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| Majesty | | By Eric Lopez | | June 15, 2000 | |  We truly live in an age of excess where quantity, not quality, matters in our society. This is especially evident in the entertainment industry where movies and computer games are seemingly excreted rather than presented to the public in an effort to capture a piece of the almighty dollar share. But every now and then a gem emerges from the flotsam that so captivates your heart, you're hard pressed to find any fault with it whatsoever, and you walk away feeling a little more optimistic about the state of the industry. Majesty - the fantasy kingdom sim by Cyberlore Studios is one of these gems.
While there have been dozens of real-time strategy games released over the years, almost all of them have had a futuristic setting. Fantasy RTS games are few and far between. The few examples that come to mind are Total Annihilation: Kingdoms and WarCraft II. But Total Annihilation: Kingdoms was plagued by numerous gameplay problems and WarCraft II is seriously showing its age. (Coincidentally, WarCraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal was also developed by Cyberlore).
 At first glance, initial Majesty gameplay appears to follow the usual RTS formula. You start with a base (palace), acquire a source of income (initially done with a marketplace), and begin building an army. But here's the twist: you have no direct control over any of your inhabitants (hence the reason for the word "sim"on the box.) Peasants and tax collectors automatically go about their rounds, which you can adjust by tweaking structure preferences. By taking the tedium out of micromanagement, Majesty leaves you free to concentrate on your heroes. The explore and attack incentive flags are the primary reward mechanisms you use to influence hero behavior. The explore flag is used to clear out unknown territory, while the attack flag is used to persuade heroes to demolish a structure or gang up on an attacking monster. The higher the bounty, the more likely heroes will attempt to collect it.
 With a level one palace (and depending on scenario restrictions), you typically start out with the capabilities of building guilds for rangers, thieves, warriors and wizards. Most guilds limit you to four heroes each, each one generated with a randomly unique name, but you're able to purchase additional guilds (at a higher cost) if you wish more of a certain hero type. As you upgrade your palace, you are able to recruit other races and build Temples. There are some restrictions. For example, you can choose to recruit gnomes, dwarves, or elves, but due to racial animosity choosing one will prevent recruitment of the other two. Likewise, religious differences restrict your choices of temples, and sometimes you're forced to make hard decisions. Not only do temples let you recruit heroes, but they grant you, the ruler, spells you can cast during a campaign.
 Each hero has their advantages and disadvantages. By nature, rangers are explorers and will reveal the map pretty quickly. However, they're mediocre in combat. Thieves are quick to collect reward flags, but run at the first sign of trouble unless the odds are on their side. Half the fun is experimenting with different combinations to find an effective strategy. Heroes will increase in levels as they gain experience, and use their gold to purchase items and updated armor. Again, different heroes behave differently. Cautious rangers will stock up on healing potions, while warriors will quickly blow their cash on the latest weaponry. I've often become so wrapped up in watching my heroes bustle around that I neglect to notice the impending invasion force right outside the city limits.
The single player campaign consists of 19 missions, four of which are secret missions and are hidden until you've completed the other requisite missions. Aside from the secret missions, these can be played in any order. Mission difficulties range from beginner to expert, and if you're having trouble completing one mission you can try your luck at a different one. Although many missions limit your ability to recruit certain guilds or temples, they still offer multiple solution paths.
 For example, consider the mission The Fertile Plain. The objective of this mission is to survive seven waves of attacks, each one stronger than the last. I beat this mission by erecting several Wizards Towers, a structure that automatically fires energy bolts at your enemies. When my wife later tried this mission, she chose instead to build four Temples of Krypta, whose priestesses recruit the dead as foot soldiers. By the fifth wave she had 50 or 60 skeletons patrolling the city, and the last two waves were swiftly dispatched. It's this kind of game balancing that made StarCraft such a hit.
Graphics: 
The isometric perspective is effective, and the prerendered graphics are pretty to look at. The scale makes it difficult to focus on heroes during a crowded battle though, especially since their names are listed below them at all times.
Sound: 
The background music is absolutely beautiful. As you near the completion of a mission the music becomes more urgent, like a climactic scene in a movie. Units and monsters have unique death sounds, and each building also has a unique sound when clicked. Granted, these features are small, but when they're well done they greatly add to the experience.
Interface: 
The interface is extremely easy to learn. You select your build order, place incentive flags, and cast spells via mouse clicks. Cyberlore made it very easy for new or casual gamers to play this game. A complete list of hotkeys are listed in the manual as well. Games are quick; it's rare for a single mission to take more than an hour to play.
AI:
I swear the monsters have a natural ability to seek out and kill my peasants and tax collectors, seriously impacting my city operations. But otherwise monsters attack the nearest target regardless of importance. Certain monsters are more cunning than others. Vampires are particularly deadly opponents, with their ability to reflect spell attacks back upon their wielders.
Multiplayer:
Four options are available for your multiplaying pleasure: modem connection, serial connection, LAN and the MSN Gaming Zone. On my P2 400 machine, with a 56K modem, I completed several multiplayer games on MSN successfully. Games typically last a couple of hours, especially if you've chosen the player vs. player option. Since there's no way to directly attack your opponent's structures, it's pretty much wait-and-see to see whose flags are obeyed first. One nice twist is that an opponent's heroes can be turned against them if the reward flag is high enough.
Replayability:
The single player campaign can be completed in a week, and multiplayer options are limited. However, the Freestyle option lets you specify your starting buildings, gold, monsters and tileset for a completely custom game. Definitely one you won't get bored with quickly.
Conclusion:
While I delete most games from my computer as soon as I finish them, this one is destined to remain on my hard drive for a long time. Veteran strategy gamers may find Majesty a bit easy, but its charm will win over even the most jaded player. For those people whose gaming experience is solely limited to The Sims, this game is a great next step to suck them further into the hobby. It's a great little lighthearted game to play while waiting for the crop of new releases this summer. |
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