Dominions 3 is one of those unknown games that is praised by many hardcore games for its variety and game design but shunned by many others for its old-school, if not bad, graphics and tons of micromanagement. Similar to Fantasy Empires by SSI, the players take control of a fantasy race and its rules (gods) and tries to conquer the randomly generated 2D maps through military conquests. There are countless races to choose from which do partially resemble generic fantasy stereotypes, but the influences in race design vary to a great degree, look out for Norsemen and frost giants, dragons and serpents, volcanic creatures and so forth. The godly representations on earth the player can choose to govern over his civilization vary to the same degree, from giant creatures to sorcerers and fountains of blood (which is immobile but feeds on virgins for blood rituals). The players recruit heroes, which can be equipped with self-forged items, assemble armies and take on adjacent territories. Secondary measures to strengthen your empire are the construction of buildings such as a temple, forts and so forth, researching magic of various types (blood magic, earth magic, air magic etc.) so that your troops and your god can wield more powerful spells, search your territories for magic sites which grant you special abilities and resources. The game also features an interesting culture / religion system resembling the system in Sid Meier's Civilization and the spread of your "Dominion" changes the face of your territories you occupy and where your influence is spread into. Dominions 3 is a very interesting and highly replayable game, it is quiet easy to loose track of all that is going in in your empire and the micromanagement will probably put casual gamers off. Yet, the sheer amount of available races, spells and creatures make this game more diverse and lively than many of its peers and if you are looking for an alternative to your general fantasy empire building game, of which there are not many to start with, Dominions 3 is for you.
