Age of Empires - PC
Microsoft ... for the average user's PC is "to Windows and Office" ... for the avid gamer is the author of the acclaimed Flight Simulator, securities much less recall what Fury3 and Hellbender and a series of games to forget ... Let's face it: if he had not called Microsoft (they can then take advantage of a market that is not normal gaming market) the Redmond would probably have racked up an impressive series of flasks, tempered only by FS. In fact, last year Bill Gates has given a wake in our field next to Gol (which was only good name) and NBA Full Court Press (which compared to any NBA Live came out with the crushed bones) we have seen a couple of innovative and well-planned way, as discussed The Neverhood, Monster Truck Madness and Close Combat. Certificates valid, but apart from the aforementioned Flight Simulator, certainly not "classics." But finally here is the giocone: what is ambitious from the title ... Age of Empires. What's this? Before its release it was spoken of as a game that would join the action in real time with the Warcraft strategy "evolutionary" Civilization. We clear the field right away misunderstandings: it is not so! Age of Empires is a great real-time strategy, the best, but has little of Civilization. On the other hand it was easy to understand that a game in the Civilization, strategic management before, ill marry the real time. Must still give credit to the game designer of Ensemble Studios who have not tried to do what would have been impossible (beyond the voices ... sometimes joined by those who had already tried the game), the evolutionary part of Age of Empires complex enough to keep you busy during the game and simple enough to be handled in time reale.Vediamo to understand this better with the description of a typical scenario: you games with a bunch of "common people" who are able to act as hunters, fishermen , berry pickers, builders, stonecutters, miners, loggers and farmers. Depending on their occupation of our faithful workers are able to find food, wood, stone and gold, and these are the basic resources that will allow us to create other citizens, buildings and combat units. For example, the construction of the barracks will allow us to train warriors in exchange for units of food (actually the warrior "create" do not convert a commoner but generate a little man from scratch). On the other hand I need to build the barracks of wood that I had previously procured by sending a citizen to cut the trees, not to mention that I also need the food so I have to send a couple of men to hunt. Also can I build a port to procure food by fishing and gold through trade. In the meantime I have built enough homes to accommodate all of my unit ..
At this point takes over the evolutionary aspect, because not all the buildings and not all units are available immediately: I start from the stone in which food can provide me only with hunting, fishing and gathering, when I have a lot of food and a couple of buildings can perform the "snap evolutionary" (still a certain amount of time passes between the moment when shooting active and when it occurs) to the age of the tools. Now I can build new buildings and train units to attack the most advanced as archers and horsemen, not only that the construction of special buildings allows me to access additional upgrades. I mean after you build the market are able to also build farms (upgradeable then in turn with the breeding and discovered the plow), also the presence of a warehouse allows me using a certain amount of resources, developing stone processing resulting in a "bonus" in the fighting. Yeah ... because meanwhile the opponents "evolve" on their own and try to aggredirvi militarily. Confused? Assured is much more immediate than it sounds in words ... In fact, as I have already said, there is the management complexity of a Civilization and it is right and logical that there is: no riots, no people to feed, nor fees to pay, no brains to be put to work, limit yourself (so to speak ...) to CHAUVET resources and evolve when you have accumulated enough. A curiosity: the land on which you move is relatively small but for this, as you can see from the pictures, very detailed. With time we will manage to religion, the fortifications, the armor, the "wonders" (those are something else Civilization) ... The maximum evolution occurs with the age of iron, and with units that are the "panzer" era: catapults, giant crossbows, armored warriors, and so on. The management of the fighting is a bit 'simplistic but fun in general my units ignore the civilians and the military attack enemies, but I can order them to attack buildings and units at will. Unfortunately there is no option to take a position at all costs, to escape if things go wrong, patrol an area enclosed and stuff. In practice, I place the unit, possibly combining them somewhere and they stir themselves if they see an enemy, or the sending to attack a target keeping an eye on because they might go happily to the slaughter. And 'this, however, the only flaw of this game. Personally, I was more than satisfied with the evolution of the control unit, but when you learn how to place them at key points we can get by without too much trouble. Not 'even exceptional management of diplomacy, I choose unilaterally diplomatic line and the opponents decide whether to comply or not, of course, also applies the other way around, so I could find an ally to one who is my enemy!
But the overall assessment? One: exciting ... one of those games where you do not staccheresti ever. Great graphics as well as sound, but now with computers we have in our hands, we do not expect less. I have purposely left to the last two of the best things about this game: the longevity and multiplayer. Longevity is nothing short of immense. The game includes a mountain of scenarios, 4 campaigns consisting of predefined tasks (ranging from destroying a particular building to do something significant from the evolutionary point of view), the opportunity to play in a random map generated by the PC or on a default map . Campaigns among other proposed historical developments that had actually happened, or at least plausible, in which we will be at the helm of the Egyptians, Greeks, Babylonians and the Yamato. In total there are ten civilizations each of which has bonus and penalty in a particular field: faster, stronger warriors, lower agricultural production and so on. The units and buildings are the same for all cultures but it does not seem a big deal. We take into account that I can play 5 different levels of difficulty. Attached is a very complete editor missions and even campaigns ... that is, it will be trivial to find in the Internet the new entire campaigns made by fans. Finally Multiplayer: apart from the chance to play two on the same PC (in fact impossible) covered all the things that come to mind ... direct connection, local network, internet, Microsoft and so 'on. And 'possible to play in 8, and of course' provided for the possibility of alliances. It 'habit of Gol speak ill of the games that deserve ... well ... weighing the pros and cons this game can only be defined in a way: very good, really good. If you love strategic buy it you will love it.
