Age of Empires 3

It's the dawn of a new age in real-time strategy (RTS) games. A brave New World is rising – a hostile yet beautiful world, filled with innovative gameplay, new strategic scenarios, eye-searing graphics and much more.

Welcome to a world called Age of Empires III.

 New Feature – Home Cities

Players have access to their own European Home City for economic, technological and military support as you establish your colony in the New World. Your Home City's success depends on you, with your city's improvements retained between games. Learn more.

Civilzations

The Spanish have a strong military, with both hand infantry and cavalry. Flexibility in early shipments from the Home City give the Spanish the option to attack early or set up for a strong, late economy. Spanish Home City improvements benefit soldiers, buildings and naval units.

Quick access to Settlers gives the British one of the strongest economies in the game. The ability to upgrade two key units – the Musketeer and Hussar – make the British military formidable in the late game. The British Home City emphasizes improvements to technology and naval warfare.

Although the French economy starts slowly, the Coureur unit, a Villager with strong fighting skills, makes the French difficult to attack early. The French also have the strongest cavalry unit in the game – the Cuirassier. Plus, the French are experts at allying with the Native Americans.

Starting the game with two Town Centers, the Portuguese can quickly produce Settlers, control territory or support their allies. The Spyglass ability allows the Portuguese to easily spy on the enemy. The Portuguese also have a strong navy, strong light infantry and the best Dragoons in the game.

Although Dutch Settlers are limited and costly, their civilization makes up for this economic disadvantage by building Banks and generating coin automatically. The Dutch Home City emphasizes upgrades to defense and economy.

The Germans have fewer Settlers and therefore a slower economy. Fortunately, both the Settler Wagon and Uhlan cavalry spawn for free from the German Town Center. Plus, the Germans start with the ability to send Mercenaries from their Home City (long before other civilizations can).

Starting the game with extra resources but fewer Settlers gives the Russians the flexibility of focusing on economy or an early raid. Russian infantry, individually weak, are trained in blocks at a faster rate, providing the Russians with the opportunity to overwhelm their enemy with greater numbers.

For the Ottomans, Settlers spawn automatically from the Town Center. Building a Mosque and conducting research help keep that Settler production steady. Befitting their position straddling Europe and Asia, the Ottomans have more unique units than any other civilization.

Experience the power of the WarChief in the new expansion for Age of Empires III! In Age of Empires® III: The WarChiefs, play as one of three new civilizations – Aztec, Iroquois, or Sioux – each with unique units, buildings and abilities that will test your strategic mettle. Use upgrades for the European civilizations from the original games to earn civ-specific bonuses, build units at a new mercenary saloon, collect new Cards, and battle toward victory with the new Revolution feature. Explore the new single-player Campaign and follow the continuing tale of the Black family as they witness the birth of a new nation.

New Civilizations

The Sioux

With the discovery of gold in their sacred Black Hills, the Sioux had sporadic conflicts with the new immigrants, leading to the Indian Wars and eventually the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The Sioux Nation consists of three geographically distinct divisions of peoples who speak a Siouan language: the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota. In the language of the Sioux, the names Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota mean “friends”.

The Sioux were famed for breeding and training horses. Military advantages of the in-game Sioux civilization are primarily cavalry based. The Sioux strike hard and fast.

The Iroquois

The Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, formed a League of Five Nations long before Europeans arrived in North America (a sixth Nation joined later). The Iroquois Confederacy had a constitution with rules for the selection of war chiefs, guidelines for council meetings, and even suggestions for proper oratory at funerals. Benjamin Franklin expressed great respect for the Iroquois Confederacy. During the American Revolution some tribes sided with the British, while others sided with the colonists, effectively dismantling the once-powerful Confederacy. Equipped with artillery and siege weaponry, the in-game Iroquois civilization can mount a powerful but slow-moving assault.

The Aztecs

At their height, the Aztec represented the most powerful civilization in Mesoamerica. The Aztec constructed great cities, most notably Tenochtitlan on the site of modern-day Mexico City. Described by some early Spanish as grander than most European cities, Tenochtitlan’s advanced infrastructure included temples, markets, and canals. In Aztec society, membership in the calpulli established each individual’s religious and secular schooling, as well as warfare training. The men of a calpulli served together in battle and on numerous public works projects. The in-game Aztec civilization is based around a strong infantry consisting of several units, including elite infantry.

