Post by TwinLeaders on Dec 29, 2005 13:25:42 GMT -5
hallo all again...
well, we at first had Age of Empires I: Rise of Rome... I didn't really play that one... but from what I know, it was a big hit back in its day. pick up units, move them around, economy... the usual real-time strategy stuff. of course, it was crushed by Age of Mythology, Command and Conquer, Warcraft, Starcraft.... you name it.
So what did Microsoft come up with? AOEII, along with an expansion. I loved this game... involved lots of hand movement, of course, and thinking, "Where to attack? how to attack? where to build?" etc. However, even such a good game had its downfalls. Self-manipulating trebuchets? Computer AIs that made several similar moves over and over again?
Hardly likely to meet up to Warcraft III standards, let's say.
That's when Microsoft came back after about two years of careful thinking and programming. Although AOE III requires some of the most powerful of cybertechnology and computer hardware possible (needing 2GB of hard drive space to just give you a general idea of what it drains from the computer) it definitely makes up for almost all of the weaknesses in the previous AOE games.
Graphics: 9.5/10. For goodness sakes, cut down on the art... just kidding; this game has lots of really nice details in it. Cannons blowing over people was an interesting sight when I first built Heavy Cannon. Trees falling over looked a lot more realistic. Character art in the campaigns was even more detailed, so the faces actually didn't look weird. Nice work, microsoft artists!
Sound: 9/10. Sound was something that got quite annoying in AOEII, especially the "You Are Under Attack" theme. It honestly didn't have to be so loud; we get the message just by reading the screen! Now, in AOEIII that sound was definitely improved, plus many others. The voice acting of the units was definitely improved. The accents sound a lot more distinct for each civilization; awesome! The gunfire, cannon shots, falling trees... everything sounded a lot more realistic. Music too! Although I really didn't notice it in AOEII, the previous two games were really silent and if yiou were an expert player, it wasn't common that you lost your concentration in the middle of a game. Now, with the music constantly playing to the environment of the game it made the game seem a lot more exciting. Dramatic music was played in battle scenes, and peaceful music was featured whenever the player was focusing on his or her economy instead. Brilliant ideas for the sound and music.
Gameplay: 9/10. Now, this may not seem as tip-top standard as the other two games, but now that I compare this game to the last one, I'd give AOEII a 5/10 rating. There were definitely many major improvements in the gameplay, but they could have done a little bit better in some aspects. This game is the usual command and conquer sort of theme, but they reduced the number of winning types to about... 1? maybe 2? You can now only win a standard game by conquering territory, and again, you/your team must be the last one standing. I think they could have kept the other winning types like Regicide and King of the Hill, but I guess they thought that it would make the game even larger than it already was. Oh well. At least conquering isn't so hard; it's a lot easier to rush in the second age or something for some civilizations
Which brings me to my next point, the civilizations. I think that they should have kept a similar number of civilizations to choose from as the last one... but now, they only have... 8. 8!? Whatever happened to the... I don't know... 15 or so civs that were available in AOEII? That's when Microsoft got smart and gave each and every civilization its own playing strategy. In AOEII, every civ had basically the same types of units and technologies available. Sure, they had the unique unit, and in the expansion there was the unique tech as well. But in general, they all played in a similar manner! Now, in AOEIII every country has a very different tech tree, and very different strengths and weaknesses making each civ play in a completely different manner. There are now many different abilities available to the civs making each one a unique gaming experience even for the best real-time strategist.
The home city is probably the most significant change in the series, so perhaps I should explain this system here too. Basically, the home city is used to give your civilization different benefits whenever you need them. As you play, every action you make will give you or make you lose experience. After gaining a certain amount of experience, you are allowed to make a shipment from your home city. Your home city can level up as well, allowing it to gain different choices of benefits it can contribute to your civilization. At first, your home city begins with 15 basic available improvements, some which include a handful of military units if you need emergency defense, or a unit that allows you to control a powerful fort. As you play more and more games with that home city, you will gain better available improvements that you can ship from the home city every time you use it. You can only have a maximum of 20 improvements in your home city per game though, so a good player will adjust his or her home city's options every game to adjust to his or her civilization's strengths and weaknesses. Once the game starts, the player cannot modify his or her home city so it requires careful planning on the player's part to know what situations he or she is likely to enter in the games they play.
(It's a complicated sort of concept I know, and I'm bad at explanations, so it's up to you to find out how to use it for yourself when you buy or rent it )
This game's Campaign... well, I havent' even beaten it yet, so I can't say for myself. There's now only a single campaign, but it has a ridiculous number of scenarios. In my opinion, the campaign is alright, I really don't have much comment on it. I'm not going to summarize the storyline of the campaign for you, look on the reviews on www.gamefaqs.com to do that.
Buy or rent?: I don't know, but I'd say the following: Buy if you've played the other AOE series before, because I'm sure you will enjoy the new feel in the game. However, if this is your first time at a real-time strategy game you may be better off renting this game, ALONG WITH renting other games like Warcraft III and when it comes out, the new version of Starcraft. This game's feel may not be as comfortable as the gameplay of those other two games, so you may be better off getting those games instead. Rent just in case if this is the case.
AOE III... a game of thinking, action, and hand-eye coordination =P. It's definitely something worth at least checking out. However, beware to previous AOE players: do not expect an experience like that of the other two versions.Prepare to be surprised or even dissapointed at the changes in this AOE game. After all, no game is completely perfect, even by Microsoft itself.