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Age of Empires 2: the Age of Kings - PC
Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Microsoft decided to jump into the field of video games. After a few rides modest criticism received quite well one real-time strategy he claims to unite under the name of the best features of many popular games. This was Age of Empires. At the command of ancient peoples, we had to develop a civilization from the Stone Age until it becomes a real empire. After some time, came an expansion that added a people who, for my taste, it was an unjustified lack in the original title, the name he had given the game: the Romans. A few years Microsoft will try again with this Age of Empires II: the Age of Kings. Obviously we are no longer dealing with the poor primitives who tried desperately to pull up a civilization from scratch, which was then swept away by a warrior hyper (it was very nice as cheat) ... The period in which you are settling this new chapter of the saga is the Middle Ages. We will be called upon to play the role of supreme Capoccio during some of the most famous campaigns which involved the Europe and the Mediterranean in general: we will be with the Scots when they try to free themselves from British, we on our side Joan of Arc, guide of the French in a war that seemed already lost, we will observe the exploits of Saladin of the Arabs, we will follow in the footsteps of Genghis Khan, which will expand the Mongol empire, and finally, we will see the works of Barbarossa
Each campaign is divided into many missions, different from each other but where the mass destruction will still vital component. But first things first and let's start from the ground up
No army comes out of nowhere, much less hold it with anything. In AOE2 you can / will have to collect four different types of resources: timber, food, stone and gold. Each unit, building or machinery will require to be trained or built, a certain amount of these resources. While many can be found easily (see the wood, given the presence of large forests, which occupy the whole of Europe), others can be "produced" in turn (such as food, which can be collected from farms), while for the mining (stone and gold) you have to rely on what is in the scenario. Well, to fill the granaries, somebody go into the fields. And who will they ever? Are the inhabitants of the village or, in other words, the all-rounder. These may be used either to collect firewood and food, mine gold and stone, but also build and repair buildings. Obviously also the units are the weakest of the game (if we exclude the sheep), and therefore the easiest to kill. For this, the guys at Ensemble, remembering what actually happened in these periods have decided to add "bells" suonatele and you will see your people run to the nearest building for shelter from attack. Not that it's one of those things that make you stand open-mouthed, but is useful in more than one case
Buildings, buildings ... that there is no choice! Are divided into two categories: military and not. In the second will find farms, homes and so on, in the first ... guess what? Camps, shooting ranges, and so on. It's not that you can of course build everything at once: in particular, the limiting factor will be the degree of your civilization: if you are still in "High Middle Ages" you can forget about such wonders as catapults or something. The transition from one phase to another is fairly simple: pay a tribute to those who do not know, pourable in cash directly to the center of the country, to enable the process of "modernization"
Before I forget, among other buildings there is also the market. This has a dual function. In fact, thanks to this construction it is possible to exchange materials we have in abundance (most often wood) for gold, and vice versa, thus allowing, in case of urgent need, to have resources available for the repair or construction or training of something (rimettendoci a lot of energy because, in the market, the law "buy low and sell high" is applied all too well). But, again through the market, it is also possible to build commercial wagons. These will be the caravan between your center of trade and one owned by another faction, is this enemy, allied or neutral, bringing to your coffers of large sums of money
We have gold, wood, stone and board, we can finally dedicate ourselves to war. And it is in the department of war that you see the most marked differences (and improvements) than its predecessor (and many other titles in the genre). In AOE2 you will also find a good variety of military units, which vary, although not by much, to the side that play as. Compared to its predecessor these are also secretly ordered according to a certain criterion. This order is obvious as soon as raggrupperete a pair and tell him to move. Magic, magic, automatically drives the weakest will line up in the rear, while the assault will be at the forefront. This happens if you choose the first type of training, namely the compact. There are a total of four: compact, square, checkerboard, and side. Each has its merits and its flaws: the compact is great when you upload opposing armies, a square will allow you to better defend the weaker units, which will be placed in the center; checkerboard is particularly effective if you are under fire from enemy artillery such as catapults and finally the side is effective if you want to groped to encircle the enemy. In addition, each unit type has, so to speak, a "favorite enemy". For example, a group of pikemen is excellent against infantry units, since it is capable of stopping the charging, and so on
All units (almost) can be improved by developing better armor or weapons more effective improvements that can be searched in its proper location as in the workshops of blacksmiths, or libraries
The enemy AI is well maintained and we will also see multiple attacks from all sides towards our poor fort. The only flaw is that perhaps you should make it clear to our soldiers that if he is ordered to defend a catapult, it would be better to be around him, and not BEHIND, realizing too late that regularly gimmick has already been successfully converted into firewood
The look and feel is truly remarkable, given the care with which they were made the land, buildings and other effects (apart from the fire). The maps are extremely varied, but most enormous: it goes from the arid plains of Mongolia to the hot deserts near Cairo, or the green landscape of Scotland, depending on where it takes you to the heart and the thirst for conquest
From the front of the sound, the look that stands out immediately is the excellent music, which fit perfectly to the environment and time. Same thing can be said of dubbing, with your soldiers who speak the language of their people (of course except when to communicate something imported as new targets): interesting to hear the men under the command of Joan of Arc that respond to "D 'Oil "when given an order. Do you know what it means "On the oil", right? And the difference between language "D'oc" and "On Oil"? No? You have not lost anything ....
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