The Wargamer: Majesty 2 Preview

The Wargamer writes: "The original Majesty presented the cynical side of fantasy role-playing: instead of picking up a sword and slaying the dragon, players were asked to sell swords, recruit heroes, and set quests. But can playing the quest-giver and the merchant be any fun? Definitely. Majesty not only broke the mold in offering a unique gameplay conceit, it was supremely engrossing. Expectations on my part were very high for the sequel.

The important thing to remember about the sequel at this point is that it is in what I would describe as 'alpha.' Normally previews are only offered when the game being previewed is in more or less the state which it will arrive at retail in. Not so with Majesty 2. In my copy there was placeholder art, very little of the text was fleshed out, and there were only five playable missions (there was a sixth, but it crashed whenever I tried to start it). This shouldn't have any bearing on the quality of the final product, but just keep in mind that the Majesty 2 I played will wind up much more polished and fleshed-out when it comes to rest on your hard drive."