one of the best game ever
Ensemble Studios knows how to make a Real-Time Strategy game after their success with the historical Age of Empires 1, 2, and expansions for each. When I first heard the concept for Age of Mythology, I was excited to play a new RTS game from my favorite game studio. However, what I did not realize at the time was that this is not another Age of Empires game. The gameplay is considerably different, and I will go into detail in the next section. I am a little disappointed with the game since I was really looking forward to a continuation of my favorite gameplay. With that said, it requires an individual to look at Age of Mythology as a completely new game with unique gameplay. Hopefully they will someday resume the historical RTS development that gave them success, but that is not to say that they should not continue to evolve the Mythology setting for a new line of classic games. One thing to expect from Ensemble Studios is that they put care into their products, and Age of Mythology is deserving of a great reviews. Furthermore, the expansion pack may enhance the game and refine the gameplay.
Gameplay:
Age of Mythology features the best missions in an Ensemble Studios game. It includes a story as well as a good variety of tasks to accomplish. For those that enjoy a good story, this is worth the purchase. I generally do not play the missions, but they act as a good way to learn the game. I am getting sucked into the story, which gives me incentive to keep playing them to advance to the end. The mission design is excellent, and single player gamers should enjoy the 35 scenario campaign bundled with the game.
Single player skirmishes are a good way to practice against the computer before testing your skills online. Skirmishes are the core of all RTS games and can be played against the AI, a buddy on your LAN, or on the internet for fierce multiplayer action. One thing that bothers me about the internet play is that this game does not fix the problem of player speed. AOM is designed with speed in mind, since the faster player should win. A build order is necessary, and if you don't keep pace, the game will end quickly. However, the game has been refined over Age of Empires 2 to make the game easier to manage. For example, there is a new interface that allows players to select military or villager groups by banners at the top of the screen. Also, they included the usual shift and queue orders and building queues for easy management. The new interface has many little details that take it a step beyond previous offerings.
The significant changes in Age of Mythology is in the population. In older games, one unit equaled one population. That is not the case with this game. Units can take up different population attributes for balancing the races. Furthermore, houses are not the only way to control population. You can only build ten houses, so the focus of the gameplay is on controlling settlements. Settlements are fixed locations on the map that you can convert to your town centers. This gameplay element is unique since you can no longer build your town center anywhere on the map and it focuses battles over these highly contested control points. I like this in the gameplay, but it does make it difficult for slower players since they will have no chance at turning a game with fewer settlements. It also reduces strategy by eliminated turtling options and creating one way to play the game. Age of Mythology is an offensive game where defensive minded players could struggle from their building/siege push in Age of Empires 2. I prefer defense in an RTS game, so AOM does not fit my style perfectly.
Age of Mythology features three sides that play completely different: Greek, Egyptians, and Norse. They allow you to choose three different gods each, and different minor gods as you advance through the ages. These selection options give you different benefits to fit your style of play. One of the problems with 3 different sides will always be in balancing them. Hopefully, Ensemble will continue to make changes to keep the game balanced. There is a new expansion coming in the fall that will likely upset the balance of the game once again.
The resource game is different in Age of Mythology with food, gold, wood, and favor. Food, gold, and wood are collected with the usual methods of hunting, fishing, farming, mining, trade, and chopping trees. The new resource is favor, and each side collects it differently. The Egyptians require that you build Monuments, the Greeks require that you send villagers to the temple to pray, and the Norse collects favor by hunting animals or from battles. Favor is important since it is required to buy Myth units or certain upgrades. It plays an important part in the Age of Mythology game design and combat. The reason why combat is different is because of a macro-oriented Rock-Paper-Scissors gameplay element between Heroes, Myth units, and regular units. You still have the Rock-Paper-Scissors gameplay with the regular units with archer, infantry, and horseback classes. However, now you also have to concentrate on your heroes taking out the myth units while you keep them safe from regular units.
What would a mythology game be without god powers? Age of Mythology has them in spades. Each civilization gets four god powers, one for each age. The powers that you receive depends on your major and minor god selections. The powers range from resource benefits to meteor showers that can obliterate a major base. They add fun to the gameplay and strategy since you have to use them at the optimal moment since you only get one of each.
Graphics:
The best way to describe the graphics is by saying “WOW.” It has a beautiful 3D environment with waves crashing to shore and other little details that make it an incredible gaming experience. The units have great animations, and expect to see the Myth units use their abilities with detailed animated effects. The god powers also look incredible and have great effects. My favorite is the meteor shower that has fireballs crashing to the ground crumbling buildings and leaving impact marks on the ground. The graphics are up there with the best RTS games made to date, and definitely heighten the gaming experience. The only thing missing to me are animated god portraits like something that you would see in a Blizzard title. It would be nice seeing a god like presence as you cast spells rather than just pressing a button. The god powers effects are great and hold up well on their own, but some extra personality would help tie in the God and Mythology theme for me.
Sound:
The music is nice and chances for each side. The voice acting is equivalent to Age of Empires 2, which is a good thing. The sounds shine during the god powers, and they enhance the experience. My only complaint with the way they designed the sounds are that they sound different depending on the sound card that I use. My main machine uses a Santa Cruz sound card, and my other machine uses a Sound Baster Live 5.1. The problem that I have is that some sounds are very faint with the Santa Cruz card. Perhaps this is the result of EAX or some 3D audio settings, but I have yet to find a solution. There are other sound issues listed in tech support forums. I would not call my experience a major problem since it only affects wave crashing, wing flapping, mining, and tree chopping sounds. It would be nice if the game sounded the same with either card since they are both major brands.