While Ensemble Studio’s spin-off of the Age of Empires series, Age of Mythology, was a delightful change to the somewhat realistic tones of their flagship series, I always craved a sequel to the original series, and a brand new title to sink my teeth into. The first two iterations, the second of which arrived over 6 years ago, were heralded as the new pinnacles of the genre, and went on to sell deservedly in copious amounts. But 6 years is a long time in the video game world. I mean, in just over half a decade we went from idyllic fast-paced 2D action with Sonic the Hedgehog, through to the ever adored Mario 64. And as such, you can’t help but feel that things have perhaps moved on, leaving this particular series lagging behind.

For the un-initiated, the Age of Empires series has been running since way back in those dot com days of the mid-nineties. Back when Britpop was at it’s finest as Oasis, Blur, and Radiohead competed for radio time. Strategy titles had been and gone of course, from the likes of M.U.L.E to Populous, but none seemed to grip like the original Age of Empires. Although essentially being a simplistic collect build and rush title, it sold in the millions, and achieved award after award.

And yet a decade later, we’re still presented with essentially the same gameplay mechanic. The in game time has changed, now encompassing the period of 1500-1800, but things are for the main bulk of the time, exactly the same as Age of Empires II.

Some things have moved on of course, particular the graphics engine pushing everything along. If you happen to have access to a particularly meaty PC, then the visuals might not exactly blow you away, but certainly perform the job much more than merely adequately. The sea in particular looks most attractive, as boats rock realistically once cannons are fired, and ships break apart in large chunks. On land things aren’t quite as impressive, with large areas of basically ‘dead land’ that merely needs to be traversed rather than ogled. That isn’t to say a mass land based battle isn’t impressive of course. Smoke billows around the battlefield, and huge cannonballs send infantry sprawling here, there, and everywhere. Yet it isn’t until these huge hulking weapons, and mass battles make an appearance that the visuals really get going. During the many peaceful moments you’ll spend erecting buildings and gathering up wood, there’s a lack of activity that although is realistic, fails to impress the eye.

Which brings me neatly to my particular bone of contention in terms of the visual aspects of Age of Empires III. Although the game is particularly adept at keeping things to a level suitable to your particular PC’s capabilities, it still can’t hide the odd instances of slowdown that occur with alarming regularity. Perhaps it’s something to be fixed by a future patch, but it’s certainly off-putting when you’re in the throws of a huge battle with an online chum.

And battle you will. Be it single, or multiplayer, violence plays a large part in proceedings. Once a huge battle begins, your troops will automatically drop into formation, the relevant type of troops slotting in at their allotted spots. More realistic than before you’d assume. However, the fact that your collection of troops all move at the speed of the slowest unit means that swift cavalry charges are only possible if you happen to select them individually. But that’s not the only problem Age of Empires III suffers from in terms of the combat system. Since units appear particularly small on screen, in huge mass battles in particular, you can simply lose track of certain troops, and spend eons merely searching out the remnants of your early cavalry charge. Add that to the sometimes iffy frame-rate, and it’s easy for frustration to build as your online opponent only achieves victory thanks to a slightly quicker trigger finger.

The actual collecting of resources, and keeping your economics in check has become vastly simplified by the new feature of not making your slaves meander back to town to drop off their latest wood cuttings/food gatherings. A plus for most, but a little strategic play lost for others.

It’s the introduction of a ‘home city’ that turns out to be the biggest new feature. As you progress through the game, killing enemies, and blowing up their homesteads, you’ll achieve experience points which can then be spent on obtaining aid from your home city. Aid comes in many forms, from a set of fresh new army recruits, through to a swift economic boost. It’s a delightful introduction, and yet another touch of strategy added to Age of Empires already bloated bow.

It’s difficult to simply encourage anyone to pass up on the opportunity to play Age of Empires III. The same addictive basis of gaming genius that’s made a series so loved still exists, and as such can on the one hand be considered a masterpiece. On the other, flaws are too numerous to take its place at the true pinnacle of modern day RTS title. It’s with a heavy heart that I unfortunately announce that the Age of Empires titles simply cant stand up to the modern day RTS design, and finds itself overly eager to hide its archaic gameplay formula. As long as you’re not expecting something fresh, and filled with brand new novel ideas that will take the genre to the next level, then you’ll adore Age of Empires III. Yet if you’ve come to expect a little more from your strategy based romps, you’ll be sorely disappointed.