Conquest of Elysium 3 is an old school fantasy strategy game. You explore your surroundings conquer locations that provides the resources you need. Resources needed vary much depending on what character you are, e.g. the high priestess need places where she can gather human sacrifices, the baron needs places where tax can be collected and where iron can be mined. These resources can then be used for magic rituals and troop recruitments. The main differentiator for this game is the amount of features and special abilities that can be used. The game can be played on Windows, Linux (x86 and raspberry pi) and Mac OSX (intel and powerpc).
Buy this. It has things in it.
This game is a sequel of more than 10 years old COE2. It features updated interface, better AI (probably), and somewhat refined gameplay mechanics. That said, it also inherits some really obsolete elements that make you feel like you travelled back in time.
First of all, said interface, while improved, leaves a lot to be desired. Sometimes, you need to find a particular terrain type to accomplish an advanced magic ritual, but the game does not help in that - you have to scour the map square by square (highlighting function would be nice). Recruiting system is horrible, because it's difficult to tell where the new units appear. There are also balancing problems, since some classes are too dependent on map type and scarcity of certain map features - on some maps, they are drastically weaker than on others. The graphic is also tiny and somewhat ugly, and the units lack flavor texts like in Dom3.
These flaws aside, however, the game plays rather nice. The classes are varied enough to offer solid replayability, the unit characterictics create interesting relations concerning what beats what, the AI (with enormous enough cheating bonuses) is capable of massing challenging stacks later in the game. This game plays more like a dungeon crawler/exploration RPG than a proper strategy game, because the units are few and far between to control any larger territory, and features like supply lines, upkeep, base building, research are completely missing from the game.
Pros: solid, if simplistic gameplay, interesting units with lots of variety, lots of classes different enough to be interesting, so-so AI.
Cons: Ugly graphics, somewhat shoddy interface, the AI clearly lacks strategic focus and sort of wanders around, poor sounds, balance problems, missing flavor texts.
Overall, cheaper, simplified brother of Dominions 3 centered about single player and map crawling.
A quality game from illwinter. Infinite replayability.
This is an excellent little game. Somehow manages to be light weight and easy to get into while retaining some depth.
It's also just a lot of fun.
It's definitely an Illwinter game in the sound effects and interface, and you'll probably going to lose a few or 20 of the early games, until you get the hang of this pleasantly challenging game. The music is great, the graphics are serviceable, and the gameplay is ASTOUNDING.
There will be strategy forums springing up over this game within a month. It's a keeper.
Another awesome game from Illwinter, I recomend buying it.
After playing Dominions 3 I expected a bit more from CoE3.
The game is quite good to do some casual gaming, but it is gravely lacking in strategy:
Besides deciding which units to buy and where to place your army on the map there is nothing else to do.
(no ressource management, you can´t even arrange your troops)
So if your up for some casual gaming give CoE3 a shot.
For strategy and challenge stick with Dom3 or any other 4x-game.
Good, deep gameplay while still remaining accessible. The game can be quite difficult depending on the game settings, regardless of the ai difficulty you choose. Do watch some of the gameplay vids on youtube for the best idea of how it plays as they are very informative.
I will try to do a review for those who are unaware of previous games from Illwinter, especially the previuous iteration, CoE 2.
It's a quite unique game, the best description I can give is a fantasy TBS with a roguelike soul. It's simple yet deep, fast paced and challenging. Even unfair sometimes, but that's, at least for me, part of the fun.
Your objective is to conquer a random map filled with various creatures, locations and structures. And you're not the only "conqueror".All the leaders/factions found in the game, 17 for the moment, are unique and play differently.
I didn't play enough to judge the AI (maybe in a month...), but from what I have seen ingame, and based on opinions from betatesters, it seems good enough, and challenging.
Final words : it's a great game, go watch some "let's play" at youtube, then come back here.
After a looong wait. The last CoE is back. And it's far more better than I expected.
Good graphics, really great music, and an even deeper gameplay than in the previous sequel.
The depth and simplicity are the keywords.
You need this game.