11/06/05 >> Age of Empires III (PC)

Genre: Real-time Strategy

 

 

 

 

Introduction:
Anyone who is into real time strategy games must have at least heard of the Age of Empires series. The series has been up there with the best real time strategy games if not being one of the best itself. The series first started around the rule of the Roman Empire. With that, they created an amazing game for the time that made some of the greatest civilizations on earth clash with one another with the click of a mouse button. Age of Empires II was the age of kings where castles, knights, and longbow men dominated the battlegrounds. The makers who brought us these games then produced Age of Mythology which was not a sequel but along the same lines. Of course the game was solid. If I'm not mistaken, I believe Age of Mythology was somewhat of an experiment to test the horizon of the genre to preview what could be done for the next big hit, Age of Empires III. So here it is and it rightfully has the Age of Empires title to it. From the moment you start you will recognize it right away because it has that Age of Empires feel to it.

 

Gameplay:
Not much has changed. As I said before, it still has the Age of Empires feel to it. Yes it is a different game and you will notice many changes. However, you can still tell it’s a sequel. Just as you would play any real time strategy game you must build a city, units, collect resources and complete objectives whatever they may be. The game is around the time when countries started colonizing the Americas. So what’s different? Well, the first main thing that stood out to me was the resources. Gatherers now don't drop off resources anymore they just keep gathering and this creates a steady flow of income. Yes, it is a major improvement if you ask me. Farms also never need replaced and now you can collect gold from farming plantations. Stone is also nonexistent. There are also alternate ways of collecting resources now. You are able to capture trade routes which produce a flow of income via cart, buggy, or train. Another cool feature are shipments from the homeland. Occasionally you get to get a shipment and you choose what you want the homeland to send. Some things can only be done once such as the ability to build a fort, but you can also repeat shipments of lets say gold over and over again. This is very resourceful and can change the tide of a battle especially if you are a bit of a turtler. Another neat feature is that you choose a governor every time you advance an age. Depending on which governor you elect, you can get some sort of bonus whether it be units, money, cows, etc.

 

However, one thing that changed in this game is the importance and magnitude of advancement in ages. Before if you were an age behind you were basically left in the dust with obsolete units. However, in this game units don't change much and the technologies are sub par. Of course, it’s still very important to advance, but I wouldn't say as much as it was in the prequels. Maybe because the time relevance is difference. There is a whole bunch of multiplayer modes, skirmishes, campaigns, etc to keep you busy for a long time.

 

Story:
Ok, a very drastic improvement in campaign. Unlike the first two, this one actually has a half decent campaign with characters, interaction, and a plot that is somewhat half decent. I don't know about you but the first two had very dull, meaningless plot that didn't have cutscenes, triggers, etc. Okay maybe a little. But when I say this is an improvement I mean they kind of learned from Age of Mythology a bit. The story is obviously not the same, but they used the same technique with dialogue, cutscenes, etc. Also the missions were very action packed and fun! Never a dull moment due to the creativity of the level design. This is probably my favorite new feature... the fun campaign (unlike the first two where I mostly played multiplayer).

 

Sound:
The sounds are good. I was surprised the theme music to the game resembled the theme music to the prequels. The sounds of acknowledgement of moving, attacking, creation, etc are a bit repetitive. My roommate even teased me about how they kept saying the same thing over and over again and repeated it for several minutes before I kindly told him to shut up. The explosions, gunfire, boats, etc sound really neat too. I also love waging war in one point of the map, going back to my city to create more units and hear the distant cannon fire.

 

 

Graphics:
The graphics are very nice. A major improvement over the first two. I wouldn't brag about how amazing the graphics are even though they are very pretty but I would say the game is on par with the real time strategy today if not better. The animations look very nice. The smoke, explosions, and animations of buildings collapsing, boats firing, sinking, cannonball explosions, people flying are all very cool. The game is very visually appealing.

 

Flaws:
This is what’s preventing the game from getting a 10. As much as I loved the game and how much they retained the feel of the series it still had problems. Some people have problems with the game not being revolutionary enough. Others expected more. Although I think it wasn't very revolutionary, that was not a problem in my opinion. The problem I had with the game was the same problems that I had with the first two. The pathfinding of the units are horrible. Ships get bunched up, units walk single file, get stuck, walk into combat when you don't want them to, don't attack what you want them to attack, etc. However, this is a classic Age of Empires problem. You hate it, but you still love it.

 

Replayability:
I always thought this was the Age of Empire series’ strong point. The game has literally dozens of hours of gameplay. I'm sure the campaign will last several days and then add hundreds of skirmishes and online play that will make every cent of this purchase worth it.

 

Conclusion:
Great game; great series. It was exactly what I expected although it’s not perfect. I am honestly very happy how Age of Empires III turned out. It has two thumbs up despite the same old problems.

 

 

 

 

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Game Score: 9.1