''Rage of Mages'' is a PC game that combines role-playing and real-time strategy. Produced by

Nival Interactive Nival is a Russian video game developer and publisher founded by Sergey Orlovskiy in 1996. It is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus, with development offices in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia. History The company was founded by Sergey Orlovs ...

it was first released in Russia under the name of ''Allods: The Seal of Mystery'' (''Аллоды. Печать тайны''). The game was published in April 1998 in the EU by Buka Entertainment and on October 13, 1998 in the US. It was re-released in 2016 on

GOG.com GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through it ...

. A sequel was later made in 1999 by

called ''Allods 2: Master of Souls'' (Аллоды 2. Повелитель душ) and published in the west by

Monolith Productions Monolith Productions, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Kirkland, Washington. The company has been a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment since August 2004. History Monolith Productions was founded on October ...

entitled '' Rage of Mages II: Necromancer''. An online MMORPG based on the game was released under the name ''

Allods Online ''Allods Online'' is a free-to-play 3D fantasy MMORPG developed by Allods Team, formerly Astrum Nival, and published by Mail.Ru Group globally, with the international version operated by their subsidiary My.com. The game was originally released in ...

''. It was published in Russia by Astrum Nival in late 2009, followed by other regions globally by local publishers.

Gameplay

While a

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

, the game uses a

real time strategy game Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to pla ...

interface rather similar to ''

Warcraft II ''Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'' is a fantasy real-time strategy computer game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and released for DOS in 1995 and Mac OS in 1996 by Blizzard's parent, Davidson & Associates. A sequel to '' Warcraft: Orcs & Huma ...

''. The player chooses one of four characters (male fighter, female fighter, male mage or female mage) sent to Plagat, capital of the allod of Uimoir, which is part of the Kania empire. On the journey the player will meet the other three members, and more companions. There will be hirelings available for a fee should a player find any mission too challenging and need reinforcements. Each mission takes place in a game map generally full of enemies. Mission type ranges from rescue to escort to exterminate villains to treasure hunting.

Reception

The game received mixed reviews according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

. It was nominated for ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

''s "Best Game No One Played" award in its Best & Worst of 1998 Awards, which went to '' Battlezone''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rage Of Mages 1998 video games Monolith Productions games Real-time strategy video games Role-playing video games Windows games Windows-only games Video games developed in Russia Buka Entertainment games Multiplayer and single-player video games