An amazingly addicting addition to the Age of Empires franchise.
Age of Empires: Age of Kings is a worthy addition to the Age of Empires franchise. Temporaily abandoning the series' trademark real-time strategy, Majesco instead chose to go with turn-based strategy in their DS debut. In Age of Kings, you play through various campaigns and take control of some of the more well known historic warriors, such as Joan of Arc or Richard the Lionheart.
-Gameplay-
The touchscreen has been perfectly implemented in Age of Kings. It controls everything on the screen and does so seamlessly. For instance, you touch one of your units to highlight them, and then simply touch the screen where you want that unit to go. It ends up being remarkably intuitive. The only downside to this aspect of the game is that it is sometimes difficult to choose a specific unit if multiple units are standing closely together. Age of Kings is relatively easy in the beginning, but soon becomes very difficult in some of the later campaigns.
-Graphics-
While not a graphical powerhouse, Age of Kings is definitely pleasant to look at. What it lacks in technical detail, it makes up with vibrant colors and pleasing animation, especially during the battle cutscenes.
-Sounds-
Definitely one of the high points of the game. The soundtrack is riveting and uplifting. The sound effects are fantastic and convincing.
-Presentation-
The menu system is outstanding in Age of Kings. Everything is easy to navigate and everything about the game's presentation, from musical cues to the mini-menus used to designate a particular units assignment is nearly flawless.
-Value-
Age of Kings will give you many hours of quality gameplay. The game does offer some multiplayer options, such as hotseat - but a title like this absolutely screams for online play. Regardless, if you have a friend handy, hotseat is a blast, and the single player mode alone makes this game worth every penny.
-Overall-
An outstanding addition to your DS collection. I would go as far as to say that I prefer this title to Advance Wars Dual Strike - and every DS owner should give it a go.