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If you are new to the genre the premise of these games is that you build an empire by taking over towns, upgrading them to produce more and better troops, collect resources and stomp on your enemies. It is played across a map that abounds with treasure, heroes and monsters.

In the case of AOW: Shadow Magic the map is presented in stunning colour and graphics that, although two dimensional, very much provides the look and feel of a 3-D map. At times it can seem that every portion of the map is filled with something new to explore as you move your heroes and army units around. There are three distinct realms: above ground, underground and a new 'Shadow World' (which wasn't in Age of Wonders 2). These are linked by tunnels and gateways which allow transition between realms, but also can be utilized strategically to sneak up on your enemies.

At the start of the game you are given the choice of proceeding straight to the main campaign or undertaking the tutorial scenarios first. This tutorial is recommended for beginners and experienced players alike as it provides essential game information in easily digestible portions. The game possesses such depth and complexity that in order to appreciate all it has to offer you need to learn step-by-step why and how it all works. Certainly, the game will be familiar to veterans since it contains elements of both Masters of Magic and Heroes of Might and Magic – both excellent games in their own right, but to dive straight in without navigating the tutorial is to risk missing some of the game's finer points...such as the different ways units can be employed.

There is a vast array of regular units available to players. These are acquired mainly through production in your cities, conjuration, releasing prisoners from dungeons and by making alliances with roving bands. A more eclectic selection you'll not see elsewhere. You will be treated to varients of the staple fare: knights, swordsmen and archers, with the usual races of humans, elves and dwarfs making an appearance. However as you progress you will encounter creatures from other races (fifteen in all), such as hellhounds, balloonists, fairy folk, elephant riders, dragons, shadow demons and many more. Of course, each unit has its strengths and weaknesses and half the challenge is to build armies that are balanced enough to challenge your enemies without depleting your resources. In other games of the genre it was usually enough to build the biggest and the best units of each of the races to achieve victory, however in this game a balanced army is essential to achieve any degree of success (those expensive elephant riders that trample all before them can easily wind up as shish kebabs when faced with cheap-to-build peasant spearmen).

One interesting unit worth a mention is the pioneer, which allows you to construct outposts, and more importantly to rebuild ruined structures. In some scenarios these are essential, as after ridding a destroyed city of its resident denizens you can turn it into a thriving city that will form an integral part of your defense and economy. A neat feature of the game is that these new population centres grow over time, making the investment in buildings that encourage growth a worthwhile proposition if you are building a long term strategy where a solid economy is essential.

Heroes and wizards are unique and powerful units; the former being invaluable in leading your armies to victory in the field with the latter usually providing magical support from the safety of a wizard's tower.

Depending on the chosen race various building options are available to you. Some of these allow the construction of new and superior units while others increase the generation of wealth, power and mana. There is a delicate balance however between building quality armies as against numerically superior armies. Each is a legitimate strategy in the game, the latter particularly as beginning game tactic.

Besides claiming revenue generating gold mines and other structures for your empire you will also encounter sites that – usually after evicting the previous tenants – grant magic items, spells, additional units, accelerated construction, accelerated movement, or quests with some great rewards. Magic items can be utilized by your heroes and wizards to improve their defensive and fighting capabilities, or to gain new abilities. Other sites will provide you with new heroes that carry over to the next campaign as well as their magical gear. Heroes also gain experience through battle (wizards do not...although they improve in other ways), and when they level up they are also granted new abilities to chose from. This pseudo RPG aspect personalizes the game for players and makes it all the more difficult when one of your heroes dies (an all too often experience - thank the war god for saved games).

