Age of Wonders III Review Summary

While praised for its captivating graphics and high-quality music, the game suffers from shallow tactical combat, unfair AI advantages, and frequent crashes.

Graphics and aesthetics praised: Players consistently praise the game's visual presentation, noting it is better than previous titles and makes a very good impression, though some find it merely okay. The aesthetic quality is considered well done overall.

Game is captivating and high quality: The game is described as captivating and of generally high quality, with brief statements calling it a good game.

Music is well received: The music is highlighted as a positive aspect, contributing to the game's overall aesthetic quality.

Generally positive but not outstanding: Overall, the game is described as pretty good or normal, indicating a positive but not exceptional reception.

Good value compared to sequels: The game is considered cheap and of better quality than subsequent titles in the series.

Tactical combat lacks depth: Players report that tactical combat lacks depth and strategic options, with small battlefields, fast unit engagement, and tedious battles that feel unrewarding and unfun. The game is described as a sad parody of Heroes of Might and Magic, with boring gameplay and no real power scaling.

AI cheating and unfair advantages: The AI cheats with infinite reserves, maphacks, omniscience, and unfair advantages. It torches cities before player arrives, starts wars even when losing, and cannot be ambushed. The game feels rigged against normal players.

General quality and support issues: General complaints include outdated graphics, occasional bugs, high system load, poor customer support, account progress resets, monetization practices, and not recommending the game. It took 5 hours to get working.

External account and launcher issues: Multiple players complain about the requirement to create a Triumph account and use an external launcher, which causes launch failures, connection issues, and data harvesting concerns. Some spent hours trying to get the game to work.

Slow pacing and tedious gameplay: Battles and unit building take too long, AI is very slow, and the UI is sluggish, leading to tedious gameplay. Large maps are especially time-consuming.

Turn-based tactical fantasy 4X: The game is described as a turn-based tactical strategy game with fantasy elements, blending tactical battles with 4X empire building.

Diverse factions and unit types: There is a variety of factions and units, including class-based units and unique racial types such as infantry, cavalry, support casters, and ranged.

Tactical combat and empire building: The game combines tactical combat with empire building, aiming to balance both aspects for a cohesive experience.

Similar to Heroes of Might & Magic: The game is similar to Heroes of Might & Magic, a classic turn-based strategy series.

Hero system: The game includes a hero system, allowing heroes to lead armies and gain abilities.

Linux compatibility broken: The game no longer boots under Linux after a launcher update, with users reporting it as completely incompatible. A Proton Hotfix has been found to resolve the issue, suggesting the problem lies with the launcher rather than the game itself.

Frequent crashes and freezes: Players report frequent crashes and game freezes, including after selecting a class. These stability issues are common and detract from the overall experience.

Developer unresponsive to fixes: Users express frustration that the developer has not released a fix for the ongoing issues, particularly the Linux compatibility problems. This lack of response damages trust and satisfaction.

Frame drops from menu to gameplay: Significant frame drops occur when transitioning from the menu into gameplay, making the start of a session unpleasant and indicative of optimization issues.

Mod support causes crashes: Using mods causes the game to crash, preventing players from customizing their experience. This instability discourages mod usage.

Better alternatives exist: Several reviewers suggest playing alternative games like Heroes of Might and Magic 1, Warlock II: The Exiled, or Age of Wonders IV instead.

Not for casual players: The game is not suitable for casual players or those who dislike complex tutorials, as it can be confusing and difficult.

Hearing damage risk: The game has audio issues that may pose a hearing damage risk, and players are advised to play on mute if necessary.

Unrewarding combat: Combat is unrewarding and unit loss is punishing, making the gameplay frustrating.

Account requirement boring: The game requires an account and has boring gameplay, leading to a negative recommendation.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00.

Game completion: 30.0h.

Session length: 10.0h.

Age of Wonders III has a steep learning curve and poor tutorial, making the first hour confusing and unrepresentative of the deep strategic fun that follows once players grasp the mechanics.

Friction: steep learning curve; poor tutorial; complex mechanics; slow pace.

Unlock drivers: learning the mechanics through external guides or trial and error; playing through the campaign to understand systems; adjusting difficulty settings.

Tactical Combat Veteran: Manually controls every battle, focuses on hero progression and unit synergy, enjoys long sessions of tactical combat. Motivation: Mastering deep turn-based combat and hero customization. Stance: buy.

Multiplayer Competitor: Plays primarily multiplayer (1v1 or small groups), values strategic variety and community reputation, but is frustrated by long battle times. Motivation: Competitive play and community engagement. Stance: sale.

Creative Customizer: Experiments with race/class combos, uses mods and random maps, roleplays narrative decisions, and enjoys sandbox-style play. Motivation: Creative expression and infinite replayability through customization. Stance: buy.

Steam Deck: The game is playable on Steam Deck but requires manual Proton version switching (e.g., Proton Hotfix) and tolerating a problematic third-party launcher. Without these tweaks, it fails to launch or crashes. The experience is inconsistent and demands tinkering.

Linux and Proton: The game was previously working on Linux but broke after a third-party launcher update. Some users report it is completely non-functional, while others have restored playability by switching to Proton Hotfix or Proton 9.0-4. The developer has not provided an official fix, leaving Linux users reliant on community-discovered workarounds. Overall, the game requires tinkering with Proton versions to run.

Monetization: The user feedback primarily criticizes the pricing of DLC expansions and the necessity of DLC for mods. However, these are traditional DLCs, not microtransactions. The game does not feature any real-money shop, currency obfuscation, or pay-to-win mechanics. Therefore, the monetization is fair and non-predatory.