The promo on these games looks really tempting, but... My game-pile is getting ridiculous, especially when it comes to old, cheap PC games (They're so tempting!). I don't think I should add another series of games to it if I already own something similar which I haven't played yet, and I already own Heroes of Might and Magic III (not to mention Battle for Wesnoth). So...

How similar are AoW and HoMM? What are the key differences? Also: Does Master of Magic embody these differences better?

Thanks.

I dare say that the only similarities between AoW and HoMM is that it have a fantasy setting and you build troops in castles/cities and then go out to fight other troops and take other settlements with them.
Well there's magic too.

The key differences are that you don't need a leader to move troops, the combat is more complex, leaders are units that fight and you have much more options overall.

If you have played MoM you should be fine with AoW because it's like MoM without Civilization elements. Simplified city management and you can't build new cities. AoW 2 and SM added more options, for example you can settle new cities and there are more options overall.

If you want a game series to compare AoW with it's the Warlords series with tactical combat added.

I'm in the same boat as you are: one too many old cheap PC games in my folder and not nearly enough gameplay time to clear them out!

I've been playing HOMM3 for the past couple months and got a little bit of play time in AOW after biting the dust and falling for the weekend 50% off promo for the series.

Here's some differences I've noticed. In HOMM you've got no waiting period when you purchase your troops (except for the weekly cap you get). AOW gives you the 4X style of producing units where you queue them up and after turns they pop up. Also, I'm not liking the building as much in AOW as in HOMM. I can't see the improvements to my cities as good as in HOMM (though this is mainly for second and third AOW since the first one follows the HOMM style a little more closely though the graphics in this department suck compared to HOMM3).

However, I like the map graphics better than HOMM in AOW2 & 3, though again, the graphics of HOMM4 are pretty similar to these ones. As far as I'm seeing, AOW seems to be right in between MOM and HOMM in terms of gameplay. I don't think you can go wrong with it especially if you like the HOMM and MOM gameplay.

Hope that helps. It was an easy as pie decision for me to take the GOG offer of 50% off though since I'd been waiting to buy the AOW games once a sale just like this showed up. $13 for hundreds of hours of gameplay is a pretty good deal to me.

Thanks!

I decided to get 1 and 3, but I managed to resist 2 (if I'd gotten all of them then I would have felt compelled to complete them all in order for some reason). A tiny, tiny victory for self-control!

As a huge fan of HOMM2 and HOMM3, I found AOW: Shadow Magic to be perfect for me.

The graphics are a very nice upgrade from HOMM3, and combat feels much more visceral. The hexes aren't as clearly laid out (like HOMM's, you can turn them on and off) and useful, though.

The sound is very good, which is not easy in games like these. The background birds chirping is so pleasant it is cheery and energizing to be in the game world. The music got repetitive fast, though it's good -- such is the norm. I shut it off.

There aren't the cool city graphics in AOW:SM that you get in HOMM3. Oh well, not that big a deal for me.

The items in AOWSM, as well as the skills, are not as self-explanatory. I find this a bit burdensome. One really nice thing, though, is that you can craft them.

The city building in AOWSM is lots of fun. You have to time things well in order to balance expansion, wealth creation, and fighting, and that is kept fun to do. You can also create cities from scratch, unlike in HOMM, and strategically place them in order to block choke points or further your wizard's areas of influence within which he can cast spells for his heroes in battle. (The wizard himself generally stays home and out of harm's way.)

A very interesting difference is that in AOWSM, you can choose what god you worship, and get quests from him/her that result in lots of experience, or money, or mana, or items. You generally get a choice between two rewards. I like the God of War, who makes each new soldier a veteran. But if you wait too long to get yourself a God, some of his benefits may be already past the point and you'll only love him for his rewards. For instance, if you have enough troops already, you won't need more and probably won't want to undergo the expense.

Anyway, you've already made your buy and I hope you enjoy it as much as I'm enjoying AOWSM. This post was to help clarify for others wondering the same thing you were. I think the potential fans of either series would like the games in the other and find them a near perfect fit .... especially a bit of welcome variety after over-playing one to death, as I've been doing with HOMM3 ever since I got it.

dont be fooled by shadow magic hype...
i personally founs shadow magic to be extremelly difficult.. compared to age of wonders2..

The sandbox play isn't. Which is 99% of what I play. I skipped the campaign. I may get back to it one day ... but as with most campaigns when you have great sandbox play or multiplayer ... why bother?

AOW more role-style feel,I like them both.

Another 2 differences:

1) your wizard (instead of hero) learn the new spell immediately after being researched, doesn't matter where he/she is ... no need to visit a Mage Tower ina city

2) you can attack using more than 1 party ... in HOMM only 1 hero can attack an enemy group; in AOW all the parties near an enemy group will take part in the combat

Roberto

i just purchased HOMM2, opened it and poked around a bit, but haven't played it yet. BUT, as someone who's been wrestling with Age of Wonders (1) for about two weeks now, i can tell you that AoW is a very challenging game, at least for me. i've been stuck on a campaign for about a week solid now and am considering either starting from scratch or putting it aside and playing something i can succeed at, like maybe a hidden object game (kidding). No problems with gameplay (although a manual would be nice), but the AI on this game is unforgiving. Just thought i'd warn you.

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to comment:

I am a HUGE fan of both Age of Wonders and HOMM3. I've played the AoW series essentially since it's release in 1999 (missed out for a bit on AoW 2 which to this day I still don't consider a very good successor, but SM really knocked the bar back up and I've been loving it for nearly a decade now), and HOMM 3 not long after. The fact that even after all these years I still play the snot out of AoW, AoW SM, and HOMM 3 says a lot, I think.

So here's my verdict: They're both excellent, and they also both play quite differently. Basically the major difference is that AoW is large-scale, HoMM is small scale. AoW is more about empire building, casting spells that have major global impact and big, epic battles. Heroes is simpler, more about hero development and is usually pretty quick and dirty. That's not a criticism, by the way: Heroes is still a hell of a lot of fun and incredibly addictive, and has a lot of depth beneath its surface.

People have mentioned that AoW is more difficult. As far as campaigns go, I would say Age of Wonders is more difficult than Heroes 3, but easier than the campaigns in H3's expansions. Though like I've said, I have been playing the AoW series for over a decade so a newbie may not share my opinion.

I will say this: AoW SM seems much more balanced than HoMM 3. In competitive HoMM 3, I know that Conflux and Necropolis are usually banned for being too powerful, whereas Fortress and Tower are rarely ever played. While some races don't receive a lot of attention in competitive SM play (Frostlings, Halflings and Goblins tend to be the ones that don't show up very often), each race is a viable choice and has a decent chance of winning every map.

In the end, they're quite different games, but both are easily worth playing, especially at GOG's prices.

Though like I said, forget about AoW 2. It's rough, clunky, the balance is horrific (of the 12 races, four are ridiculously powerful and four are basically useless) and it's simply inferiour to AoW SM in every single way. AoW 1, however, is different enough that it's still worth playing in it's own right. I did a review on that one.

I am a massive fan of AOW1. I've bought and downloaded HOMM3, and for some reason I just couldn't get into it like I did with AOW. Something really annoyed me about that game, and I don't know what it is. Maybe I should give it another go. I do think that the combat in AOW is a lot better. I just love those massive tactical battles, like when you're trying to seige a city.
I never really got into AOW2 or SM...