Lords of Magic

Infobox VG| title = Lords of Magic


developer = Impressions Games
publisher = flagicon|United States Sierra Entertainment
designer =
released = flagicon|United States December 31, 1998
genre = Turn-based strategy
modes = Single player multiplayer
platforms = Windows 95, Windows 98 (see below for later rereleases)
media = CD-ROM Lords of Magic is a turn-based strategy PC game designed for Windows 95/98 by Sierra Entertainment. The game, which was distributed on CDs, includes a single-player mode and limited multiplayer features on LAN and the Internet as well.

Plot and setting

etting

The game takes place in the land of Urak. The people of this world worship one of eight religions. Each religion has an opposite in the circle of life and the people of those faiths are bitter enemies. The atmosphere of the game is inspired by the works of Tolkien, as well as Dungeons and Dragons.

Plot and characters

Balkoth, the lord of Death, has embarked on a campaign to destroy all other faiths in honor of the dark god Golgoth. The other lords scramble to expand their ranks to defend themselves against this dark threat but also to once and for all destroy their life long nemesis.

The Special Edition also contains the Legends of Urak quest pack. It's a set of 5 individual quests that revolve around stories unrelated to the main plot of the game.

Factions & Heroes

There are eight different factions. Each faction represents their element with their own set of units, heroes and spells. Even though both Air and Earth appear to be on the side of good and both have good diplomatic relations with order and water they hate each other as much as death. The Heroes of the game consist of three different types which offer unique game play and tactics. They are Warrior, Thief and Mage. The Warrior acts as a Tank and leads your armies into battle. The thief works best alone being able to steal money and sabotage, the thief can even kidnap other heroes ransoming them for money and artifacts. The Mage is very weak with low hit points, but they can use spells which can change the entire battle in your favor, summoning great monsters or raining down fire and lightning from behind the lines. There are over 160 different spells, and they are different for each faction but with four different types of spells which are "offensive", "defensive", "overland" and "general knowledge". There are over 90 different artifacts as well to discover.

Life

Chaos

Fire

Water

Special edition

The Legends of Urak featured in the special edition of the game revolve around Fables and Stories. Earth, Fire and Death each have a unique quest while Order has two quests. The Earth quest is based of the epic poem Beowulf but involves many original battles and adventures Beowulf partakes in. The Fire quest revolves around a fire sorceress named Crispin who seeks out and slays a colossal ice drake in order to return the flow of lava to the fire capital. The Death adventure focuses on the necromancer's ability to raise the dead and employ them in battle to ultimately defeat a lich in battle and retrieve his staff and with it his power. The first Order adventure is loosely based on the legends of Merlin and King Arthur and ends with the retrieval of the Holy Grail and death of Mordred. The second Order adventure is only activated by clicking in the center of the circle of life in the quests menu and has a unique lord named Sigfried who transforms as the game progresses. He saves the valkyrie Brunhilde and defeats Attila the Hun.

Development

The game was intended to combine elements of Heroes of Might and Magic II and Lords of the Realm II.

Reception

The game was met with mixed reviews. Gamespot gave the game a rating of 6.3 out of ten. The special edition was met with much better reception, with Gamespot giving it a 7.0 and Strategy Gaming Online a 7.8.

References

External links

*http://www20.brinkster.com/dwcarless/LOM.html - Fansite with modding info

*http://mantera.xorgate.com/ - Constantly update Fansite with mods