Age of Wonders: Planetfall is a turn-based strategy game for PC developed by Triumph Studios and published by Paradox Interactive. It is the fifth installment in the AoW series, and the first one to abandon the high fantasy setting. Planetfall is set in the science-fiction world of Star Union, a ruined intergalactic government, destroyed by an unknown disaster.

The player takes the side of one of the remaining human factions and leads them against others in an attempt to rebuild crumbled humanity and bring forth a new Age of Wonders. The game combines the strategy elements with the 4X mechanics – map exploration, expanding factions territory, exploitation of resources and extermination of enemies. Gam offers both single-player campaign and multiplayer mode. 

Gameplay

The core gameplay mechanics revolves around gaining control over the world of the game. To do that player must engage the enemy factions on several levers, including battle and diplomacy. At the beginning of the campaign, the player chooses their faction and customizes its leader. As the leader of the faction, the player has the power to broker peace or declare war, as well as assign secret operations, like espionage.

The game’s map is created procedurally. Sectors of the map are made of biomes, which contain resources that player will have to harvest to progress. Resources can be spent on production, growing produce for food and collecting energy. Players can also invade camps of other factions to steal their resources and technological advancements. Combat in Planetfall is turn-based and observed from a top-down perspective. Each turn allows the player to take three actions, like opening fire or taking cover. Certain actions can “stagger” the enemy, disrupting their special attacks, etc.  

Campaign mode and factions

The story of Age of Wonders Planetfall’s campaign mode is set in the sci-fi universe of Star Union, an intergalactic human government. Due to an unknown cataclysm, the Union was destroyed and humans scattered across space. New factions arose from the collapsed government, each fighting for control over decimated mankind. The player takes the role of one of the faction leaders. Their job is to find out what caused the cataclysm that destroyed the human race and to assert dominance as the true leader of humans.   

Planetfall features six factions which players can choose to be the leader of, including the Vanguard, space explorers and colonizers, the Amazons, a faction of women, who ride dinosaurs into battle, the Dvar, a dwarf-like faction of miners and Kir’ko, former slave race, who use the fall of the union as a chance to regain independence. Each of the factions possesses special traits and abilities to use in battle and during exploration. 

Reception

Age of Wonders: Planetfall received positive first impressions from the critics, who commended the developers for trying to take the series into a new direction. Among the praised elements of the game, what stood out the most was the sci-fi setting, varied factions, with their own doctrines to follow and interesting military units – especially the dinosaur-riding Amazons, and certain mechanics of the game, such as Secret Technologies. 

AoW series has a history of being one of the best turn-based strategy series’. It has managed to maintain this title since the first game, released nearly 20 years ago. By taking Planetfall in the new direction, and abandoning the fantasy setting in favor of the outer space, developers took a huge risk.

Key features:

• Age of Wonders series reaches for the stars in the new intergalactic setting,
• Choose one of the factions and lead them to discover the truth behind the cataclysm that destroyed the Space Union,
• Engage other factions on the battlefield, using a variety of units and tactics in turn-based skirmishes,
• Develop your power using resources gathered from a procedurally generated map,
• Lead your people to intergalactic domination using all means necessary, from diplomacy to war