It's taken me a while to get into Age of Wonders: Planetfall. It didn't grab me from the beginning the same way as AoW3 did so I kind of bounced off it the first couple times I tried to play it. I can't put my finger quite on why that was though, it certainly has more depth than AoW3 and the graphics although not as colourful as the previous title are still nicely done.

However after a break from the game for a while I recently got back to trying it out after the latest DLC and the Galactic Campaign Mode were added. I just finished up a game playing as an Amazon Warrior (Princess) who won the game by releasing a doomsday device that infected the whole planet with an Alpha Strain Xenoplague infestation. Lets just say the world had a very green tint to it by the end of the game.

Below is an overview of how that game went:

I tried to master the planet in quite a few different ways when I started, there was a timed quest to eliminate a single npc faction within 20 turns (I wasn't fast enough). So next I tried to focus on uniting all the 6 factions and going for a Unification victory, however there were 3 Dvar factions that decided they would all become friends and try and take out the rest of us. So it turned out to be a 3 vs 3 duel, however the Dvar factions had all gotten a technological head start on me due to me faffing around doing diplomacy things rather than researching bigger guns or more lethal biomass weapon mods.

Now normally there isn't really much hope of coming back from this situation in a lot of 4X games. However I looked through this list of possible win scenarios and spotted the Doomsday scenario. So I thought what the heck I'll try anything to get rid of these pesky scheming Dvar guys. It took a lot of guerrilla hit and run attacks then quickly hiding in forests but I kept them at bay long enough to start building up my research. Luckily my fellow allies were just about holding their own too so we kept control of the top half of the map just long enough to get the Alpha Strain option on the table.

Alas once I'd set the doomsday chain of events in motion I then had to defend the Strain "Nodes" from being attacked for 10 turns. It was really nail biting watching the Dvar heading towards me in their tanks and flame throwing mechs. However I called on my allies to come and help defend and sure enough one of them sent over some troops which didn't quite swing the battle, but was enough to keep the Nodes safe long enough for the Alpha Strain to infect and dissolve those dastardly Dvar. I loved every minute of it.

Of course this is just one example of what could happen and there are so many different ways to customise, that no two games will ever be the same.

Also special mention to the character editor, wow... you can create just about any character you can imagine, and pick their skills and attributes. The customisation continues through the game when playing too so you really get a sense of advancing as the game plays out. Also the random world events (which came in the Invasions DLC) really help keep things spicy. Just remember there is about a 2-3 hour learning curve to fully get down with it,.

So if any of the above sounds like fun to you then go for it. It even has multiplayer if that's your thing.

Oh yeah one more thing it also has Tyrannosaurs in it..... Grrrrrrrrreat!