The fantasy kingdom simulator.
Majesty 2, being published by Paradox Interactive and set to release later this year, starts you off in control of a kingdom being ravaged by a demon set off by the previous king. You control your various units (called Heroes) in a Real Time Strategy format defending your territories from a whole slew of fantasy creatures.
To start off, the control scheme and general UI looks very promising. There are very few windows that need to open up on the screen, the majority of your actions take place in the interface itself. All of your heroes are listed for quick access, along with your standard minimap. Buildings structures is a breeze with all the structures categorized and contained. One thing we noticed is that the UI does tend to get a little intrusive onto the main window, but most sections can be put away if you want to.
Zooming close into the game, everything has a cartoony style. Character models are gimmicky but look and animate well; tax collectors are pudgy and waddle around collecting money, your Rogues move in a stealthy fashion, and your Wizards roam around with a staff. Buildings and structures feel very tall and impressive, and while zoomed out units can become small. Voices sounded well done, but aside from your adviser narrating the action, it is mostly the sounds of combat or indiscernible talking. From what we saw, the musical score is impressive and more importantly, unobtrusive.
Instead of troops or squads of troops, Majesty 2 uses heroes, which are the fantasy archetypes Warrior, Cleric, Rogue, and Ranger, with a few more to unlock. Heroes are trained at guilds, and each class has their unique hall where research is conducted for various upgrades. A nice touch is that each hero is named uniquely, such as Sir Promethion the Courageous or Galla the Swift. Heroes also gain levels from fighting monsters while venturing out into the wild or protecting your town from attacks, and if they happen to die you are able to revive them (for a hefty fee) at your local graveyard. At a tavern, heroes can also be grouped into parties, which form together to go out and do various deeds, a nice touch which adds some element of strategy as to who you'll want to group together.
Unlike most other RTS games, Majesty 2 does not let you directly control your heroes in a point and click fashion. You direct your heroes through the use of flags, such as Exploration, Attack, or Protection. However setting a flag out into the wilderness or on a difficult monster is not enough, you'll actually have to assign a monetary value to the flag so your heroes become interested and go out to do whatever you need them to. The money is non-refundable, so a rampant flag party is not recommended. This system, while not without some flaws, adds a touch of realism to the fantasy kingdom aspect.
The flags can sometimes break the flow of the game; in the middle of a difficult attack on your town or raid at another town, setting up and paying for different attack flags can become clunky. Flags have an interest value, which shows how quickly a hero might respond to it, and it is tied to how much money a hero can get from completing the flag. While in normal activity this is fine, it can become frustrating in the heat of battle if your heroes are indifferent to the money you offer them.
Fortunately the developers have several things set up to players out. Flags can have a set default cost, as soon as you place the flag it immediately charges you. This speeds things up nicely, but can make it worse if you don't have enough money set by your default. The AI is also shaping up as well, we notice that mostly around town all your heroes attack any enemies by default, and that setting one or two attack flags in a general area and they will stick around to clear it out.
The immersion in Majesty 2 is impressive. Zoom in close to your town and you'll see many things going on by themselves. Peasants walk around repairing and constructing buildings, tax collectors collect money from the various houses and shops and deposit them at the castle, fueling your treasury. Guards patrol, and even Heroes do various things when not fighting, like purchasing things at the market or resting at their respective guild halls. Buildings range from markets, guild halls, smithys, taverns, and even a statue of yourself, which can bolster your hero's morale and inspire them to do tasks you set.
While so far we haven't seen much of the overall story line in the campaign missions, but they are all interesting in themselves: you'll have to help defeat a troll that terrorizes villages, rebuild defenses at a mountain pass to protect from minotaurs, or kill a dark wizard that has resurrected himself. While most of your heroes you'll only see during each mission, at the end you are allowed to choose one to be a Lord, which can then be called into battle in any other mission.
From what we've seen, Majesty 2 looks very promising. The RTS elements are fit in well to fantasy themes, and the feeling of utter hatred is accurately portrayed as you try and fail to bribe your heroes to protect your Dwarven caravans.
Nick Tringali
Contributing Editor
