| Author |
Message |
Bandit |
| Location: Madison Alabama |
|
Post subject: Age Of Empires III
 Posted: Nov 10, 2005 - 01:09 PM
|
|
G0dlike
Joined: Feb 03, 2004
Posts: 855
Location: Madison Alabama
Status: Offline
|
|
I have only played through the tutorial and one simple game with a weak AI. So take this for what it is worth. I intend to add more after I play this game a bit more.
The game is changed significantly from the previous versions. It reminds me more of Age of Mythology game play than Age of Empires III. You start with a town center. This town center allows you to build a very small ammount of pesants 4-8 before you have to move to the next age to have a higher population. There are 3 resources in the game, Money, Wood, and Food. The resources appear to regenerate if you don't mine them out of existance. They have added a trading route in the map somewhere that allows you to build trading posts on predetermined spots along it. The Trading post can produce one of the 3 resources (you select and can change) or it can earn you experiance. The experiance is basicly a 4th resource that can only be spent back home in the Home City. The Home City is located in Europe somehwere but all they can do is offer you one use powers in exchange for your experiance. The one use powers are called cards and are actually units, upgrades, resources, or buildings(which are portable units untill built). In addition to all this when you move up an Age, there are 5, you choose a leader(from 2). The only obvious difference in the leaders are the resources or units they give you.
All of this adds up to a game that has some pretty diverse choices you can make early in the game and very short upgrade trees. This all winds up giving you a war that can start immeditatly. I think they have managed to create a game that for the most part will be extreemly short battles early on. The ONLY thing in the game that slows it down is the power of forts, outposts, and town centers. These require seige to take them out. Once you build a fort (age 2) you can build short range seige which you will need lots of to take out a building in this century or heavy seige (age 3) which will need defending by regular units.
I have yet to make my decision yet on if I like it better than the previous versions or not. |
_________________
Don't listen to me I'm an irrelevant troll.
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
|
T-BirD |
| Location: Budapest, Hungary |
|
|
Post subject: RE: Age Of Empires III
Posted: Nov 10, 2005 - 03:01 PM
|
|
teh gam0r!!1~
Joined: Oct 26, 2005
Posts: 108
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Status: Offline
|
|
| I thought it had some neat elements (supply trails, home city, allying with natives, and incredibly fine graphics!), but overall the game left me pretty "blah". Though...this opinion is just from the demo, so it doesn't hold all that much weight. |
_________________
TBirD's collection
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Bandit |
| Location: Madison Alabama |
|
|
Post subject: RE: Age Of Empires III
Posted: Nov 10, 2005 - 06:31 PM
|
|
G0dlike
Joined: Feb 03, 2004
Posts: 855
Location: Madison Alabama
Status: Offline
|
|
I like the ideas of supply trails, home city, allying with natives and graphics but the execution I don't really like.
1. Supply Trails
Bad: Are overpowered this causes them to be an infinite source of resources. If your opponent controls these for any length of time you are going down.
Bad: Are stuck on the map. You can't move them, and can only place trading posts at specific places on the map.
Good: They do add strategic points to the map to fight over.
2. Home City
Good: Adds a way in the game to tilt the balance in your favor if you are hurting.
Good: Adds another level of complexity to the game
Bad: The interface is poorly implemented. 70% of the screen is taken up by a picture of your home city. 30% contains the actual things your Home City can do for you. Once you have seen this every game for the last 30 games it won't look so great. They basicly added an extra click to going to your base and buying an upgrade.
Bad: Your ships are in no way part of this cycle. They have ships in the game but they have very little affect on it. They should have let you request things at your home base, then have the ship go back to your home city via the waterways on the map, then come back with the supplies. This would allow a whole other level of gameplay where the shipments could be blockaded. Totally dropped the ball on that one.
3. Allying with natives:
Good: Another level of complexity
Bad: Implementation makes no sense. To ally with a native I build a trading post in their home. To take my alliance away the opponent shows up burns the outpost down and builds his own. Now he is allied with them. WTF?? Ok so you are a native peacefully trading with your friend another guy shows up kills 1/2 the town and burns 1/2 it down. Then rebuilds his part and says you are friends with me now. By the way I need 20 soldiers to go fight your x-friends.
4. Fine Graphics
Good: Pretty
Bad: Didn't make the game any easier to play. Take a look at Civ 3 to Civ 4. Civ 4 is easier to play because of the enhanced graphics being integrated into the interface. In AOE3 the interface has the same look as AOE2.
I know I'm comming off as hating the game but I haven't decided yet. I'm just not won over in the 1st to games I played. I will give it some more time tonight. |
_________________
Don't listen to me I'm an irrelevant troll.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Ack |
| Location: |
|
|
Post subject: RE: Age Of Empires III
Posted: Nov 10, 2005 - 08:19 PM
|
|
Moderator
Joined: Feb 08, 2005
Posts: 682
Status: Offline
|
|
| What did you guys think of the undying hero bit? Also, how do you feel about the treasures you can find, and how they might help boost one side early on? |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
PhukFace |
| Location: |
|
|
Post subject: RE: Age Of Empires III
Posted: Nov 11, 2005 - 02:24 PM
|
|
Color-Swapped Ninja
Joined: Jul 06, 2005
Posts: 1103
Status: Offline
|
|
| i find the treasures help even out the different race differences, [IE british get settlers quick but have no defenses early.] |
_________________
She's Einstein, Her head is the greatest...
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
T-BirD |
| Location: Budapest, Hungary |
|
|
Post subject: RE: Age Of Empires III
Posted: Nov 11, 2005 - 07:13 PM
|
|
teh gam0r!!1~
Joined: Oct 26, 2005
Posts: 108
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Status: Offline
|
|
the undying hero was kinda interesting, including the ransoming if he's captured, but I never had any inclination to pay the ransom as I didn't see him as terribly important - a powerful combat unit who you can later rescue anyway when you overrun the enemy...plus his twitching body is a neat little scout probe until you rescue him.
I hope I'm not remembering wrong - it's been months since I played the demo.
As for the treasures...they're interesting and I don't really see a problem with them. |
_________________
TBirD's collection
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
lordbyronIII |
| Location: The Third-Floor Sanctuarium |
|
|
Post subject: RE: Age Of Empires III
Posted: Nov 12, 2005 - 10:00 PM
|
|
Moderator
Joined: Sep 07, 2005
Posts: 381
Location: The Third-Floor Sanctuarium
Status: Offline
|
|
eh, it reminds me of Empire Earth. I have fun building the city and then... it abruptly ceases to interest me.
Maybe if I had a better concept of ancientlified, non-fantasy style military tactics. But probably not.
Dutch sprawling city by the name of Bjorktonletville. |
_________________
Corn unpop is sad occurrence.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
