Developed by Visual Concepts Entertainment and released for PC only in 1994, Dominus is a medieval fantasy-themed, real-time strategy.
The user plays the part of an overlord, nearly a god, of a fantasy kingdom. As such, the user controls every facet of the kingdom. He or she can breed monsters of many varieties, create magical spells, fight and interrogate people caught within the realm, recruit enemies to battle defect from their leaders, and devise traps to snare enemies of the crown. Helping to maintain order are four generals, directly controlled by the user.
These generals, and their armies of user-made miscreants, can be assigned various tasks to help protect and manage the kingdom. There is much pressure for success, because an enemy invasion is at the threshold of the realm it is a very “Dungeon Keeper” style of game with many of the same factors weighing on success.
Unlike Dungeon Keeper, however, the kingdom is actually a beautiful land instead of a dank, colorless dungeon. The acres radiate outward from the castle, into town, and then sparsely populated rural settings. Finally, there is the wilderness on the outskirts of the realm. Resources must be harvested from these areas and returned to the castle for use in building armies, magic and traps.
In Dominus, the possibilities are endless. Many different sorts
of creatures can be bred, and many different fighting tandems can be created to make up hybrid armies. Moreover, several creatures can be combined together to make super creatures that are very unique. Other minions can be polymorphic into different, but similar legions. If the monsters are not enough, the user can even choose to join a battle or perform a task personally. This gives a whole new perspective to the game.
Dominus is a great strategy game with a 100% replay ability factor. The graphics are good; the play itself is far superior to games, such as Dungeon Keeper, that followed on its footsteps. Even at that, the color is very good and the characters are frighteningly interesting. This is an absolute must have for the strategist or fantasy adventurer.
