Review | Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim
Format: PC | Genre: Strategy | Publisher: Paradox Interactive | Developer: 1C Company | Release date: 18/09/09 | RRP: £29.99
By Fraser McMillan
The realm of cartoon fantasy is hardly uncharted territory.
Animated films and myriad games have trodden that ground quite well, but that’s not stopping Majesty 2 having a crack on its own terms. To say it’s merely difficult to approach these tropes with much enthusiasm would be an understatement, but thankfully the light-hearted tone suits the mechanics rather well. So, score one for Ino-co, but there’s just one teensy snag – those mechanics are, in and of themselves, inherently flawed.
Okay, let’s back up a bit. Majesty 2 is a sequel to a fairly well-received, but decade old, title that expands neatly on its forebear’s core gameplay and effectively drags the whole thing kicking and screaming into 2009. Not that it’s the most hardware intensive release on the market, but the castles are detailed, their edges are smooth and it all looks nicely stylised. We’re not here for uncanny valley busting visuals, though; all that’s required is some bread and butter economy and city management with a dash of Warcraft III. What Majesty 2 provides is essentially that with a twist: units are not directly controlled, but rather coerced into doing your bidding.
For a while this seems like an interesting spin on the formula, and indeed the mechanic proves highly fulfilling for a few sessions. The aforementioned units are either peasants, who take care of menial jobs and act as tax fodder, or “heroes”, who spawn from player constructed guilds specialising in a handful of disciplines. What this creates is a simulated MMO of sorts, with each hero dashing around battling beasts, protecting villages or exploring new land for you to mercilessly exploit with trade posts. Each is listed on the UI and can gain experience, level up, make money and deploy special abilities. The different classes are distinct enough to make each one’s inclusion worthwhile, and establishing a functioning mini-kingdom with decent cashflow is achievable within minutes of each mission commencing.
//Cash in my pocket
It’s very charming indeed, and can be surprisingly absorbing when the greens start rolling in. Apart from standard structures, money is invested in flags. Though you can place as many as you want around the unfogged map space, they’re useless unless imbued with a value, the magnitude of which determines the level of hero attracted to it. The four available types – attack, protect, explore and fear – are simple to keep track of and useful in all situations. It’s great fun to place an attack flag on a bear cave with a couple of hundred gold as bounty and watch the battle unfold. It’s even more fun to see a gang of greedy archers fleeing from said bears because elongated darts are no match for a fistful of razor-sharp claws and six hundred pounds of killer instinct.
That’s really the joy of Majesty 2. It’s not a deep title by any means, but the stripped-down mechanics, minimalistic interface and absence of resource management are admirable, and prove a welcome break from the usual menu-heavy strategy. The problem is that the system, while enjoyable, isn’t based so much on skill as other titles. Its total reliance on the AI to take care of progress is a problem, and the simplicity of the commands can be frustrating when ten low-level units unthinkingly charge to their doom and the few equipped to deal with the issue are preoccupied with slaughtering an endless stream of sewer rats.
That said, there’s no reason not to appreciate Majesty 2 for what it does right. The introduction of more flags (the quota of which has doubled from the original’s two) would come at the risk of over-complicating matters, and it’s almost elegant in its simplicity. The campaign, unfortunately, does little to mix up the formula and runs out of steam more quickly than it should, but to be fair there’s only so much you can do with the core set of mechanics on offer. It might be fundamentally flawed, but Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim is a whimsical, enjoyable and fresh ride for genre veterans. A multiplayer mode will keep those who don’t tire of the formula hooked, and if that sounds like you, it’s certainly worth a punt.
6/10
