Reviewed by Michelle Brenner
What does the Wild West, the fountain of youth, a Spanish galleon and collecting wood have in common? No, it is not the newest installment in historically based Mel Gibson movies. It is Age of Empires III, the real time strategy game that is based in the colonization of the New World!
The basic story of Age of Empires III (the campaign player mode that is) follows three generations of a family. The first part is a journey of Morgan Black, helping to fight against Spanish conquistadors. The following act is set in a future generation of the same family partaking in the French and Indian War. Finally, the story goes into South American revolutions. Each act of the story is incredibly enjoyable with concepts unique to the situation. For instance, one story incorporates the building of train tracks. Let me tell you that the first time a train steams through your town will be enthralling. I called my husband just to watch… “Honey, look at my train, I built that, and those cute little train tracks too!” Meanwhile another act has beautifully detailed galleons fighting over the destruction of the Fountain of Youth. The detail of graphics is amazing in the game. Even on my old computer it was eye candy.
One theme that is stretched throughout all acts of the game is the concept of colonization by offering a ‘Home City’ that the player can call up and order resources and troops from. You earn new shipments by leveling up throughout the game and selecting which resources the ‘Home City’ can offer. It is an entirely new way to strategize, since you can set up ships to be sent during crucial ship battles or troops on scenarios where the ground enemies are putting up a fight. You are also able to call the ‘Home City’ for upgrades to buildings and characters that offer some strategic benefits. It adds an additional level to the real time strategy that really added to the gameplay and amount of planning needed to progress in the game.
Another really creative and fun aspect to the game is the addition of Native American trade routes that surround the main gameplay. Native American tribes tend to help throughout the game to find enemy towns, give additional troops or give additional resources. You can find these Native American areas on the map and build a trading post like a good and friendly colonist. Then, whenever a cart comes by, your town earns additional resources. Some trade posts also offer the ability to add Native American troops to your arsenal. This is a great way to be able to control even more troops with unique abilities and strengths. These nifty trade posts are not just for your taking though – oh, no, they work on a first come first serve basis. So, if you decide that you don’t want to partake in this intriguing aspect of the game, then your enemies can take over the trade post and relish in the rewards!
Even though there were a lot of great little unique details to the game, Age of Empires III was, at its heart, a very typical real-time strategy game. You are asked to either build an encampment or use one made for you to build troops and ships that will help to complete the tasks at hand. Of course, one cannot build troops or ships without resources, so wood, gold and food must be gathered by minions and brought back to the town center. If you are one who likes real time strategy games, the game really plucks the heart’s strings of past RTS enjoyment and offers hours of fun.
There is also the option to play outside of the campaign in a multiplayer online mode, as is the standard for RTS games. I tried yet, and although it was simple to set up and it seemed like it would be a really enjoyable way to play. But I got my behind kicked so quickly by other players that I don’t plan on going back to it. This is not to deter you, I am just terrible with online gaming! Others have had great success and hours of fun playing this game online. You can gain experience with online play, so it is valuable to your ‘Home City’ and even to campaign mode to spend some time online.
The only criticism I had for the game was the lag. My computer, which is definitely not the fastest thing available, kept getting some serious lag during ship battles. Sometimes I would let the lag play out while I got something to eat and by the time I returned to the game my one tiny ship had finally sent its cannon shots across the watery abyss and sunk its target: one other tiny ship. Those with faster computers should not have this trouble, but it was frustrating.
Age of Empires III is full of many hours of enjoyment. The graphics are beautiful, the gameplay is fun and the slight innovations are enough to make an RTS fan squeal. This is a game future games can live up to the standards. Now, go out and colonize!