![]() Strategic ops effects can range from orbital bombardments to cracking and shifting mountains. Strategic operations are active effects requiring a priming time to prepare and operations points to activate. Tactical operations affect only tactical battles and usually cost energy to activate as well as tactical operations points. There are three types of operations: tactical, strategic, and intelligence. Therefore, there can be a situation where two different factions end up using the same secret tech tree, or the player chooses to play the same faction multiple times with different secret techs, inspiring different strategic approaches to victory.Īn evolution from Age of Wonders’ fantasy-focused past, spells have evolved into operations and doctrines. Moreover, these secret research trees are not faction-specific. The technological victory condition for each faction is defined by the choice of a secret technology tree, which has its own set of technologies that will change how the campaign will be played. This gives the player unparalleled choice in how to approach the game. There is a dedicated character customization mode where players can craft characters from each of the six factions with their own skills, abilities, equipment, and secret technology tree that fits the player playstyle. The unique features of Age of Wonders: Planetfall that make it stand out from the rest are the inclusion of a character customization mode, six victory-defining technologies, operations and doctrines, unit mods, and faction in-game strategic flexibility. Mainly, each faction plays tactically completely differently from one another and will usually follow very different strategic paths based on player choice and faction characteristics. Each of these factions have unique military technologies, units, and paths to victory. ![]() The six factions are: the colonial forces of the former Star Union, the Vanguard, the insectoid swarm like Kir’ko, the feudal merchant families and clans of The Syndicate, the bioengineering expert Amazons, the industrial-minded and resourceful Dvar, and the robot-zombie faction called The Assembly, reminiscent of the Warhammer 40000 Adeptus Mechanicus. The player can experience the story through a series of 13 narrative campaigns with unique objectives (excluding the short tutorial campaign), where every faction will make itself known and demonstrate its strengths, weaknesses, and unique features. In the wake of the Star Union’s fall, 6 factions pursue survival, conquest, and the establishment of a new space order upon the ashes of the Star Union. Planetfall’s story is set in the aftermath of a space cataclysm that destroyed the space faring empire, the Star Union, and making FTL travel all but impossible. It takes the 4X strategy genre forward with the implementation of several unique and thematic mechanics. At its core, it is a 4X strategy game in the same vein as Proxy Studios’ Warhammer 40000 Gladius: Relics of War however, it is much more than just another game focused on resource exploitation and endless combat. The best way to conceptualize Age of Wonders: Planetfall is to think of it as a mix of Endless Legend, Civilization, Heroes of Might and Magic, and XCOM. Giving my mind enough time to marinate on all that the game had to offer, all the while reading the handy in-game encyclopedia, the Imperial Archives, helped me understand that what Triumph Studios included in the game was thematically and mechanically genius. The new aesthetic and science-fiction setting definitely put me off as the last time I looked at Age of Wonders in 2014 it was a strong outing as a 4X strategy game in the same vein as the Heroes of Might and Magic series of games. My initial thoughts on Age of Wonders: Planetfall were mixed as I worked through the short tutorial and my first game as there was so much data to take in. Putting the game down to write this, I find myself thinking about all the game has to offer in strategic and tactical options and how best to optimize my next strategy, or which faction to try next and how that faction will inform my playstyle. Or at least at the local board game or comic book store poring over the brand new releases of graphic novels and game rule books. While exploring what this game had to offer I could not stop thinking that as a strategy, tactics, and science-fiction fan that I was the kid that got stuck in the candy store. Age of Wonders: Planetfall really is a game about wonderment and deep thought.
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