Ashes of Erebus

So I have been playing this mod since it was called Fall From Heaven, and it is by far the most intricate, well designed and imaginative mods I have experienced for a 4x game. It uses civ 4 as a skeleton, then blooms into something extraordinary. This mod in itself, in my opinion, outshines every other game in this genre. I have been spoiled by the creators love for this project, and doubt I will see anything like this again. Civ 5 has, and likely, Civ 6+ will feel plain. The Age of Wonders games add little to this that this Mod hasn't already touched on or mastered. A decade and more years have passed since the first solid version of FfH2 came out, and its successor AOE will still stand out against other more modern 4x games if given the chance. Do yourself a favor, see the heights of what a love project in the video game arts can reach. PS. Most everything is modifiable, I myself didn't like Bach for a certain aquatic religion in AOE, so I found the original sound clip from FfH2 and replaced it. Easy.

Best civ4 mode ever!

Ashes of Erebus is, above and beyond everything else, an immersive, TBS, fantasy experience. It's better, in my opinion, than any fantasy 4X since, including the likes of Age of Wonders III or even Endless Legend. Incredible depth has been achieved with the diverse civilisations, beautiful and bustling fantasy world, and responsive game mechanisms like the Armageddon Counter. AoE's contribution (on top of Fall from Heaven II) of improved flavour starts, expansion of unique city graphics, improved AI, and expanded alignments (among other additions) go a long way to rounding out what FfH2 started. It is still lacking polish in some areas. The artwork is spot-on, but the lore - one of FfH2's strengths - is becoming patchy. The Civilopedia, while generally informative, has holes. There are text-holders in some in-game pop-ups. The game crashes more frequently than I’d like, and I sometimes have to load a save a few times before it works. Honestly, a lot of this is more noticeable than it might be in a comparable mod because a lot of the other additions are so well done. When all is said and done, though, I really do feel like I’m at the helm of an immortal race of Romans ready to reconquer Erebus. And that’s what Ashes of Erebus is all about. See more on the Odin Gaming blog at www [dot] odingaming [dot] com.