It's definitely one of those to be researched before purchase.  I take it that is is a 'in house' engine seeing as how I was terribly wrong in my assumption that it was the civ engine.  Thanks for clearing that up.

I have this thing about the civ engine, I have never liked a game that has ever used it you see?

AOW3 looks amazing.  Pre-ordered a while back.  Can't wait.

Warlock 2 hit recently and is really solid.

Finally got into WildStar beta last weekend.

GC3 alpha access TODAY.

...and AOW3 release is almost here (along with a few days off for max immersion).

It's an extra good time for (my) gaming on top of PC gaming thriving in general.

I have so many games...and so many backlogged or barely touched, and it all goes out the window when something like a GC3 alpha or AOW3 become available.

Count me in as one of those "ignorant" people who are looking forward to this.  4 more days!

It's basically a more focused Fallen Enchantress and has always been the genre leader in tactical combat. Most people refer to AOW1 or Shadow Magic when considering "combat done well" in 4X games. Those sieges that people want so badly for FE? They're usually referencing Age of Wonders. 

It's true fantasy in that it has the fantasy races you'd expect. It's 4X, but much more focused on combat. It's been in development since before Civ V came out, so contrary to the similar look (sorta), it is definitely its own thing. Watch Quill18's Let's Play of a Dwarf Theocrat for a good idea of what it's like. 

Or hell, watch videos of AOW1 or AOW: Shadow Magic. 

But seriously, to come in to this forum thread and stated "I don't like it", you're basically just trolling. I'm happy to answer legitimate questions, though. 

And you was winning me over, especially when you mentioned that it had been in development from before Civ V came out.  

And then you had to go and call me a troll, you just couldn't resist, could you?

Nah man, trolling just means you're constantly regenerating like in AoW3. This game is so groundbreaking that it is changing the lingo. The synergies are off the charts! It's totally networking. It's a paradigm shift in the next generation. It truly pushes the envelope while the expectations are carefully calibrated for "generation X" organic growth face time milestone; social media! 20 billion!

I totally agree with you.  There can be no other reason for it.

Everything?

Did you never want to play a sandbox game with AOW2?

Never notice that the map generator was terrible and the AI basically non-functional (not the usual "bad ai" but so awful it does nothing)?

AoW2/SM (I bought them both, and AoW1 back in the day which I loved) count as two of my most disappointing purchases in gaming. They looked amazing and with so much content... and then the game was essentially broken if you were looking for a fantasy sandbox alternative to MoM. Mods helped a bit but not enough.

I agree about the map generator. But this was made up for by the large community of mapmakers. It has been very active for more than ten years now!

This says something about the replayability of aow-sm.

If you look at the development journal about the random map generator, you have to admit that it shows a lot of promise. They have put great effort in that aspect.

The first metacritic scores are coming in:

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/age-of-wonders-iii

I liked Shadow Magic quite a bit back in the day.   The graphics look terribly dated now.

I'm not sure about this AOW:3.   I'm not digging the Steampunk aspects of what I've seen so far.   But it could be good.

Yeah, I always hated the steampunk/air ship/pirates with pistols stuff myself.

Still if the game mechanics are otherwise strong I'll tolerate it.

For sure this one (AOW3) looks to be shaping up. As I posted earlier, that the map generator is said to be looking good is a promising sign.

I was just throwing some cold water on the hype of the middle games (AoW1 was better). They were extremely flawed games and hardly a game at all for those of us (fans of Master of Magic) who wanted a fantasy sandbox 4x.

The steampunk aspects seem limited to the Dreadnought class.  I'm sure you can configure your opponents in the game setup, so you can probably just make sure none of them are Dreadnoughts.

Now the reviews are coming in. They're collected here:

http://ageofwonders.com/forums/topic/age-of-wonders-3-reviews/#post-58229

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/age-of-wonders-iii

Just d/l'd and in the process of installing. Won't be able to play until the evening though. Alas.

Downloading now

I'm downloading!

It's in the top 3 of top sellers on steam!

Steam? Bah. Got mine from GoG.com. Traitor!

Downloading now, 10 minutes to go. And to top it off I am sick with stomach bug, no really. I feel like shit but I will soldier on...

Tries to launch the game. Game launcher freezes..   

Lets try again .

Played the game... besides a little slow on my old machine... I think its pretty good so far. Time will tell after more than an hours worth of play

I bought the game.

First impressions are that the look is a bit too sumptuous. It's beautiful but confusing (not the ui which is great but the units and terrain).

And performance could be better. FPS on the map is pretty bad (worse than FE). In the battles it's fine.

Starts the Campaign - Sends Laryssa to the woods ( supposed to be protecting her )  - Gets ambushed by orc party - Game over.

LOL  Dont think ive ever lost the first mission in any game this quickly ever.

I just started the Elven Court Campaign. I find myself just looking around the map, enjoying the sights and looking at the unit screens.