Paradox Interactive brings a fresh new look at Majesty with its sequel, which promises bigger and better fights, along with a fresh new game world, but does the sequel live up to its name?

Features Overview

• Real-time strategy game with indirect control – your heroes have a will of their own.
• Play through a campaign with 16 missions divided into 4 chapters, as well as a few quick missions and a variety of multiplayer maps.
• Build the fantasy city of your dreams and experience an engaging world, but beware: monsters are waiting to lay siege to your domain.
• Defend your realm with noble warriors, spell-wielding wizards or wild barbarians. Choose from more than 10 different classes to oversee the protection of your lands.
• GameSpy multiplayer for up to 4 players over LAN or Internet, including support for ranking ladders and tournaments.

The Basics

Fans of Cyberlore’s original fantasy-themed RTS won’t be disappointed with the onset of Paradox Interactive’s Majesty 2. The same great gameplay which held fans of the original returns to the sequel, with new eye candy and great music and sound effects that won’t disappoint.

For newcomers to the series, Majesty plays out like a RTS game, but it gives you no control over what your units actually do. You’re able to build buildings and recruit the units, but once they’re alive and kicking, they have a will of their own, wandering around the map slaying monsters and looting chests. You control all the action indirectly by placing bounties on items to get the tasks done, which makes for some interesting gameplay.

A Fresh New Look

Fans of the original Majesty will enjoy the updated graphics engine which is not too demanding on older systems, while still remaining a great graphical enhancement over the previous game. The graphics are nice and clean and they’re what you would expect from any fantasy strategy game.

The UI is also very clean and easy to understand, with everything presented in an easy to read and access manner. One of the features which can make or great an RTS game is the UI, and I’m happy to say everything with the Majesty 2 UI is a UI done right. My only complaint was the Sovereign spells seemed to take two clicks to activate unless they were clicked in the absolute center, but this is a minor annoyance when compared to how well the rest of the UI functions.

One King To Rule Them All

Majesty 2 stays faithful to the original in that you are still the sovereign of the land and you must build guilds to recruit heroes to do your dirty work for you. All of the original guilds which were available in Majesty have returned in the sequel, with no new additions, though there have been major updates to the way these characters function. Of course, there will always be rivalry between the factions and if you choose to have a Priestess of Krypta, you’ll no longer be able to recruit Priestesses of Agrela.

This adds an extra dimension of gameplay, since you have to decide which features you’d like to have with your guilds, as many branch off into two separate directions for you to take. Deciding which type of guild works best for your play style is all part of working through the various missions you’re given.

Does it measure up?

It’s inevitable when you have a sequel to a great game, the first question out of people’s mouths is, “Well, was it as good as the first?” The answer here, is a resounding yes. Paradox Interactive has taken a great game and only made it better, with updated graphics and gameplay that stays true enough to the original that fans of the original will enjoy it immensely, while new fans of the game will definitely want to check it out.

One of the greatest new features of Majesty 2 is the ability to have your heroes form parties. This becomes absolutely necessary in later bits of the game, as your heroes come up against truly epic foes which will require an entire well balanced party to take down. Party planning adds another dimension of gameplay to the game, as you can mix and match your party as you see fit, although you have no direct control over what they do unless you’re using your bounties. Bounties have to be set pretty high for a party to become interested.

The only real complaint concerning the game is that the various missions seem almost too short. After only a few hours into the game, I was already several missions in, with a good grip on how things run. I can’t say if this is because I was familiar with the mechanics from the first game, or if the game was actually a bit easier. Nevertheless, halfway into the game, the missions did start to feel a little repetitive, with many just being a repeat of things you’d done in previous missions.

The redeeming factor here is that your heroes are never under your immediate control, so how you go about winning missions means you’ll need to think around the free will of the subjects in your kingdom.

Final Thoughts

Rating: 8/10

Overall, Majesty 2 is a great remake of a great game. The repetitive missions are a bit bland at times, and with no real significant upgrades to the guilds and their heroes, old players already know what to expect when it comes to playing the game. The only thing to really look forward to here is the updated graphics and the new story-lines.

Hopefully Paradox Interactive will follow through just as Cyberlore did and they’ll offer expansion packs for such a great game with huge potential.

System Requirements

Minimum system Requirements:

·  Windows 2000/XP/Vista
·  2 GHz processor
·  1 GB RAM
·  GeForce 6800 GT video card, 256 Mb RAM with PS 2.0 support
·  DirectX-compatible sound card
·  4 GB of free hard disk space
·  Latest version of DirectX 9.0
·  DVD drive

Recommended System Requirements:

·  Windows 2000/XP/Vista
·  Intel Dual Core 3 GHz
·  1 GB RAM
·  GeForce GTX 260 video card, 512 Mb RAM with PS 2.0 support
·  DirectX-compatible sound card
·  4 GB of free hard disk space
·  Latest version of DirectX 9.0
·  DVD drive

Majesty 2 is available on Steam, Impulse, GamersGate, & Direct2Drive for $39.95.