Before doing this review, I had never heard of Majesty, or any other fantasy sim, and I think I know why. Although Majesty 2 isn’t a bad game, there are just a couple of things that make the game a bit frustrating.
In Majesty 2, developed by Paradox, the player will take the role of the last heir to the throne. It’s a RTS by the strict definition, but one thing that sets it apart from other RTS titles is that the units are semiautonomous. What that means is that you won’t be able to tell each unit where to go or what to do. It’s almost like they have a mind of their own, and will wander around the map looking for something to do. At best, you will be able to plant different flags, like Explore, Defend, Attack and Danger along the map. These flags will also have a gold value attached to them, so if you plant an explore flag with a gold value of 500, more units will go in search of the flag.
The same can be said for the attack and defend flags. If an enemy has a huge bounty on its head, more units will try to attack or defend it. It does become a bit frustrating, as you will constantly be flagging enemies for attack, and if there is an enemy in your city without a reward value, no unit will attack it.
Maybe I’m just used to the conventional RTS games, but I don’t feel that it should be necessary to reward your units for exploring or attacking. Shouldn’t they be doing those things automatically? Oh, and if you run out of gold for some odd reason, you can’t set attack reward flags, which means the chances of a unit attacking is very remote.
The graphics are rather good, but they’re by no means revolutionary. From a top-down view, the amount of detail is sufficient to make the title look good, and when zooming in to any unit, the graphical detail is up to par with current titles.
The game features both single player and multiplayer missions, but single player is recommended if you would just like to have some mindless fun on a Sunday afternoon. After selecting the single player campaign, the rather interesting story is explained to you, just to make sure that you are up to speed with the development of the kingdom. During the tutorial mission, it is clear that your advisor has a bit of a sense of humour, something that is rather welcoming. Actually, the humour throughout the title is amusing, as your subjects will often retort with a snide comment. The units are a different story, as there is only a handful of them to build. As with any medieval RTS, you get your mage, archer, warrior and peasants. Those are about the only units that you will be able to build.
The archers are excellent explorers, and will always seek out high-earning reward flags. However, they aren’t as courageous when it comes to battle. Although they fight from a distance, they will flee the scene quite quickly. The warriors are the true fighters in this tale, as they won’t shy away from a fight, as long as you can get them to it. The nice thing about all the units are that they sort-of upgrade. The longer and harder they fight, the higher their level will become, and they will start to actively seek out battles.
Majesty 2 is a rather cute game, for the lack of a better word, but the experience soon becomes forgettable. The inability to control units directly will be a major point of frustration, as will the unit cap of only 3 units per building. It’s a good game for someone who is starting out in RTS games, but for hardcore, or even semi-hardcore gamers, the title will only frustrate, which will lead to a very short gaming experience.
The graphics are cute, crisp and feature enough detail to be realistic, while the controls are simple to understand and execute. The sound effects are true to their real life counterparts, while the in-game commentary and comments will be something to smile at.
• AT A GLANCE:
The game is a typical medieval RTS, but just be aware that your units will be able to think for themselves.
• Platform
PC