Elemental: War of Magic Video Game Review

I love strategy games, be it real-time or turn based. The beauty of Elemental: War of Magic is that it also combines strategy with RPG elements, which I also love, so this game is pretty much meant for me. That being said, there are quite a few problems I found with this game, some were actually purposefully imposed by Stardock (the company behind the game). The game requires you have at least a Windows XP/Vista/7 machine, 1GB RAM, 2.4GHz CPU, and a 128MB videocard

My Gripe With Stardock
DRM is an anti-piracy implementation that many companies these days use to ensure illegal copies don't make it into grubby hands. Stardock is not a fan of DRM and did not implement it with this game. No, instead they decided to release an early copy of a game with many bugs and unfinished content so pirates wouldn't care to steal the game. "By doling out the free material after a gamer registers, Wardell said pirates will be discouraged because they won't want to waste their time with a product that doesn't have all the features", reported a CNN Tech overview of the game. Essentially, Stardock is punishing gamers (like myself) who got the game at launch. I'm certain the game will improve over the next month or so, but why should I wait? As a loyal fan, and someone who has been looking forward to this game for quite some time, I get the shaft and have to wait for features like multi-player which should be around from the get-go. Now that that's out of the way, let's get to actually talking about the game itself.

Graphics
The visuals in Elemental: War of Magic are a simple cell-shading, and are quite pleasing to look at. Everything looks like what it represents, though I have noticed some graphical flaws in combat, notably while casting spells; sometimes if I would cast fireball, for example, fire would shoot out of the character's hands. Sometimes, they would do the motion, but nothing would appear and the enemy would just take damage from an invisible force. It's nothing major, just something to keep in mind. Overall, the graphics are good.

Sound
The music is nice and has a medieval feel to it, although it can get repetitive at times. Voice and sound effects are very stock, with the typical "yes?" when selecting a unit, and the "whiff" sound when swinging a weapon, but there is nothing to complain about in this department.

Gameplay
There are two types of gameplay modes in Elemental: War of Magic: Campaign and Game. Neither of these have tutorials to teach you how to play, so you are stuck using your own wits, the instruction booklet, and the in-game instruction booklet. The best way to learn with this game though is just play around and you will eventually get the hang of it.

Campaign mode is not worth playing, in my opinion. The story is bland and the gameplay is slow. It is pretty much going from point A to point B with your sovereign (think hero unit) and occasionally killing a creature or two. The city management is very limited in this mode and doesn't seem to matter that much.

Game mode on the other hand is wonderful; it is so very fun and addictive. If you are a fan of the Civilization series or anything of the sort, you will enjoy this game. The city management process is a lot of fun, and requires less micro management than Civilization. You also have the ability to research new technologies (including magic) and expand your influence by building more cities.Then you have your Sovereign, whom after founding the first city, you can control in an RPG style to complete quests, gain items and experience, and level up. Combat is very fun and works in a tactics style grid, or you can even quick battle to let the battle go automatically in the matter of a second, but taking control is much more fun.

Controls
The controls leave a lot to be wanting. Everything is a bit awkward at first, but after awhile you get used to it. They do some strange things though, so as "Esc" not closing a menu like you think it would. Instead it opens up the options EVERY TIME you hit "esc", so I found myself a few times, after successfully closing a menu by clicking the tiny "x", having to then close 4 or 5 options menus the opened up underneath. It's small things like that that take some getting used to. Also the fact that keyboard shortcuts don't actually work.

Replayability
This game is all about replaying (at least Game mode). You can customize the world in so many different ways, and even create a world entirely; the gameplay will be different everytime you play. You can lose yourself for many hours in this game.

Extras
This game has some nice creation/customizing extras. In-game, you can create your own units, from their equipment all the way to their appearance. There is also a world editor to create your own world map, a tile editor to change the appearance of in game landmarks and city buildings, and an editor that allows you to create and customize spell effects. These are some pretty neat tools for those who like to create their own stuff.

Overall
Elemental: War of Magic is a very fun game, however unless you don't have any games to play right now, I'd recommend waiting a few weeks to buy it for Stardock to fix their flaws and add in multiplayer (which will undoubtedly be amazing, once it's a working feature). It's $49.99 and you should be paying that much for a completed game, but if you get it early like I did, you still won't be very disappointed.

Sources: CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/gaming.gadgets/08/24/digital.rights.games/index.html