Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic

      Info from http://aow2.gathering.com/shadowmagic/

Welcome to the Age of Wonders: Take the throne of an ancient
Wizard-King, build an empire of magic, command fantastic armies,
and determine the shape of the world for ages to come!

Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic takes the acclaimed fantasy strategy
series to new heights. This new stand-alone game enhances the
series' praised fusion of empire building, role- playing and
tactical combat with the eerie Shadow World and battle with races
never before seen, across new and diverse landscapes.

Combined with the option of creating a totally unique environment
with the map editor and rewriting the history of this world
through the enhanced campaign editor, you are ensured a constant
stream of completely new game experiences.

Story:

After the magical war that made the foundations of the cosmos
quake, Merlin was victorious over the Circle of Traitorous
Wizards, and ascended to the Wizard's Throne in Evermore. But
before Merlin could settle into his new role, a terrible cataclysm
struck the war-ravaged world.

The war between the Wizards awoke a force of great darkness.
Cosmic rifts began to appear at the sources of magical power,
tearing asunder the very fabric of the world.  Unearthly creatures
began to pour from the nodes and towers that Wizards had once used
to help their people, destroying everything they came across. The
final rift appeared at Evermore, destroying the Wizard's Throne,
and sucking Merlin into an alternate plane of existence, the
Shadow World.

The people of the lands learned to fear and hate all things
magical in nature. Fostering their fear, the theocrat Phobius rose
to power under the banner of the abolition of magic, promising to
only use his own arcane powers to that end.

In this age of darkness, the ancient races suffered greatly due to
their magical nature. Stripped of their former power, the wizards
retreated to the far corners of the world, in hiding from the
Phobian Empire. It was then that from the Void beyond the Rifts,
Merlin was able to contact a group of these exiled wizards. He
urged them to unite, explore the origins of the shadow world,
defeat the Phobian Empire, and bring an end to this Dark Age.

Features:

Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic takes the acclaimed fantasy strategy
series to new heights. This new stand-alone game enhances the
series' praised fusion of empire building, role- playing and
tactical combat with the following features:

Full Campaign with 5 episodes and 16 scenarios, with new
characters and a new unfolding story. 19 stand-alone scenarios are
included.

3 Entirely new races: The steppe roaming Nomads, the sinister
Shadow Demons and the mysterious Syrons.

Revisions to the original 12 Age of Wonders races. Each race has a
new city upgrade, which comes with a new unit. For example, the
Elves can build a Secret forest, which cloaks the town and
produces Treemen.

Use dozens of new spells, artifacts, heroes and unit abilities.

Explore magical landscapes which have been updated with many new
structures and terrain tiles, and venture into the new 'Shadow
World' plane, a parallel realm of existence.

Create magical items of your own design at your Wizard Tower's
Forge.

Oppose enhanced computer players that now use boats and pioneers
efficiently.

Updated interface that leaves more room for the map-area and has
more features, such as descriptions of all the creatures in the
game.

Enhanced presentation with new music and cut-scenes.

More editing and customization options for users, such as the
importing of user portraits and a campaign editor

Improved pacing with outnumbered foes begging for mercy.

Inclusion of a Random Scenario Generator, which allows the
creation of endless new worlds to explore. Supports both
quick-launch options and dozens of user settings.





                              - o -