Rock, Paper, Shotgun

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. I confess I’ve never played the first game, but I was intrigued enough by this decade-on sequel to take a nose…

There’s something rather scathing about Majesty 2. 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. We want gold, and we want to watch a bunch of numbers increase – because we are greedy and self-obssessed. And Majesty 2’s AI-controlled, massively selfish heroes turn the mirror on us.
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We’ve written quite a bit about Majesty 2 so far. In fact, I’ve also got some review code an internet-click away which I need to have a prod at. But you can circumvent the RPS-information-drip and go and play the bally thing yourself. There’s a 640Mb Demo available to download here. There’s no details I can find what’s in it. Let’s hope it’s actually a demo and not the world’s biggest virus. To get a taste of this indirect-management fantasy-kingdom game, there’s some recent footage video below…
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One of our Unknown Pleasures for 2009, Majesty 2 once again makes our heart happy with their latest trailer. It’s done in the style of an 80s made-for-TV serial. It also features an impressive technical feat by creating a soundtrack which sounds identical to Dallas, but probably not in a legally infringing way. You’ll find it below…
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It’s not all impossi-budget shooters being shown to the drooling crowds at E3 here on RPS this week. For a change of pace, we’ve rounded up Steve Breslin and Alexey Kozyrev, editor and producer respectively on upcoming RTS/management/RPG sequel Majesty 2: The Fantasy Management Sim. They’d very much like to give you sterling people an exclusive look at the men, women, beasts and demonic rocky things that’ll be populating Maj2’s tongue-in-cheek world of war and greed. As well as that, there’s a fresh-from-the-show-floor developer interview to feast your ocular organs upon. Oh, and we’ve got a couple more of these developer write-ups due as Majesty 2 approaches its release later this year.
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What’s better than a new video? Two new videos. What’s better than two new videos? Three new videos. What’s better than three new videos? Four new videos. However, if you go any higher than that it loops around and becomes rubbish again, so it’s lucky Paradox stopped there when choosing to release a new mass of footage of RPS-Unknown-Pleasure Majesty 2. You’ll find it below the hut, complete with Paradox’s video titles.
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Majesty 2 is the only sequel on our Unknown Pleasures list. It’s because the first Majesty was something of an unknown, unique pleasure upon its first release and the nine years since then will have done nothing to change that. It explored an area – indirect control of forces – which few RTS have dreamed of touching, and that topography of tactics is as fresh now as it was then. Also, in terms of a classic PC licence being passed eastwards, we’ve got hopes that it’ll end up being this year’s King’s Bounty. Some initial swift takes on the Alpha Code plus some swift words with 1C:Ino-Co’s Producer and CEO Alexey Kozyrev follow…
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I kept on meaning to go back to Russian developer Ino-Co’s spectacularly derivatively named Fantasy Wars, but i didn’t get any further than the demo. Tim Stone liked it though. But Paradox appear to be offering a second bite – they’ve announced they’ll be selling Elven Legacy from the same company, which is clearly an updated spanglified a-slightly-better-name Fantasy Wars. I caught the notice over at Strategy Informer, but I also noticed that they hadn’t lobbed up a load of the press shots. So I did. Like so:
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