Planar Conquest

Planar Conquest is a 4X fantasy strategy game released for PC, iOS and etc., and an improved version of PC game World of Magic from 2015, which was widely criticized for many technical issues and bugs. This new title is something between a re-edition of that game and a brand new product, and was offered for free to all owners of Worlds of Magic for PC. Both titles were created by Polish developer Wastelands Interactive. In their work they drew inspiration from cult strategy game Master of Magic released in 1994 by Microprose. The game’s versions for different platforms were prepared by Shortbreak, a Techland’s subsidiary.

Story

Planar Conquest is set in a fantasy universe known from the original game, which is inhabited by races typical of the genre, such as the Men, Elves, Dwarves, Undead, etc. The game lacks a distinctive narrative, instead focusing on a never-ending war for domination, in which you use equally classic methods of combat, i.e. sword and magic. A measure of replayability is provided by the fact that the multi-planar world is randomly generated before every battle.

Gameplay

As befits a 4X strategy, Planar Conquest is based on the four core pillars of the genre: eXploration, eXpansion, eXploitation, and eXtermination. The game’s main goal is to develop your country by managing such aspects as economy, research on new technologies, and recruiting a strong army in order to conquer new territories and secure the ones under your control. You can achieve success in several different ways (through military power or economic and political dominance). The gameplay was based on D20 system, known well to enthusiasts of tabletop role-playing games.

Planary Conquest features similar gameplay mechanics to the original Worlds of Magic, however, it was adjusted to the specifics of new platforms (including consoles and mobile devices). Besides, Planar Conquest has got changed User Interface and significantly improved Artificial Intelligence. The game also received functional map editor that lets you extend its content by creating your own maps and scenarios.

Game modes

Just like Worlds of Magic, Planer Conquest too lets you battle against living opponents next to fighting skirmishes with AI-controlled enemies. Because the new game hit more platforms than the original, the developers decided to implement support for cross-platform gameplay, which means that all users of PC, consoles, and mobile devices can play together.

Technical aspects

Planar Conquest for PC, iOS and etc. features very similar artwork as Worlds of Magic, therefore it looks equally good on PC, consoles, and much less efficient mobile devices. Although the game uses the same graphics engine as the original, some visual tweaks were implemented and several minor fixes were made. It is also noteworthy that many of the solutions used in Planar Conquest were later implemented into Worlds of Magic through updates in order to improve that game’s stability and gameplay balance.

Last updated on 12 February 2016