only a thing......fantastic.
  4. [Anonymous]
    Aug 11, 2002
    10
    Truly a fantastic spiritual successor to Master of Magic!
  5. RagingPoet
    Aug 28, 2018
    7
    Age of Wonders 2 is an alright TBS but it gets boring very quickly.
    It doesn't have the depth of Civilization series and lacks addictiveness    Age of Wonders 2 is an alright TBS but it gets boring very quickly.
    It doesn't have the depth of Civilization series and lacks addictiveness of Heroes or Disciples series.    … Expand
  6. AnonymousMC
    May 18, 2009
    7
    It's a fine game. While some of the improvements made over the first game were really great in my opinion, others weren't, and theIt's a fine game. While some of the improvements made over the first game were really great in my opinion, others weren't, and the story - while still being ok for most of it - wasn't nearly as good as the first game's. What's really bad about this game is the atrociously poor AI which is WAY too easy to defeat and the clumsy interface.… Expand
  7. GordothEnodious
    Aug 8, 2020
    6
    This review has been cut in half (or more) so as to fit in the miserable 5k characters limit that metacritic impose and to combat theThis review has been cut in half (or more) so as to fit in the miserable 5k characters limit that metacritic impose and to combat the inflation of said character count. Check out MUH tumblr to see the full thing. [the name is GEMSimov]

    Hello everyone, I am the doubly wonderful Gordoth Enodious, a super gamer who has no bias, and I’m talking about Age of Wonders II: The Wizard’s Throne.
    Simple review details - I rank games on an out of 10 basis, granting up to 3 points in 3 categories, as well as a last, single point from my own self, depending on my experience with it. Also, I am a gameplay designer and a writer so I got the credentials to talk.

    Gameplay
    Age of Wonders II is, much like Age of Wonders I, a turn based strategy game that also incorporates RPG elements. As one can expect from a direct sequel, the game has retained many features it had before, but it has also gained quite a few new ones, or has undergone some dramatic changes.
    The fact of the matter is, however, that magic has been expanded. As some might remember from the review of Age of Wonders I, that was something I leveled critique upon - the magic system, although interesting, felt as if it was lacking something. Alas, the changes made have not added a value to mana, other than for casting spells, but now it can also be used as a means of upkeep for some units, which makes it somewhat more impactful.
    The wizard is a new entry into the game, a new unit, if one will, that is pseudo-immortal, and the player loses the game if that unit actually dies. It gets revived, after being killed, at any friendly town that has a specific building constructed. If there are no such towns with that kind of building in the domain of the player, the player loses.
    The wizard also has a field of influence, which is the range of all the spells that can be cast by said wizard on the world-map and the area in which some persistent spells take effect. That field of influence can be expanded by having the wizard simply stand still in the middle of a town that has a certain building, capturing a certain world-map object, or having a hero waltz about.
    As mentioned, there are now buildings. More buildings than just walls and upgrades that allow the recruitment of units. Now, there are values like production, growth and population, which makes the game a tad more intricate than before, although management of those things is left to whether or not the player is building things and how many turns have passed.
    The good news are that any town can produce any level of units, as long as said town has the required building. The bad news are that the process of building up a town has been massively slowed down, due to the presence of production. Having low production, which could mean not having built the appropriate buildings to increase it, means that the speed at which the player will complete the building, or unit, is vastly lowered.
    The added complexity is, actually, a welcome addition, even though it is hard to manage and hard to find information on, due to the fact that population has always been some invisible stat that I could not find, even though I looked for it. I find that the added bonus of having a semblance of city management in a game that is about building up an empire is always a good implementation.
    Some changes I like, others I did not truly appreciate. The fact of the matter is that manual resolution of combat has been made even slower and more tedious than before. The AI has improved, somewhat, but there is still a lot to be desired. Overall, the gameplay was a bit more interesting than the previous game. 2/3

    Presentation
    Age of Wonders II takes what Age of Wonders I had and makes it look better. Alas, it also loses out on some other things. The music of this game was a lot less memorable than the music of Age of Wonders I, which is quite impressive, as I felt that the music from the first game was passable, not great. The sound effects have also changed a bit, and I can’t truly find the comedic nature they had in Age of Wonders I. The voice acting, what little there is, is sometimes bad, sometimes simply alright, which is saddening. However, overall, the presentation of Age of Wonders II: The Wizard’s Throne is good enough. 2/3

    Story
    While Age of Wonders I had a spectacular story that seemed to do almost everything right, Age of Wonders II fails at achieving that. The second game takes place an indeterminate amount of time after the first game, with a human king fleeing with his people from some disaster. It never becomes clear where, exactly, he comes from, nor does it become clear where the locations visited in the game are in relation to the map from the first game.
    The story has gone down in quality, and, although I enjoyed it, it was not as good as the story in the first game. 2/3

    Legendary point
    No, doesn't get it.

    Conclusion
    6/10. Slightly above average, recommended for strategy game players.    … Expand
  8. widhie75
    Dec 24, 2021
    5
    Visual design not really good,
    Lack strategy features,
    but overall it's OK

Awards & Rankings

23
#23 Best PC Game of 2002
76
#76 Most Discussed PC Game of 2002
32
#32 Most Shared PC Game of 2002

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