Majesty Developer: Cyberlore Studios Publisher: Hasbro Interactive Category: : Real-Time Management System Req: PII 300, 64 Mb RAM, 200 Mb HD, Win9x Might look like: / Date posted: 22 January 2000 (Requested by Readers) Written By: Jochen - This game was reviewed on PIII 500Mhz, 128 Mb RAM, Geforce2 GTS 32 MB, Win98SE - We also test other games on "PlayDevil.com Game Machine" Warcraft Clone #1235? Just when you thought that the last thing the gaming world needs is another fantasy real-time strategy (RTS) game, publisher Hasbro Interactive introduces a game offering some new ideas as well as gameplay setup. The game offers you to lead a fantasy kingdom and, guess what, it's a simulation :-) and the name is Majesty. The world of Majesty is all-out fantasy : there are gnomes, goblins, elves, undead and dragons, plus a variety of human character classes including warriors, paladins, wizards, thieves and priests. The game offers you two styles of play : selecting a scenario of your choice of from one of those on the map of Ardania (which can be easy, advanced or expert difficulty), or you can create your own scenario by tweaking a few game parameters. There is no overall story to link the missions : you simply choose one of the 15 initially available missions. As you succesfully complete these, some other locked stories will become available. RTS with a difference! And what would that be then ? Well, the biggest difference is that while you can construct new buildings to allow you to create new units to order into battle, you can't actually do any of the ordering yourself. Instead, you can pay for a new unit to be created, but once it arrives it'll do whatever it chooses. Similarly, you can't directly control the resource (cash) gathering from which you can afford to construct those new buildings, or to pay for building improvements. Instead you have to rely on taxes that are collected from existing buildings via your independently-minded tax collectors.    But if you can't directly control any units, where's the fun? The fact that you can't select any of your men and order them to do anything is what makes Majesty unique. You will soon discover that this type of gameplay will bring you to the edge of your seat when your soldiers are talking a walk while your palace is under attack. Sure, you have to build a kingdom, but at the same time you have to know what makes each of the various hero types that you can create in the game. Play it Smart! The "heroes" are represented by sixteen different character classes; as mentioned earlier these include the standard AD&D fare of warriors, thieves, wizards and priestesses, but as you build up your kingdom, investing in research and/or improvements to certain buildings, new building options will become available, allowing you to build more advanced hero guilds. And because some of these classes don't get along, building one advanced guild can prevent you building others. If you, for example, choose to go with barbarians, you'll exclude some of the more religiously-oriented guilds, such as the monks. Each hero has their own AD&D-like stats, which improve as they gain experience from killing enemies. All heroes will equip themselves with weapons and armour from your blacksmith. So if you improve your blacksmith shop, the heroes will be able to buy better equipment. They get their money from kills and rewards and can spend it as they choose. Other items they can buy include healing potions from marketplaces or trading posts, and rings of protection. Having spent their gold, your tax collectors will take a cut for you by visiting the shops. Trouble is, your taxmen is vulnerable to attack by any wandering monsters in your kingdom... if your village is too thinly spread or poorly defended, your income can dry up fast. To get around that you can build defensive guard towers, or you can "extort" the money through your thieves' guild, but with a 50% loss.    Controlling your Kingdom Rewards are the only way of 'controlling' the heroes in your kingdom. There are two types of reward "flags" that you can place on the kingdom map. An attack flag puts a bounty on the lair or monster you tag, while an explore flag encourages heroes to scout out unexplored lands. The placement of the reward flags is very important and will require some thought. However, you have have to make it worthwile to your heroes so each flag will have to incorporate a gold bonus. A couple of hundred gold on a nasty monster will lure greedy thieves to attack it, while encouraging an attack on a monster site may require a thousand or more gold. By clicking on a flag, you can see how many heroes are attempting to perform the task, which helps you judge whether to raise the bounty or not. The prize is shared amongst the heroes that complete the goal. Somewhat surprisingly there is no "defend" flag, so if you want to protect a key building you need to think laterally. Guard or wizard towers are one defence, others include the "call to arms" which for 500 gold will bring all warriors back to their guild. Next Page Up Previous Page If you want to review your favorite game, or if you work with a computer game company and want your products reviewing, mail info@playdevil.com. All contributions are welcome. Any problems and/or suggestions are always appreciated on webmaster@playdevil.com Nothing of this entire Site, animation & logo's included, may be reproduced, stored, saved, transmitted, in any form or means, electronic, written or otherwise without the prior permission of PlayDevil. Other Logos & Names are Copyrighted Material of its respectful owners. All Rights Reserved. PlayDevil Productions © 199/8-199/9-200/0 "rip your own stuff"