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Woah! What Happened Here?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 11
Date: March 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Okay - something's wrong. I played the trial version several times and the full version and I'm still not sure what happened. How is it that Age of Empires 2 still seems better than this one? Okay I'll throw out a few points here:

If you don't know what this game is about read some of the other reviews, check out Age of Empires 2 (or any other world-conquering game) and you'll get the idea: build, conquer, rule.

Graphics, Sound, Performance:

- Ummm... Supposedly better. Even on my high-end rig the graphics weren't impressive. So what it's 3d - that doesn't mean anything! It's a bad-looking 3D - even with the graphic tweaks cranked up. Lose points on this.

- The sound is what it is. It does the job and sounds good - but it's nothing earth-shattering. Nothing really innovative or impressive. Not that it should be: but a next-generation title with advanced graphics and the hardware available today should have a really breathtaking soundtrack... For the price!

- As noted I have a high-end system and this game performed poorly. Other games, far more demanding on resources, perform flawlessly on the same system. What gives? Perhaps it's just clunky and SEEMS to be poor in performance... Nonetheless even if your PC exceeds the minimum requirements listed on the Box be wary it may not show in the game.

Very disappointing! Even if it is loaded with historical information - so are other games and the older Age of Empires titles. Sometimes games that are less graphically dazzling can far outshine newer 3D based games: this is one case.

If you haven't checked out Rise of Nations do so - it performs much faster, looks great, and offers a greater scope of playability than Age of Empires 3. If you must have this game then wait until it hits the bargain price range ($20 at best). I give it 2 stars out of respect for the genre, the title's legacy, and for other games backed by Microsoft that are fabulous...

The game is video demanding but definitely impressive

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: October 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First I found this game is definitely more demanding than half life 2 and doom 3. I can run half life 2 1920x1200 4x AA, and doom 3 1200x1600. However, I barely able to handle 1680x1050 with high AA. The game crashed, returned black screen on me initially because i set a high graphic setting that my computer cannot support. It's a bit frustrating in the beginning that i could not play it. Later I deleted my game user profile and started over and I lowered my resolution from 1920 to max out 1680 and the game ran fine since then. The game play is still pretty much the same like aoe2. i tried multiple player and it was pretty fun too. The home city makes things a bit more complicated. The mix with native Americans was pretty fun too. Overall, the game is easier to control than aoe2, things are more automated. The graphics are really nice but make sure you have a really high end graphics card to enjoy it. The second best thing is physics. Things really break apart by pieces and things burn and thrown to dust. It looks really cool. BTW, I have dell 8400, 3.0gig, 1gb memory, 7800gt, 24inch dell monitor.

Have fun with this game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: November 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

My family have been AOE fans since they first came out (that's right) we love history even though we live in the forest and have many distractions we still love AOE they are historically accurate and the're are manythings to do you'd be amazed so have fun and be a fan!

Dont listen to them

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: December 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

okay the game does not need a good computer to run, i have like 512mb of ram 2.5ghz and 64mb grpahincs, runs fine.
and its not complicated, the game comes with a very helpful tutorial and home citys are easy to use, basically when you kill enough people you get enough points for the next shipment which you just click on what shipment you want, and when you grow a level you get to choose new shipments.
each civ is also alot more unique than in age 1 or 2. instead of one unique unit you get two or three, special abilitys, unique shipments and stronger units. like the british may have the best musketeers aswell as uniqie units. then for even more units you get natives, diffrent natives for the diffrent maps. like the plains may have cherokee. to get natives you just build a trading post on a native settlement, and voila.
and then the battles are fun to watch, the formations can be set, you just have to go to the options and its somwhere there. but the battles are neat cannons are actually good against people. and when ships fight in naval battles (i used to hate these) they shoot cannons at each other and when they hit parts fall of like sails. and ships are actually expensive for once, and even have names!
people will also fight in melee on this, like when enemys get to close instead of shooting them they hit them or stab them.
this game is also not one of those RTS's were you build fifty tanks and win such as red alert or generals, but fifty people can ealsily be killed by cannons, unless they do a melee charge which is one of the formations.

You will need a supercomputer

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 17
Date: January 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have wasted a good part of my life playing AOE I and II, and AOM. My PC is a 2GHz AMD/512MB RAM/ATI 9800 Pro video card. I know my computer isn't the fastest out there, but it's a decent performer - AOM runs perfectly on it. BF2 runs great. AOE III will not run on my computer. It takes 10 minutes just to get into the game, and the game play is broken - runs a couple seconds, pauses, runs, pauses, etc. I'm giving this a bad review because the recommended system is less than what I have. It's back to AOM until I can buy a screamer.

Great Game - Highly Recommended!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 26
Date: October 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I've been waiting for Age of Empires III ever single I finally finished exhausting all of the fun from Age of Empires II. I really think it was well worth the wait.

First, it is VERY much like Age of Empires II. That is a HUGE bonus for me. I love the Age of Empires series and if they'd changed the whole gameplay a great deal, it would have lost a lot of what I adore about this series. I can literally play each of these games for months and months before I begin to get bored. That is the brilliance of a well designed real time strategy (RTS) game.

Next, the graphics are of course MUCH improved over previous versions. That of course means you need a much faster machine than you had before! Hopefully most people out there upgrade their computers regularly, to run ANY packages that come out each year - the newest release of PhotoShop, the newest games that come out. If you have a slow, old machine and can't run the newest games, well you really only have yourself to blame. I NEVER want game makers to make bad games just so they can run on ancient machines. It's their duty to make the best games possible. It's my job to get the machine that are current, to run them.

