Worlds of Magic
- March 19, 2015
- Wastelands Interactive
- 13h median play time
Get on Steam"Worlds of Magic" is a 4X turn-based strategy game in a fantasy setting. As the ruler of a magical kingdom, explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate across different planes of existence. Customize your spellbook, command vast armies, and tactically outmaneuver opponents in this nostalgic throwback to classic strategy games.
Mac OS
PC
Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Windows
Linux
PlayStation
Reviews
- Strong tribute to Master of Magic, capturing its essence and nostalgia for fans.
- Deep fantasy 4X gameplay with a rich setting, offering a variety of races and spells for strategic depth.
- Responsive developers actively working on patches and improvements based on community feedback.
- Technical issues and bugs disrupt gameplay, including crashes and unresponsive UI.
- Cumbersome user interface that can be difficult to navigate, especially for new players.
- Inconsistent AI behavior and a steep learning curve make it challenging for newcomers to the genre.
- graphics158 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The graphics in "Worlds of Magic" are generally perceived as dated and not on par with more recent 4X titles, often compared unfavorably to the visuals of the original "Master of Magic." While some players appreciate the aesthetic and variety, many criticize the overall quality, particularly the world map and city screens, which are described as lacking detail and clarity. Despite some positive remarks about specific graphical elements, the consensus leans towards a need for significant improvement to meet modern standards.
“The graphics are surprisingly impressive, especially for a $1 app.”
“The graphics are pretty and the game has tremendous variety, complexity, and depth.”
“Keeping true to all of the elements that made 'Master of Magic' and many other 4x games so amazing, it's infused with fantastic graphics and play style that catapults me back to an earlier time and leaves me wanting more!”
“Graphics are poor for a current release, especially on the city screen and world map.”
“The city and unit graphics are okay but the world map is the most hideous thing I've ever seen.”
“It looks acceptable on screenshots but you'll be freaking pissed off with visuals in-game; trust me, this game looks bad.”
- gameplay98 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 84 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Worlds of Magic" offers a traditional 4X experience set in a rich fantasy world, allowing for various play styles, but suffers from a steep learning curve and a lack of comprehensive tutorials, which can frustrate new players. While it captures the essence of its predecessor, "Master of Magic," many users report significant bugs, clunky mechanics, and balance issues that detract from the overall experience. Despite these flaws, the game has potential, with a desire for improvements and updates to enhance gameplay stability and depth.
“The game excels at offering a traditional 4x experience with a rich fantasy setting.”
“This flexibility lets you tailor your gameplay to your preferred style, whether that’s focusing on powerful magic, brute force, or a more balanced approach.”
“It captures the spirit of Master of Magic and adds many gameplay elements I've always wanted in a Master of Magic remake: multiple planes to explore, d20 mechanics, satisfactory and sometimes good-looking 3D graphics and character models, and a playable undead race!”
“Bugs and occasional crashes can disrupt the gameplay experience, particularly during battles or when switching between planes.”
“The game lacks an in-depth tutorial to help beginners understand the intricacies of the gameplay, which can lead to frustration in the early stages.”
“Unfortunately, gameplay is so skewed toward the computer that it pisses me off too much to enjoy it.”
- stability50 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 88 % negative mentions
The game is currently plagued by numerous stability issues, including frequent crashes, freezes, and a variety of bugs that hinder gameplay. Many users report that the game is unplayable at times due to these issues, with a chaotic user interface and lag, particularly on Linux systems. While some players acknowledge the developers' efforts to address these problems, the consensus is that the game was released prematurely and remains in a significantly unstable state.
“They have demonstrated their desire to create a fully stable and bug-free platform with which we can experience the same multi-tier 4X gameplay that the original offered, only with better graphics, more balance, and larger worlds.”
“After a week of playing (v1.05), I can say that I am pleased with how hard the developers are working to make this game bug-free.”
“I imagine that it will take a couple of weeks to a month at best to get everything missing and have the game relatively bug-free (at least without game-breaking bugs; there aren't any now, but they show up every now and then with an update).”
“The game is just a buggy mess and you cannot finish the game because of a mix of crashes, bugs, and terrible AI.”
“Unfortunately, even a month after release, the game is still plagued with an awe-inspiring number of bugs, ranging from minor ones (like being unable to change the portrait for my custom wizard) to annoying (clicking an idle unit notification locks your view in place until you click on another plane) to game-breaking (any of the countless crashes to desktop and game freezes).”
“As it stands now, the game crashes every 20 turns or so, causing crashes to desktop and in-game freezes.”
