![]() So do you a) set that 1000g as a bounty on the ogre’s gigantic, bald head and (hopefully) have him sent to ogre-hell ASAP without first decimating all your lightly-clad rogues and archers b) buy the armour and hope your turrets and any conveniently nearby heroes sort him out before he does too much damage or c) use your own very limited selection of spells, your only direct interaction with anyone in this world, to zap him a couple of times with a lightning bolt? It's a long-term benefit, but you're facing a short-term problem. You have 1000 gold in the bank, which you’ve been saving to research new Leather armour – a major defensive boon to your archers and rogues. He can knock down a peasant bungalow in seconds, knock down a peasant in microseconds, and make short work of guard towers, guilds, markets and, well, whatever he run into. You know the sort: face like a dog's bumhole, bald head, dirty loincloth, truck-sized club. This is the central struggle at Majesty 2’s heart – whether to spend your earnings on new heroes and upgrades, or as a bribe to make your existing lazy buggers do something for you.Įxample: there’s an Ogre attacking your city. Those 500 gold coins have to come from somewhere, after all. Majesty’s hook is that, as well as setting these quests, you also have to deal with the financial fallout. Sure, they’ll fight monsters if one walks right in front of them, but they won’t go even slightly out of their way unless they known their palms will be crossed with gold afterwards. And that cash is all the heroes really want – they have no interest in protecting the weak or defending the land. You’re the invisible quest-setter of any and every RPG/MMO, providing cash prizes for noble deeds. You make them more arsed by adding more cash, until finally someone shrugs and trudges over there. You don’t select them and manually send them there – you just drop a flag, suggesting somewhere they could go or something they could fight to if they can be arsed. Heroes attack, explore or defend because you’ve set a reward for them to do so. You don’t directly control anyone in this sorta-RTS. And Majesty 2's AI-controlled, massively selfish heroes turn the mirror on us. We want gold, and we want to watch a bunch of numbers increase - because we are greedy and self-obssessed. It tears away the pretend philanthropy and nobility of fantasy heroes, leaving the terrible truth of what we really play most RPGs and MMOs for. There’s something rather scathing about Majesty 2. I confess I've never played the first game, but I was intrigued enough by this decade-on sequel to take a nose. But while there is some curiosity value here, Majesty 2 doesn't have anywhere near enough depth or variety to inspire any kind of extended interest in playing it.The sequel to Microprose/Cyberlore's 2000 RTS/RPG/management game has just hit, this time handled by one of Russian omni-developer/publisher 1C's many studios. Majesty 2 is not the worst game ever, and certainly The Settlers and The Sims aspects of it are good attempts to breathe life into the weary 3D strategy genre. A desert should have sand storms skimming across its surface and a forest should be full of giant, sweating trees with unknown critters bouncing and warbling through the thick foliage. The world is not an unpleasant place to look at but there's no lustre. ![]() A sneaky stealth mission through hills or something encouraging the player to think laterally is sorely needed. There's no subtlety or variety in the mission structures. Sure, you can create five types of hero: Wizard, Warrior, Rogue, Ranger and Cleric, but it's just a case of using a different tool for the same problem over and over again. The missions are repetitive and involve creating the same buildings every time to set up your heroic armies and defences. Since when can a rat nibble a house to the point of combustion? Idiotic stuff like that seriously affects your enthusiasm. The whole game is full of annoying, clumsy mistakes. He ran off into the woods to slaughter an innocent bear. The first Ranger to emerge from a rustic spawning hut didn't stroll into the centre of town to dispatch the two skeletons hammering away at the pub with sticks. Your heroes have an insatiable urge to roam the landscape but are never around when you need them. In reality, playing Majesty 2 is like trying to herd ants. It reduces the amount of management and instead allows you to focus on the bigger picture: the master plan. ![]() The concept of giving the inhabitants of this fantasy RTS minds of their own is admirable. This Game Would be happier playing itself, rather than having to endure human input.
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