Age of Wonders III is a turn-based strategy computer game developed and published by Triumph Studios. The publisher in Russia and the CIS is the company 'Buka'. Age of Wonders III was released on March 31, 2014.
The action of the third part of Age of Wonders takes place in the same game universe as before. Initially, players are offered to go through several large story campaigns, where they can get acquainted with the game and learn what calamities have befallen the fantasy world this time. After completing the campaigns, players can turn to individual scenarios and also random maps – in the latter case, the player creates the conditions under which they will play, choosing the world size and determining the number of participants. Multiplayer mode and the good old hotseat mode are also available.
In gameplay, Age of Wonders III is largely reminiscent of Heroes of Might and Magic, but also shows influence from other projects – for example, Civilization. There is a map where you can find many towns – both belonging to the player and neutral and enemy. Allied settlements gradually develop, which leads to the expansion of the area under their control, thus bringing valuable resource deposits within the influence zone of the cities. However, to realize imperial ambitions, this is clearly not enough – one needs to pursue a conquering policy, alternating it with diplomacy.
The main driving force in Age of Wonders III is heroes of different races and classes. In story campaigns, players are not allowed to create their own characters, but in other cases, they can always do so. Players can choose from ready-made options or create their own heroes from scratch, determining their appearance, specializations, racial and class features. Heroic figures participate in battles alongside their soldiers and can either be at the forefront, fighting in the front lines, or be in the rear, conducting magical attacks and supporting their troops in various ways. By the way, regular units in Age of Wonders III can fight on their own, but if that or another group lacks the blue-blooded individuals, the effectiveness of such 'headless squads' sharply decreases.
Battles themselves take place in a turn-based mode, and units move across a hexagonal grid, which changes color when clicking on a specific squad. This allows players to know how many attacks will be dealt to an enemy unit within a specified area. If an enemy fighter is on an orange hex, only one attack may be made, but if on a green one, the number of possible attacks multiplies by three. The team that kills all the units of the enemy team wins.