Age of Mythology

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Summary: Age of Mythology the best game!!
Review: I recently recieved AOM Collectors Edition for christmas and I was over the moon. The collectors edition is defintely worth the money (I think so) as you get six awesome mini-posters of the gods, a massive one of three of the gods, which is signed by all the people from Ensemble Studios, a DVD, Music CD, a Mythology Book, three cool tech trees and a Minotaur figurine. I suppose the only bad thing about this Collectors edition is that I can't put the game down and that the minotaur figurine isn't what I exactly expected. Though otherwise this is the best game out of the AGE OF- Series

Though a word of advice to those who want best performance, I tried it on my laptop and it is pretty good, though when I tried it on my Desktop computer it plays alot better.

This Game is AWESOME, well done Ensemble Studios

Rating:
Summary: game is fun but hard to get working
Review: About the game: I've never played Age Of Empires, but this is a standard game in the real time strategy genre -- collect resources, build units, advance your civilization, etc. For those looking more at tactics than strategy, try the Myth: The Fallen Lords series.

As I have played it more (all in single player mode), I have actually started to enjoy it more. That's a good sign.

As for the game locking up -- Microsoft has a web page on this subject. I tried all their proposed fixes, and I think the one that worked was turning off the sound hardware acceleration. I still have little problems in the sound (like static), but the game has not locked up once since then.

[Update: I switched from a GeForce2 video card to a GeForce4 video card and the sound problems fixed themselves. Don't ask me what the video card has to do with the sound, but.... I'm running it under Win98.]

As others have commented, the music is annoying, and so are the "ready"/"yes, I'll do it" responses from the units. The latter are in whatever language the designers thought would be appropriate. I have no idea if they are even real words or just made up sounds. I think the idea was to emphisize the different cultures, but it is unnecessarily complicated.

Rating:
Summary: Best RTS in Ages!
Review: Ensemble studios has really outdone itself. They took arguably the best Real Time Strategy ever (Age of Empires) and made an even better game. AOE veterans will feel right at home with the interface. They took the basic methods of AOE and totally improved upon them. The Mythological untis are spectacular. I have two words for you: God Powers. This is one of the best, if not the best, Real Time Strategies ever created.

The gameplay is flawless, the graphics are great, the array of units is wonderful, and for those of you who like single player Campaigns, you're in luck. If you are even moderatly intersted in RTS' BUY THIS GAME!!!

P.S. Don't worry, it's not just a AOE with different graphics.

Rating:
Summary: They should've made Age of Imperialism...
Review: I was really annoyed when ensemble said they would be making AoM instead of the next "age" game, perhaps "Age of Imperialism", which would go from the colonial period to perhaps the mid-1800s. But since they were making it anyway I thought I might as well try it out. It definitely didn't have the same feel as the other age games. Sure, you started out with a town center and some villagers and a scout, but the 3d just looks bad. And the sounds weren't very good either. And only 3 races! I was very disappointed. I hope they hurry up and deliver the next age game and make it right next time!

Rating:
Summary: Addictive
Review: This is a great game, but can't compare this to AoE or AoK since I have never played either one. I finished the single player campaign on easy and was enjoyable. I would have given this five stars but the game locks up, especially when lots of things are going on at once. Do yourself a favor and get in the habit of saving gameplay often, especially after a major achievement. It also seems to help in keeping the game from freezing if given a momentary break. The download patch doesn't work. Also use any troop or building improvements as soon as you can, it will pay off. To each his own and good luck

Rating:
Summary: If I had believed all the reviews...
Review: I never would have bought this game. I've been playing the AOE series for over a year now, and when I saw this coming out I thought I might enjoy it, being a mythology buff myself. Before I bought it though I came here and read reviews which said not to bother, nothing new here, etc. I HEARTILY disagree. I found this game to be very interesting and much more diverse than AOE. Even though there are only 3 races, each has a choice of 3 major gods and 9 minor gods, and each choice affects different aspects of your civilization. I haven't computed the numbers but it adds up to more than 10 different permutations of the game. Yes, you have to read everything so you know what you have and what you can do, but most of the data is available with a right-click of the mouse. I personally enjoy the myth units, and they are each different as well. How often do you get to create a Colossus that can renew itself by eating trees and gold? Also, I've had no trouble with villagers, in fact I think they are a vast improvement on AOK in that after they build any sort of resource building they will go ahead and start collecting on their own. Also, farms and fish never run out, which was a hassle before.
Just a few tips - READ READ READ about god things, myth units etc., that way you'll know what you get with each one. Easy level means just that - easy. I've not had the game that long so I haven't tried the harder levels yet. Do the tutorial - not for the controls which are almost the same as AOK, but for knowing about the changes made.
If you like AOE and you like mythology, get this game and I think you'll enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Mythology should be spelled "Empire"
Review: While at the mall, I was pretty bored of most strategic games. So I picked up Age of Mythology thinking I would be treated to a great gift. But now I have mixed feelings for the game.

