Majesty 2 takes several cues from RTS games that came before it, although most of those inspirations are lifted directly from the WarCraft series. Probably the most interesting aspect is the idea that the player never really has any control over any of the units in the army and can only give vague suggestions to where they should go next.
Uniquely, the player takes indirect control of hero units by assigning monetary rewards on objects throughout the world. For example, the player might have to protect a specific building or explore a certain area to gain a reward. However, having a quality prize will interest more explorers and can eventually be leveled up, buy better equipment and items, and learn new skills; this means that the longer that any one hero is kept around the better that they become. There is even a building that allows the player to summon explorers from previous missions to the current one, still with their level and equipment.
While this gameplay design is functional, it does manage to throw off the balance. Unfortunately, without previous trial and error knowledge, level 1 heroes are going to have a difficult time getting the game off the ground. This causes a very interesting effect of needing to know order in which to build of the structures of the kingdom to make it through the first chunk of any given level, after which the level gets progressively easier.
Besides the unique way that the units are controlled, the other thing that really sets Majesty’s sequel apart from others in the genre is the fact that it is the higher humorous qualities. While most RTS games have a pinch of humor to make the hours of looking at the same units over and over again manageable, Majesty is mainly a comedy. This makes it all the more bizarre when the narrator starts making fun of the way that the units control, or for the odd objectives. Making a humorous game is a difficult task but Majesty 2 pulls it off.
This is also an expansion to the core game of Majesty 2, so the important question is how it stacks up as additional time with the game. The easiest way to answer the question is simply by saying it starts off hard and goes from there. This is a direct continuation of the story of the core game, although the plot this time around seems to be the king simply wanting to beat up on some random monsters instead of freeing his kingdom.
As an extension of gameplay this works rather well and has one of my favorite mechanics for that as it does not have any tutorial at all when it starts. Also refreshing is that all of the buildings are unlocked from the beginning, meaning that the best units and items are ready for the taking at the start, even if the game does mildly balance this by having very nasty enemies constantly attacking at the start.
For those that are looking for more Majesty this is the perfect option, although this addition isn’t going to convince anyone to run out and buy it. It is a shame that many of the original title’s flaws have transferred over to this sequel, like heroes having issues taking orders and some levels require previous trial and error knowledge, but this RTS experience is still entertaining.
Not As Good As: WarCraft 3
Also Try: The King Builder expansion
Wait For It: A gold pack with all expansions
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