Hands-on | Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim

Format: PC | Publisher: Paradox Interactive| Developer: Ino-Co | ETA: Q3 2009

By J.D. Richardson

When I first heard about Majesty 2, I thought to myself, ‘Majesty Two? What about Majesty One?’

Now, I’ve been seriously into gaming since the days of the Acorn Electron in the early 80s and I usually don’t miss a trick, especially when it comes to fantasy and city-building games. So how the hell did I miss Majesty? Especially since it seems, when it was released in the year 2000, it was rather well-received.

News to me, but never mind. Nine years late is better than never, I suppose. My retro gaming senses are tingling right now, which means another trip back in time to 2000 to experience something I probably should have done nine years ago.

//It does exactly what it says on the tin
Anyway, I’m here to talk to you about Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, sequel to the aforementioned game, which should be coming out later on this year. It’s a – erm – fantasy kingdom sim that puts you in charge of a – ahem – fantasy kingdom. You play the role of the Sovereign, building stuff and defending and attacking when necessary – the usual kind of thing with this genre.

It’s a real time strategy game that differs from the norm in a few unique ways, such as the fact that you can’t actually directly control your subjects or heroes; you have to influence them with rewards to do your bidding. It’s an appealing concept and seems like it could add a considerable amount of strategy to the proceedings. Unfortunately, it’s also one that I couldn’t quite get to grips with in the build we were shown.

The hero characters can be levelled up, role-playing-style, and each has a unique inventory and set of agendas. A paladin will seek out evil and destroy it, while a rogue will steal gold, and so on. It all takes place in the usual, clichéd fantasy world, but to hell with it, I like clichéd fantasy. Elves, goblins, dwarves… bring it on, I say.

As long as it improves before release, that is. From what we’ve seen, there’s still a considerable amount of polish to be applied. The graphics are rather dated, although acceptable for the kind of game that this is. And there’s no evidence of a campaign yet – just a series of test missions, one of which involved being attacked by random marauding skeletons as soon as I started.

Majesty 2 feels like a game that will have lots to offer, but it’s just not got it together yet. With a bit more love and attention it could be something quite special. For now, it’s definitely something to keep an eye on, and it’s going to be interesting to see how it turns out.

There’s a new two-part Q&A on Majesty 2 up on Youtube. Watch it one and here.