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THE THRILL OF COMMANDING fantasy armies across a massive campaign has huge appeal for gamers if sales of the Heroes of Might and Magic and Age of Wonders series are anything to go by. Both have been refined and honed over differing iterations and the soon to be released Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic looks like it will once again raise the bar in the genre - not an easy task considering how superb Age of Wonders 2 was.

For those who have never played this type of game before the basics are that you travel over the map with your heroes and armies claiming resources and treasure to build bigger and better armies and castles. You lay siege to towns and castles in an isometric battle area that is rendered with some absolutely stunning graphics.

This new game will throw players into the heart of a mythological world where a new Empire has launched an aggressive assault on the Ancient Races and all things magic. To spice the whole brew up further an even greater evil populated by hellish demons breeds in its shadows.

Taking on the role of mythical champions, players will get to make use of a whole new set of spells and items as they troll across the map on a quest to be the greatest Sorcerer of all time and rid the dream like world of the evil Phobius. This latest addition to the Age of Wonders series will enable players to experience a whole new play environment called the 'Shadow World dimension' and battle with races never seen before in the series.

The full feature list is as follows:-

• Full Campaign with 5 episodes and 16 scenarios, with new characters and a new unfolding story. 19 stand-alone scenarios are included.

• 3 Entirely new races: The steppe roaming Nomads, the sinister Shadow Demons and the mysterious Syrons.

• Revisions to the original 12 Age of Wonders races. Each race has a new city upgrade, which comes with a new unit. For example, the Elves can build a Secret forest, which cloaks the town and produces Treemen.

• Use dozens of new spells, artifacts, heroes and unit abilities.

• Explore magical landscapes which have been updated with many new structures and terrains tiles, and venture into the new 'Shadow World' plane, a parallel realm of existence.

• Create magical items of your own design at your Wizard Tower's Forge.

• Oppose enhanced computer players that now use boats and pioneers efficiently.

• Updated interface that leaves more room for the map-area and has more features, such as descriptions of all the creatures in the game.

• Enhanced presentation with new music and cut-scenes.

• More editing and customization options for users, such as the importing of user portraits and a campaign editor.

• Improved pacing with outnumbered foes begging for mercy.

• Inclusion of a Random Scenario Generator, which allows the creation of endless new worlds to explore. Supports both quick-launch options and dozens of user settings.

We can't wait for Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic. The graphics are looking absolutely stunning, the campaign and the added bonus of a new campaign editor sound superb and combined with the turned based gameplay that is a hallmark of the series, it is going to be a winner. At this stage Take 2 reckon late August for a New Zealand release - stay tuned to the news page for the latest updates.

Follow the link below to check out some great screenshots.

Show me the screenshots!