- story16 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game's story is widely criticized for its absence, with players noting a lack of campaign missions, quests, and engaging narrative elements. Many feel that the developers failed to deliver a cohesive and compelling storyline, resulting in an incomplete product that lacks depth and interest. Overall, the consensus is that the storytelling aspect is severely lacking, contributing to a disappointing gaming experience.
“No story missions, difficult management, and difficult battles on the easiest levels - not the game I was hoping it would be.”
“The feeling I got was of an operation running out of time and/or money and shipping an incomplete product, unfortunately not an uncommon story these days.”
“There's no story, there's no QTE, there's no awesome cutscenes that masquerade as content but really just force you on a path the developers want you to follow.”
- replayability8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability through its multiple playable races, diverse units, and a rich spell system, allowing players to experiment with various strategies and configurations. However, some users express frustration with the gameplay, which can detract from the overall replay value. Despite this, many players find enough variety to warrant repeated playthroughs.
“The inclusion of multiple playable races and magical abilities adds variety and replayability to the strategic mix.”
“Its fantasy setting, diverse units, and spell system provide a lot of strategic variety and replayability.”
“Playing different configurations, races, and strategies lent an incredible amount of replayability that eventually led me to buy a copy of Masters of Magic off GOG to keep it around for a rainy day.”
“This game has loads of potential in terms of replayability; sadly, all I get is repeated frustration.”
“The inclusion of multiple playable races and magical abilities adds variety, but it ultimately feels repetitive.”
“While the fantasy setting and diverse units suggest replayability, the lack of meaningful differences in playthroughs makes it feel stale.”
- music8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as evoking a high fantasy atmosphere, with pleasant background tracks that change depending on the game environment. However, many players criticize the lack of a dynamic musical score during combat, leading to a quiet and less engaging experience overall. While some appreciate the diversity in the music, it ultimately fails to enhance the gameplay effectively.
“The music switches depending on planes and is nice for the background.”
“The music evokes high fantasy, and there is a notable diversity in units and spells.”
“Mainly it was the lack of musical score, for example, to excite the player during combat. The game overall was just too quiet when first played.”
“Graphics are terrible, gameplay is terrible, music is terrible.”
“The music evokes high fantasy, but it loses huge points for lack of direction that fails to compound the two systems (map and combat) together in a fluid manner.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and slow, particularly in the early stages where resource accumulation takes a long time and micromanagement is necessary to optimize production. The disparity in race speeds adds to the frustration, with some races experiencing a prolonged waiting period to build up their armies and infrastructure. Overall, the grinding can detract from the enjoyment, as players feel bogged down by the repetitive tasks required to progress.
“A really tediously slow start: it takes ages to accrue enough resources to do anything, and you won't be able to use those flashy spells you so carefully selected at the start much at all (so don't let that bit suck you in).”
“I'm not sure if excess production is carried over, though, so in theory you could tediously micromanage and shift production to research right before a building completes to not waste potential.”
“Orcs are one of the faster races, giving you the ability to build cities and have decent defenses pretty early, while grey elves and dragonic are much slower, making it a rather tedious waiting period to get a proper population to make the buildings you need and give you the income of gold you require to afford a superior army.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in the game is widely criticized for its lack of immersion, with reviewers noting the absence of engaging environments, sounds, and effects. Comparisons to other titles highlight that even simpler games provide a more compelling atmospheric experience.
“There's no atmosphere, no city or places or unit sound to immerse you, no effects.”
- monetization4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game features no in-app purchases and offers free DLC, which is positively noted by users. However, there are complaints about deceptive advertising, leading to a negative overall perception of the monetization strategy.
“There are no in-app purchases, and the free DLC is a great bonus!”
“I appreciate that there are no in-app purchases, and the free DLC is a nice touch!”
“It's fantastic that there are no in-app purchases, plus the free DLC is an added benefit!”
“Deceptive advertising 0/10”
“Deceptive advertising 0/10”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by its absurdity, particularly in the interactions between factions, such as the orcs being easily outmatched by dark elves. Players find the situation amusingly tragic, highlighting a blend of dark humor and nostalgia for classic gaming experiences. Despite being unfinished, the game retains a charmingly addictive quality that enhances its comedic elements.
“This is hilariously pathetic against dark elves since they have a unit that can cast earth to mud and slow the orc's already bad movement speed, then massacre them with ranged attacks.”
“Funny that it's not even finished yet, but still has a highly addictive old-school quality to it, so rare in today's games.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Players note that the game lacks a detailed performance rating system, only providing a simple win or loss message at the end. However, they appreciate that performance improvements are being implemented regularly, suggesting ongoing optimization efforts.
“Performance improvements continue to be made every week, it seems.”
“When you finish, you just get a message saying you won or lost, instead of a performance rating like in other games.”
“Performance improvements continue to be made every week, but it's still not enough.”