Cheers to AOEIII!
well, we at first had Age of Empires I: Rise of Rome... I didn't really play that one... but from what I know, it was a big hit back in its day. pick up units, move them around, economy... the usual real-time strategy stuff. of course, it was crushed by Age of Mythology, Command and Conquer, Warcraft, Starcraft.... you name it.
So what did Microsoft come up with? AOEII, along with an expansion. I loved this game... involved lots of hand movement, of course, and thinking, "Where to attack? how to attack? where to build?" etc. However, even such a good game had its downfalls. Self-manipulating trebuchets? Computer AIs that made several similar moves over and over again?
Hardly likely to meet up to Warcraft III standards, let's say.
That's when Microsoft came back after about two years of careful thinking and programming. Although AOE III requires some of the most powerful of cybertechnology and computer hardware possible (needing 2GB of hard drive space to just give you a general idea of what it drains from the computer) it definitely makes up for almost all of the weaknesses in the previous AOE games.
Graphics: 9.5/10. For goodness sakes, cut down on the art... just kidding; this game has lots of really nice details in it. Cannons blowing over people was an interesting sight when I first built Heavy Cannon. Trees falling over looked a lot more realistic. Character art in the campaigns was even more detailed, so the faces actually didn't look weird. Nice work, microsoft artists!
Sound: 9/10. Sound was something that got quite annoying in AOEII, especially the "You Are Under Attack" theme. It honestly didn't have to be so loud; we get the message just by reading the screen! Now, in AOEIII that sound was definitely improved, plus many others. The voice acting of the units was definitely improved. The accents sound a lot more distinct for each civilization; awesome! The gunfire, cannon shots, falling trees... everything sounded a lot more realistic. Music too! Although I really didn't notice it in AOEII, the previous two games were really silent and if yiou were an expert player, it wasn't common that you lost your concentration in the middle of a game. Now, with the music constantly playing to the environment of the game it made the game seem a lot more exciting. Dramatic music was played in battle scenes, and peaceful music was featured whenever the player was focusing on his or her economy instead. Brilliant ideas for the sound and music.
Gameplay: 9/10. Now, this may not seem as tip-top standard as the other two games, but now that I compare this game to the last one, I'd give AOEII a 5/10 rating. There were definitely many major improvements in the gameplay, but they could have done a little bit better in some aspects. This game is the usual command and conquer sort of theme, but they reduced the number of winning types to about... 1? maybe 2? You can now only win a standard game by conquering territory, and again, you/your team must be the last one standing. I think they could have kept the other winning types like Regicide and King of the Hill, but I guess they thought that it would make the game even larger than it already was. Oh well. At least conquering isn't so hard; it's a lot easier to rush in the second age or something for some civilizations
Which brings me to my next point, the civilizations. I think that they should have kept a similar number of civilizations to choose from as the last one... but now, they only have... 8. 8!? Whatever happened to the... I don't know... 15 or so civs that were available in AOEII? That's when Microsoft got smart and gave each and every civilization its own playing strategy. In AOEII, every civ had basically the same types of units and technologies available. Sure, they had the unique unit, and in the expansion there was the unique tech as well. But in general, they all played in a similar manner! Now, in AOEIII every country has a very different tech tree, and very different strengths and weaknesses making each civ play in a completely different manner. There are now many different abilities available to the civs making each one a unique gaming experience even for the best real-time strategist.
The home city is probably the most significant change in the series, so perhaps I should explain this system here too. Basically, the home city is used to give your civilization different benefits whenever you need them. As you play, every action you make will give you or make you lose experience. After gaining a certain amount of experience, you are allowed to make a shipment from your home city. Your home city can level up as well, allowing it to gain different choices of benefits it can contribute to your civilization. At first, your home city begins with 15 basic available improvements, some which include a handful of military units if you need emergency defense, or a unit that allows you to control a powerful fort. As you play more and more games with that home city, you will gain better available improvements that you can ship from the home city every time you use it. You can only have a maximum of 20 improvements in your home city per game though, so a good player will adjust his or her home city's options every game to adjust to his or her civilization's strengths and weaknesses. Once the game starts, the player cannot modify his or her home city so it requires careful planning on the player's part to know what situations he or she is likely to enter in the games they play.
(It's a complicated sort of concept I know, and I'm bad at explanations, so it's up to you to find out how to use it for yourself when you buy or rent it )
This game's Campaign... well, I havent' even beaten it yet, so I can't say for myself. There's now only a single campaign, but it has a ridiculous number of scenarios. In my opinion, the campaign is alright, I really don't have much comment on it. I'm not going to summarize the storyline of the campaign for you, look on the reviews on www.gamefaqs.com to do that.
Buy or rent?: I don't know, but I'd say the following: Buy if you've played the other AOE series before, because I'm sure you will enjoy the new feel in the game. However, if this is your first time at a real-time strategy game you may be better off renting this game, ALONG WITH renting other games like Warcraft III and when it comes out, the new version of Starcraft. This game's feel may not be as comfortable as the gameplay of those other two games, so you may be better off getting those games instead. Rent just in case if this is the case.
AOE III... a game of thinking, action, and hand-eye coordination =P. It's definitely something worth at least checking out. However, beware to previous AOE players: do not expect an experience like that of the other two versions.Prepare to be surprised or even dissapointed at the changes in this AOE game. After all, no game is completely perfect, even by Microsoft itself.
Cheers to AOEIII!