OK, so on to gameplay. You get a collection of fun cultures, each one nicely costumed and with appropriate vocals and sounds. I love the detail in the homes, the people, the environments. You can "skirmish" to your heart's content, learning about the strengths and weaknesses and looks of each group. But don't go thinking you can memorize what works in each situation. The game does nicely to add complexity to that cookie-cutter approach.

Instead, you have a great deal of customization ability, even on the fly. You can really build your style of culture to match your personal point of view, within cultural limits of course. This means when you face others in combat, you can never assume "Oh they're an X which means I just have to do Y". You have to watch, react, and implement a new plan.

I really enjoyed the graphics a great deal here, from the cantering horses to the forests and smoke and flames. They did a great job of really making you feel that there is a little world being run inside your computer monitor.

The sounds are equally good, with the voices and sounds, the background noises and alerts. I admit the trumpet calls get a little repetitive, but what can you do.

I suppose to some the downside is the fact that you need a modern machine. Again, I don't consider that a downside. It's an awesome game with a lot going on. It's not meant to run on a little 386. It's hard for old system owners to accept, but the world moves on. If you're going to play modern games, you have to move along with it. Believe me, it's only going to get worse as more games come out. It's time to grab that piggy bank and upgrade.

I did find it really amusing that the scenario begins with the Aztecs. We just spent Black and White II fighting those All-Powerful Aztecs. What is it with the Aztecs in modern games?? I guess these things come in waves :)

Highly recommended!

Disappointment

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: November 12, 2006
Author: Amazon User

When I first heard that there was a new AOE game I immediately wanted to buy it. When I did get it, it was not what I thought it would be. The graphics are awesome and it's nice to have some fresh units but there are many aspects of the game that I found lacking. One such aspect was the lack of campaign variation. In the older AOE games, there are several campaigns to choose from, each one focusing on a specific civilization such as the French with Joan of Arc or the Mongols with Genghis Khan. In AOE III, there is basically one campaign where you get to control one civilization. There is no choose. The campaign itself is not that difficult. It is split up into three parts but none are very long. Once I got tired of playing the campaign over and over again, I found that the only was to play the other civilizations is to play a skirmish or go online. As someone who spends most of their time playing the campaigns, this was a serious letdown. Another area of the game that failed me was the storyline of the campaign. In the previous games, the storyline was based on historical events. This game focused on a fictional family and fictional events. This is not what I expected, nor what I wanted. Perhaps this is just my computer, but this game also took a ridiculously long tome to save. Summary: This game is a disappointment and isn't worth the amount of money I spent on it. If you really want to buy it, wait until it gets cheap.

Only strategy game I'm playing so far

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: December 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I wasn't a big fan of the old AOE series, but I decided to take this one seriously. One of the things you will notice in this game is that blowing up stuff seems more fun than it use to be back in the old days. The game is divided into three parts, and they all link up into a great storyline. Graphic is like nothing you will find in previous strategy games. All the smoke effects are in there from cannon recoiling, a battalion of musketeers loading off their rifle to buildings blowing off, even fogging up in jungle maps. Destroying building just doesn't get any better than this. These medieval buildings actually look and sound like they were flaking off as you attack them. The maps, especially the jungle maps looks extremely vivid and alive, everything just look so natural. Animals are roaming all over the map in groups, some lethal, and others are delicious. The water looks so shiny it like a mirror, and the sun shining off the surface looks incredible, I haven't found this effect in any other strategy game. I was disappointed that the ships in this game didn't make waves as they move. They pretty much flake off as you attack them just like the buildings. By the way, some of the advance ships are humongous, they even outsize most of the buildings; seeing 3 of them means that you are screwed. There is also this card system, which makes your job easier, but they must be unlocked. To make your job easier, these cards let your home city import supplies right to the battlefield. I had fun with this game, and you will too.

DIFFERENT BUT THE SAME

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: March 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Last month I downloaded this game demo, expecting big changes something new, but what I got was pretty much the same. Grueling battles. The new units are fun and the artillery really changes the offence and defence. But the newest feature is the home city, where you may order supplies or reinforcements based on the number of shipments you earn (i.e experience points).
The reason of my title is because I have played Age of Empires 2 Age of Kings, for tens of hours. But if you have not overindulged in the counterparts and enjoy Real Time Strategy (RTS) this is one of the best.

Doesn't quite measure up...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: February 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Ever since Age of Empires II came out, those of us who fell in love with the game wished for a worthy sequel. Instead of producing one, Ensemble Studios wasted years trying to shove bizarre mythological monsters and fantasy down our throat. None of these attempts have sold well, and Ensemble finally decided to give us what we want, but the long awaited AEIII doesn't quite measure up to expectations.

Yes, the graphic engine has been upgraded and is now second to none and yes, the game play has been vastly improved. You will need a new $300 video card to play at the fanciest settings, and selection, repairs and technology upgrades are now a snap. No longer do you have fishing ships charging into a land battle because you tried to select a group of soldiers on the coast line. The game also returned to the historical plot that made AEII so educational and entertaining. Still, there are problems.

Good things were taken away from the old model. You can no longer garrison archers in towers to increase their power. The Captain Morgan story is historically inaccurate and insignificant. The American war of independence, the Civil War and Latin American wars are not even touched and the French and Russian conflicts are barely even mentioned. Instead the game wastes time on the Ottoman involvement in the New World (???). The game is also very short and will be exhausted in a few weeks even if played only occasionally.

An expansion pack is badly needed. I want the play the Civil War, the French-English conflict and other important upheavals in the New World. I want total historical accuracy so I can learn instead of wasting time on legends such as that of the Lake of the Moon. This could become a great game with the right expansion pack, but I fear Ensemble will give us more monsters and mythology.

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