In a rather surprising turn of events, developer Triumph Studios announced that the next Age of Wonders game will feature a sci-fi setting. The title goes by the name Age of Wonders: Planetfall and will stray away from the fantasy themes fans have come to expect from the series. No more magic or dragons this time around. Instead, Planetfall will tackle galactic empires and futuristic technology in an attempt to offer players something new.
Although the setting will be vastly different, the gameplay seems to follow closely in the footsteps of its predecessors. Age of Wonders: Planetfall will be a turn-based strategy game with 4X and empire-building elements. The game promises a more in-depth empire-building system that takes place on a planetary scale. As such, players can expect to be able to build colonies and assign them various specializations.
The path to victory won’t always be straightforward in Age of Wonders: Planetfall. Similar to many other 4X games, Planetfall will allow players to reach their end goal by pursuing one of several different victory conditions. Triumph Studios only mentioned diplomacy, conquest, and doomsday technologies so far. However, it’s possible that more will be announced at some point in the future. Keep an eye out for that. The game won’t be out for a while so anything can happen in the meantime.
Will Age of Wonders Succeed Where Civilization Failed?
Age of Wonder’s transition from fantasy to sci-fi is very reminiscent of what Firaxis tried to do with the Civilization series. Back in 2014, the developer moved out from its historical roots when it launched Civilization: Beyond Earth. The game had a few interesting ideas but ultimately fell short of expectations. The first handful of screenshots for Age of Wonders: Planetfall look eerily similar to Beyond Earth so let’s hope that Triumph does a better job than Firaxis.
Planetfall’s change of tone is already gathering some pretty mixed reactions online. The main criticism is that Planetfall doesn’t seem to have any connections to the rest of the series. It is obviously inspired by the other Age of Wonders games. But maybe Triumph should have picked a different name given that Planetfall doesn’t seem to take place in the same universe as the original trilogy. Is this just an attempt to cash in on the Age of Wonders brand? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Age of Wonders: Planetfall is set to launch sometime in 2019 exclusively on PC. The game will be published by Paradox Interactive. Expect plenty of DLC and expansions post-launch.
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