Whenever opposing units meet the battle can be resolved instantly by the computer, or if you like to get down and dirty you can opt for a manual battle and control the units yourself. This is essential when you are outnumbered as superior 'on ground' tactics can often win the day. The combat takes place on a zoomed-in portion of the map on which you happened to meet. If this is a city then the defender has the luxury of starting behind the city walls (provided they have been built). Combat itself is turn based and each map presents differing tactical possibilities. Unlike other games in the genre where combat is largely a glorified chess game players are granted unrestricted movement (subject to terrain) over quite a large playing area. In big battles especially you can adopt a defensive position in one area while concentrating your forces elsewhere. When moving on the larger strategic map, although you are restricted to unit stack sizes of no more than 8 units, when you head into combat any adjacent stacks are drawn into the battle. It's common to come up against 4 or 5 stacks when playing in the campaign, and a good rule of thumb when exploring uncharted terrain is to travel in two or three stacks. There is safety in numbers, after all...

The measure of any strategy game is the AI and in AOW: Shadow Magic the developers have put together an AI that is tremendously challenging. Even at the easiest levels you will find the AI building composite armies and seeking out your vulnerable cities or targeting your resource areas soon after you flag 'em. Some will claim these for their leader whilst other races just destroy them. It can be heart breaking to have a lone Orc rider slip past your defenses and wreak havoc and destruction in your mines! All the more reason to ensure your armies contain light but fast units that can hunt such raiders down.

Besides the enemies you meet there are usually a bunch of neutral units (independents) roaming about the map. These can either be persuaded to join you – sometimes for a price, or they may choose to attack you or your resources (the doom bats in one scenario became a real nuisance). As mentioned earlier, some areas will activate quests that, should you choose to accept them will often see you hunting down these rogue units. If successful within the allotted time gods will grant you treasure or some better units so they are well worth the effort.

Magic is handled in the game in such away as not to overly dominate the game. Magic can only be cast in areas in which you exert magical influence; your domain. This can be done through your hero - who radiates a small area of your wizard's domain, allowing spells to be cast near him, or through the capture of magic relays that allow you to cover more area with your influence. Again this presents some interesting choices in game play. Where you have no magical influence it is often better to build a strong conventional force while closer to your source of power more reliance can be placed on magical defense.

There are three types of spells: global, which can be cast on the larger strategic map, unit enchantment, and combat. The spell library is vast, however the selection is limited by your choice of magic spheres (of which there are six...you are not limited to one, however). When it comes to casting spells your wizard is restricted by how much magical power (casting points) you have acquired. Each spell has it's own unique graphical effect and it's often worth researching a particular spell just to see what it looks like in action. Research is undertaken globally but influenced by the structures in your cities (libraries etc). Some spells can also be gained as a result of a successful quest.

Diplomacy also plays an important part of the game and in particular in the campaigns where you will be up against multiple opponents. Be aware however the AI can and does break alliances and it pays to keep a wary eye on friend and foe alike (never trust those shifty dwarves!)

Regarding the game's graphics - with the often high level of activity on the intricately detailed maps it is sometimes difficult to locate your troops. This is particularly so when fighting in wooded areas where your troops tend to be hidden behind trees. Overall however the graphics are top notch for this genre with items on the map often having some cool animation (even the flags used to represent site ownership flap around in the wind).

The interface is reasonably intuitive which is essential, as there is a fair bit of micro- management required for your cities. Some help is provided in the form of an adviser suggesting what to build when you have nothing in the build queue, however more often than not this is not the best choice to make. On the whole though everything is where you would expect it to be (including a mini map and events screen) and at the end of each turn the game prompts you if all available units have not been moved (a great feature when you have a lot of armies on the map).

The sound is quite polished with multiple sound effects for each type of unit and event, and a selection of background music provides ambience without distraction.

As we've come to expect – nay, demand – of a game of this type, AOW: Shadow Magic ships with both a scenario creator and a full multi-player mode as well. A quick look on the internet will reveal that discussions are running hot as to which are the best unit combinations and combat tactics.

Overall we'd have to say that AOW: Shadow Magic is an excellent game and a must-buy for fans of the genre. If you are looking for a challenge and can handle the seemingly inexplicable disappearance of large chunks of time, then this is for you. Those new to the genre might find the going tough until they come to grips with some of the game's concepts... but it really is worth perservering.