Master of Magic

The Good
The game has incredible depth of play. The sheer number of inventive and interesting spells that can be researched and used transforms what would otherwise have been a mediocre 4x game into something classic. At the start of each game the player is able to choose what kind of spells they would like to concentrate on (life, death, chaos, nature, sorcery), what special powers they will use (alchemy, warlord etc) and what mythical race they will command (Elves, Dwarves, Humans, and about a dozen others), each with their own units and buildings, abilities and handicaps. For instance the Dark-Elf race can build the special Warlock unit, but have a higher rate of rebellion. The Klackon race is highly productive but cannot build Universities to advance your spell research. The races are much more specialised than they are in the Civ titles, and make a great difference to how you play the game.

This combined with customisable maps and random opponents means that each game is very different from the last. Add to that the traditional Civ-like exploration, war/diplomacy and city building and you have a very addictive game with loads of replayability.

The Bad
The graphics were adequate at the time it came out, and today it's looking badly dated. Really in need of a revamp. The diplomacy is pretty much redundant as every opponent wants to wipe you out. They will stay hostile and defiant even when they have one tiny unit left and are facing your army of dragons. And it can be buggy unless you treat it just right, though that could be a result of running it in a Dos-box environment.

The Bottom Line
Transforming a game like Civilization into a fantasy realm is not as easy as it seems. But MoM managed to get the balance right and retain all the addictiveness. If you like classic 4x games like Civ and Master of Orion etc, then you have to give this a try. Tons of interesting spells, powerful mythical units to fight with, and interesting realms to explore and conquer. Despite being rather old and having poor graphics, it has so much gameplay that it will still keep you hooked in this day and age.

The Good
While some say it ripped off Magic: the Gathering with its game style (it did), the combination of the spell research and the civ-style play is the best I've ever played (much better then Master of Orion, IMHO). Also, unlike other games that break down when it goes into tactical combat, this one really shines, even when you let the computer fight for you (well, when the odds are in your favor.)

The Bad
The Win98 update/sequel was never completed!

The Bottom Line
Civ meets Magic: the Gathering!

The Good
No game has made me feel like being a cybernetic extension of the mouse as MoM. Play the role of a sorcerer in a fantasy world struggling to conquer your fellow mages, an do so by raising armies of fantastic creatures, expanding your territory, funding and developing cities, recruit heroes to lead your army… and making use of magick, of course. More than 200 spells are your powerful magical weapons: extremely varied, well designed and well fitted in the game. Enhance magically your armies, conjure creatures, throw balls of fire, cover the entire map with titanic enchantments… add to that the possibility of designing your mage through 5 schools of magic and lots of magical abilities, and the sum is a true epic game.

The system will be very familiar to Civ players; in fact, MoM can be called Fantasy Civ. However, there are substantial differences. There is no tech to research: instead there are spells. You can win by conquer, but instead of building a spaceship you can research and cast the Spell of Mastery. And wonders have not a place, although there are heroes (and magical items for them to use). But there’s something, and I don’t understand why Civ2 and SMAC didn’t take the idea. Guess what? Yes! Tactical combat. The combat rules are very well designed: each unit has attack and defense values, like in Civ, but in battle they roll for attack and defense simultaneously (I mean, defenders do not wait hoping their armor will protect them from the attacker’s blows, like in SMAC). Creatures (and heroes) can have also a lot of special abilities for both overland and tactical game. Creature size is also taken in consideration, as in a square cannot be as many skeletons as storm giants, for example. And ranged fire is now true ranged fire. Oh, and spice all this with spells. The variety of strategies to use, combining your armies and heroes with magic, is limitless.

Each game (a random map!) promises an epic fantasy campaign. Not only exploring the world, but discovering ancient ruins, dark dungeons and magic-filled nodes… and fighting their jealous guardians, not so eager to give you their treasures. Oh, you think a world is not enough? Well, how about two? MoM has two planes of existence to explore and conquer. I could go on explaining, but there’s only one way to get an idea: playing it.

The Bad
Bugs.

I can’t remember so painful blow in the stomach like the game crashing when fighting Wraiths or Shadow Demons, or trying to cast a Disjunction. I don’t understand how those bugs weren’t detected. Fortunately, patch 1.31 fixed them.

Apart from bugs, unfortunately MoM was purely a game about war. Even with the AI improvement provided by the patch, was nearly impossible to maintain peaceful relations. Merely meeting another wizard was enough to be at war, and a long-standing one. That was sometimes very frustrating. Also, diplomatic model was even more simplistic than in Civ. Very, very few options, and lack of spies or diplomats.

City management was also simplified, as you cannot place citizens at will to exploit resources, and there weren’t revolts except as random events. Terraforming was also gone, except for roads. And so was government and corruption. Well, this is a Civ fan’s point of view, and comparisons are inevitable in “cousin” games like Civ and MoM. However, MoM has features Civ doesn’t (tactical combat, character customisation and many others…).

Sincerely, I fear an hypothetical MoM2 (which was planned before Microprose went out!). I think a really good, well designed sequel of this game can truly be the ultimate strategy game, but… Hope if anyone ever makes MoM2, does a really good work, in the spirit of the original, full of good and new ideas, and keeping ALL that made MoM the masterpiece it is. MoM doesn’t deserve less.

And the music… well, no comments.

The Bottom Line
Master of Magic is THE classic of all fantasy strategy games, and one of the classics of strategy in general. No other fantasy strategy game has reached its level, even many years later. And that’s one of the points that define a classic. If you’re a strategy fan, don’t wait anymore and get it.

But don’t forget to get the 1.31 patch too!