Age of Wonders: Planetfall

Age of Wonders: Planetfall on Xbox One is easily one of the best in the genre, putting so many elements together into one fantastic package. It’s an easy recommendation for anyone who loves the genre, and will be able to sustain strategy fans for weeks and even months on end.

If you're looking for an easygoing, mindless gaming session, Planetfall isn't in your ballpark—or even playing sports. But if you woke up this morning thinking, "Hey, I'd love to play XCOM and Civilization today, then you can kill two birds with one stone. Planetfall will fill your unique craving.

Age of Wonders: Planetfall is simply a must-have for any strategy games lover out there. Incredibly deep, varied and addictive, it masterfully mixes management and diplomacy traits with turn-based tactics. Definitely one of the best games of this kind for consoles.

For console owners, Age of Wonders: Planetfall is a rare treat. It’s not only a 4X strategy game that they can play from the comfort of their couch, it’s a bloody good one at that. It doesn’t do the best job of getting players up to speed, but once they have everything figured out they’re in for what is perhaps the best strategy experience currently available on console. It just requires a little bit of patience and persistence to work through a confusing first few hours. After that, there’s little to disappoint those seeking to display their colony-building prowess.

Whether you're a veteran of the genre or a relative newcomer, Planetfall will keep you plotting and planning your rise to glory for a long time.

Graphically, Age of Wonders: Planetfall is great. It features a top-down approach allowing you to view the map at your pleasure, uncovering it as you go. Each race has it's own distinct style allowing you to easily tell the difference between all six and the sheer detail that has been put onto each building, enemy and weapon is insane. It really is a pleasure to look at.

Age of Wonders: Planetfall is truly an awesome game and is excellent value for money. I can only describe this game as a console love child of the beloved board games Monopoly and Chess. Players, like myself, can easily find themselves spending 15+ hours on a single level, trying to complete all of the optional and story-based objectives. The one drawback of the game is that it’s not something that can be completed quickly and requires a level of planning and patience to play. However, this game does offer something for everyone regardless of experience or age.

Despite having a vertical drop for a learning curve and looking and feeling kind of average as far as modern gaming goes, Age of Wonders: Planetfall succeeds in being a richly deep and complex space strategy hybrid that will no doubt appeal to long time turn-based strategy fans, and newcomers alike.