Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne

Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne is a turn-based strategy game set in a fantasy world. Developed by the Dutch studio Triumph Studios, it is the sequel to the original Age of Wonders. Instead of controlling a leader who can be upgraded, players take on the role of an immortal Wizard who can resurrect after death if they still control a Wizard Tower. The game was later followed by a standalone expansion, Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic, which introduced randomly generated maps to the series.

Combat in Age of Wonders II uses smaller tactical battle maps than its predecessor, resulting in faster fights with less unit maneuvering. Hero progression is streamlined, offering a choice of one of three skills per level based on the hero's class.

Magic operates through a domain system: spells have a limited range around heroes, but this range extends further from Wizard Towers and relays when a Wizard is present inside one. Global spells can only be cast by the Wizard through a spell book in the main interface, and only within the domain of the caster or an allied Wizard. In combat, spells can be cast by heroes on the battlefield, or by the Wizard if the battle is within their domain (including heroes when the Wizard is in a tower).

Development

Announced in January 2001, Age of Wonders II retained the 2D art style of the original but used a newly developed Direct3D-enhanced engine supporting 32-bit color, a maximum resolution of 1280x1024, and a 3D special effects system. The game was developed using the Delphi 5 programming language.

Reception

Upon release, GameSpot named Age of Wonders II a runner-up for its June 2002 "PC Game of the Month" award. It was nominated for PC Gamer US's "2002 Best Turn-Based Strategy Game" award, which went to Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin. It was also a finalist for The Electric Playground's 2002 "Best Strategy Game for PC" prize, losing to Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Additionally, it was a runner-up in GameSpot's annual "Most Improved Sequel on PC" and "Best Game No One Played on PC" categories.