Game Review #2

Age of Empires III

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

The first thing that must be done right when you start the game is to choose which civilization you will be playing with.  In just the original game without the expansions there are eight choices, following history of exploring the New World.  But then there are two expansions that have been made to add a lot to the game.  One is the War Chiefs, which adds the Iroquios, Aztecs, and Sioux; and the Asian Dynasties, which adds the Chinese, Japanese, and Indians.  All of the different civilizations have different special abilities that can greatly add to your gaming experience.  Personally I like playing with one of the Asian civilizations because when you level up in ages you get to build wonders that are specialized to that civilization.

After you choose your civilization you then have to name your home city, which sends you your supplies and upgrades, and then you can start to take over the area.  Personally I have not played much with controlling he water masses because personally I am really bad at that.  Right away when you start you have an explorer which, what do you know, is there for the purpose of exploring.  You will also have a number of villagers that you can either set to chopping down trees, gathering food, or mining gold.  After you choose what to do with them you can then send your explorer out. With the explorer you can acquire treasures, ranging anywhere from food to a tame bear.  You will also find a trade route which if you take over you will see that you can trade food, wood, gold, or experience (to upgrade your hometown).

And after you start, I'll let you figure out the rest, I'm not going to give away the whole game.  I give this game four Diamonds out of five.  Personally I don't think that it is better than Age of Empires 2, even though it is easier to play.  I like the whole style of the Medieval Ages Better than colonial America.  It is still a fun game to play, although I haven't played any multiplayer with it yet, still trying to get all of my friends to buy it.  Oh and most likely I will put up a rating for AOE 2 soon.

--CK