Age of Empires 3 - PC
The first meeting with the third episode of Age of Empires (except for the spin-off of Age of Mythologies) dates back to its presentation in Milan where, for the first time, we were able to touch a semi-final of the strategic Microsoft. A trial brief, no doubt, but he left us an excellent impression of a product that not only bring out a graphic absolutely off the scale for a strategy title, but that would bring a dowry also a wealth of important new issues which are the gameplay. News that came in possession of the luxurious Collector's editon, we can finally quibble in its main points.
First, the historical period. The subtitle of "Age of Discovery" is well suited to characterize the events that will be the background to a story so intricate and compelling. The colonization of the Americas has just begun. A dish too rich to which the main European countries is not meant to give up. Spain, England, France, but also Malta and the Netherlands, will battle to win a significant portion of this new land so far away but infinitely rich in resources. And dangers. Because, of course, in addition to having to deal with other nations in the game, we also vedercela with Native Americans (as well as Mexican and Aztec), which poorly digest the arrival of '"white man." And although they are not fitted at all points, their deep knowledge of the battlefield and the skin will be very tough for them to help us continuously asses.
Fortunately, you can also create alliances with these people to take advantage of their resources and be able to then make use of their services in exchange for protection. In fact the term "covenant" is little more than a euphemism, because the reality of the facts (which also reflects the stark reality), sees the poor natives exploited as cannon fodder being able to take advantage of the low cost of production of the same and their innate resistance to enemy fire. These are the basic premises that we will be engaged in the course of over 20 missions needed to complete the game and therefore be at the head of the intricate plot that protagonists are also strange religious sects intent to seek U.S. territories in the fountain of eternal youth and unscrupulous pirates ready to sell to the best bidder nation.
Not surprising a plot so thick and articulate. Besides the stated purposes of Ensemble Studios was to create a "strategic FPS" because of the depth of the game and the storyline, because of the high technological level that the studios have poured in for Microsoft Age of Empires 3 . The gameplay in Age of Discovery is not far from the now universal formula for the strategy genre drag and click, combined with a thorough characterization of the units in the game in accordance with the formula "rock-paper-scissors", will prove useful if you send to fight against certain types of units and buildings, rather than others. The gameplay so it will be basically the same of the other episodes, but enhanced by innovations in Age Of Mythologies AoE3 which inherits some important news.
First of all the introduction of the heroes, or characters practically immortal and have some unique capabilities that we can use during missions and that will lead the way around which winds past the storyline. Secondly, comes from Mythologies also the possibility, in the transition between the various eras that characterize the evolution of our people, to choose a kind of "orientation" that favor the development of certain technologies over others. Last but not least, Age of Empires is bringing the series input 3d universe, characterized as never before this time by a graphic impact to say the least exciting. The obsessive attention placed by the development team during these years of working is played on the pitch so nothing short of exemplary.
The land, detailed and rich vegetation, reproduce in detail the mapping of the territory at the time, with ample space dedicated to the waters where Age of Empires 3 is able to touch the peaks of which are unusual for strategic real time. On the other hand it seems that a separate section of the team has been working for over a year on the realistic representation of the sea and marine surfaces. And it shows. Even units and buildings seem to have good health, though perhaps the miniatures of the characters would have needed some additional tweaking. To refresh the gameplay comes the new opportunity to create a sort of umbilical cord that binds our colonies to the native country. At any time during the game, using a system that is very reminiscent of the decks of the strategic table, we can draw from our homeland economic aid or war. Just simply accumulate experience points, which are represented by indicator on the screen, then enter a convenient panel where you can order the dispatch of resources (food-precious metals and timber will once again be the main characters), directly or heavy equipment or troops.
In addition to the excellent graphics side we mentioned earlier, you should also note the entry for the first time in an RTS use of a real physics engine. Like the various Painkiller and Half Life 2, Age Of Empires also be found using the infamous physics engine Havok 2.0, which helps make the on-screen display extremely complex and believable. The structures affected by guns, for example, will crumble into pieces before collapsing to the ground and badly affected the soldiers respond truthfully to the blow received. In reality, however, the use dell'Havolk seems to have more aesthetic value than strategic. The collapse of buildings, for example, absolutely not affect the territory, nor prevent the passage of troops, much less produce effects on nearby units. The various gradients present in the maps do not seem to have substantial effects on the movement of troops and do not produce visible benefits depending on the position occupied, as seen, for example, in the Battle for Middle-earth at EA.
The use dell'Havok is therefore rather to be seen as a kind of experiment. An experiment that certainly has its good fruits from a visual point of view, but from which perhaps we expected a greater impact from the strategic, which remains anchored to the old "masses and attack." Unfortunately, the pursuit of pure strategy was once again relegated to the background to the action pure and simple. A strategy less refined and linked to the quick production of resources and units, however, has the advantage of completely eliminating downtime, real weakness of those who can not digest the strategy of the various brain Civilization and the like. A dated, of course, but that Ensemble Studios was able to make properly, and managed to create a set of missions in a way that would justify this type of gameplay. It will not be uncommon, in fact, deal with missions "on time", where our skills will be given precisely by the ability to create better manage huge armies to resist the assaults of our enemies continues to await reinforcements sent automatically from the motherland, all in clashes 'last blood of rare beauty.
Is understood, all this has a price to pay in terms of hardware. The test system consists of an Athlon 3500 + with a gig of ram and a Asus 6600GT has struggled (we are talking about an average of 15-20 frames), to govern the resolution of 1024x768 although, to be fair, there we are deprived of any graphic effect and the anti-aliasing. Fortunately, the game engine has been shown to be sufficiently scalable and you can adjust the title to their hardware resources perishing of course a little bit in terms of pure aesthetics. It 'also to emphasize the exceptional sound segment, consisting of the usual soundtrack "epic martial", enhanced by a good dubbing into Italian and from one sector of Sound FX incredibly rich and varied, especially in the lower-pitched sounds that enhance the' Extensive use of cannon and musket fire from assault. Before the final comment (which you can easily find on the column on the right), we also the multiplayer LAN and, of course, online. The latter will be available through the service ESO (Ensemble Studios Online).
comment
The third episode of the saga Age of Empires brings with it a good load of novelty and aesthetic improvements that make it a must for all lovers of real-time strategy and, more importantly, for all aficionados saga made ??in Microsoft. We were expecting maybe more use of the physics engine from a strategic standpoint, but also as it is the Age of Discovery proves to be a good product, varied and fairly deep. In short, a must have, waiting for those Age of Empires IV and V already announced and carriers (at least we hope) of other important news.
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