Age of Wonders: Planetfall first impressionsby Mischief Maker 03/18/2020, 2:31pm PDT
More like Age of Wonders 3.5 than the big step forwards 2 and 3 were over their predecessors. It's running in the same engine and feels more like an ambitious mod to 3 than a genuine sequel.
Gameplay-wise I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to 3 after this game. The units are all so interesting and have multiple tools at their disposal in the tactical battles. Even the basic Vanguard mook has a ranged attack, overwatch, and a grenade. Not sure how I feel about the changes to the strategic map yet.
Aesthetics-wise it's an odd duck. It feels like those saturday morning cartoons from the 80s that were purely a platform to sell toys. One side has those giant one-wheel bikes where the rider sits inside the wheel, another faction has dinosaus with laser beams attached to their heads straight out of the Dino Riders cartoon. The plot is moose drool, but that's par for the course for these Age of Wonders games, it's all about the random skirmish maps.