It is just like ages of empires. The resources are the same and gathering them are the same. But there is a new one called favor. To buy myth units or certain upgrades you need favor. For the Greeks you pray at a temple, Egyptians build monuments, and Norse fight. The Greeks are basically the regular race. The main one in the game. They are okay, but kinda boring after a while. The Egyptians have cool god powers, and do not really need to chop wood for any reason. The Norse are the best, they have the best units and can build quickly with their army. While playing online, Norse always dominate because they build several fortresses right outside your town then attack. Because Norse build buildings with their infantry, they have a huge advantage. But their godpowers are not that great compared to the other races.

God powers are given to you when you advance an age. If you advance to a new age you get to pick a minor god to worship, and each god has its own god power. Most of the god powers are kinda lame, and you can just waste. Zeus has a lighting bolt which kills one unit, but does not kill main units in the story, so it has no point. The only good ones are meteor, tornado, plenty vault, and earthquake. Meteor and tornado are the best Egyptian god powers, because they decimate areas of buildings. Earthquake and plenty vault rock. Earthquake belongs to the Greek and totally destroys every building in an area. Plenty vault also belongs to the Greek and provides a steady resource flow.

But the fighting gets old. The unit selection is awesome, but still, norse will win. Norse have the best units and just rock. Egyptian do not need alot of wood, so they can be good. Greek needs everything and the only rewarding experience is the 2 god powers I mentioned above. If you truly love ages of empire you can like this game. Most missions result in you killing one unit, then going on to the next mission and rebuilding your base all over. So the campaign gets really frustrating. Especially on moderate where the attacks are constant. In all seriousness, if you want to buy this game go ahead, but please wait till it is on sale.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't play very deeply, but fun for awhile
Review: Think Age of Empires/Empire Earth/Command & Conquer/every other battle simulator, but with figures from mythology thrown into the mix.

This is another video card-blaster of a game, with a whopping 2 discs to install, but the game is decidedly worth the effort. Instead of simply tweaking a few soldiers and making them minotaurs or whatever they've really gone all out and created research trees, civilization benefits, etc., all in the name of conquering other civilizations in the name of your very active pantheon.

You can play as either Egyptian, Norse or Greeks (and Atlantis in some warm-up sections), and your units, buildings, gods and heroes are all culture based. I learned more about Greek mythology playing 2 hours of this than I did in 4 years of high school.

The graphics aren't as seamless as Empire Earth, which is my personal fave, but the unfolding of the cultures and such is done in a way that's refreshing and unique. I anticipate a cool expansion in its future...it's going to need one to keep people interested after a couple of weeks.

The major flaw here is that the play isn't very deep. There aren't enough pantheons or ways to manipulate the gods you do have access to, and with a whopping 4 ages, you advance pretty quickly to the design limits of the game and get bored.

The guide that comes with it is surprisingly wack, telling you almost nothing, and while the chart that comes with it is pretty, it certainly isn't for quick reference. I guess when the game has a Prima strategy guide on the first day of its release it doesn't matter, but you should be able to excel at the game with what it comes with and some practice. If I have to spend even more money to figure out how to really play the game, why not just tack the cost of the strategy guide to the game and include it? Because it makes too much sense, that's why.

Almost worth the money, even with the heavy, memory-sapping engine and the lack of info out the gate.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Sweet Stuff!
Review: I'm a huge fan of the AoE series, and when I heard that Microsoft was comming out with AoM I was excited. The game itself is very cool. Basically it is AoE with some interesting mythology mixed in and some different civs. There were a few problems, such as slow peons and little control over them, but theyre worth putting up with! The game graphics are very awesome for an RTS! AoE fans will most likely love AoM.

Rating:
Summary: The best game so far in strategy
Review: I am a big big fan of military warfare and mythology and I loved the trial. The graphics I believe are better than the well known Empire Earth. A must buy game!!