Age of Empires 3

I don't generally like real-time strategy (RTS) games, they tend to be too hectic and confusing. But I tried the demo of Age of Empires 3 from Microsoft anyway, you can download it directly from the game site.

Even as non-expert for RTS, I was able to recognize some improvements and innovations to the genre. For example there is now a resource called "experience", which you gather by building, fighting, or trading. This experience can be used on a special home city screen to buy reinforcement coming from home: Units, resources, even special skills for your heros. You can even improve your home city during the campaign, offering you more options for things to send to the front.

Graphics are pretty, but unfortunately not very useful. Buildings look all very similar, which is only realistic because they are all made from the same wood, but that makes finding the right building in a hurry not very easy. There is something to be said for Warcraft cartoonish graphics, which look less realistic, but are easier to recognize. Gameplay has remained mainly identical to most RTS, you send settlers to gather resources, then buy military units with the resources, and then you fight.

The game leads you through 3 ages of conquest of the Americas, from the renaissance to the age of the railroad. There is a huge campaign that spans all these ages, telling the rather strange story of a family through several generations fighting against a secret organization for control of the fountain of youth, or something. It just serves as an excuse to liven up the game with different mission objectives, like building a railroad, escorting people, defending forts, and so on.

If you are a fan of RTS games, you will probably like this, and testing a free demo can't hurt. Me, I just found my prejudices confirmed, the game was too hectic and confusing for me. Not having the manual and thus not knowing how to select units that I didn't see wasn't helping (hitting TAB or SPACE didn't work). I prefer turn-based strategy. (Civ4 is still in the mail)
- posted by Tobold @ 12:20 AM Permanent Link