Age of Mythology

When Age of Empires II got dethroned big time.

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Arkantos battles a few Cyclops, just one of many mythological units you'll face in AoM.

Without a doubt, Ensemble Studios positioned itself as ane of the premier developers of real-time strategy afterwards Historic period of Empires.  With Age of Mythology, Ensemble dropped the semi-historical settings that fueled the first two Age games in favor of the classical mythology of ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Norse cultures. The master hero of this saga is Arkantos, a young fella who hails from the mythical isle of Atlantis. The story, which parallels to Homer’south Odyssey, begins with Arkantos heading off to fight in the legendary Trojan State of war. It seems that Poseidon is ticked off at the Atlanteans, and the only way to placate him is if the war in Troy is brought to an end.

Afterward the boxing of Troy, Arkantos wishes to head home, but circumstances nuance his plans and he’s forced to journey across most of the known (and unknown) world on mythology’southward most tortuous route back to Atlantis. Along the way he visits the Underworld, Egypt, Circe’s Island, and the Norse lands of Northern Europe earlier he finally manages to get dorsum to Atlantis for the final throwdown.

Equally you’d expect, this kind of ballsy globe-trotting entrada makes for some imaginative settings and situations. The 32 single-thespian missions (not counting the iii tutorial missions) are divided into 3 campaigns â€" Greek, Egyptian, and Norse â€" which also represent the three playable sides. And many of the missions are extremely well-crafted – while the AOE ii levels were sort of drawn-out and tedious, here everything is a lot more dynamic and fun. At times great fun.

22_1The early mission where yous sneak out of the Trojan Horse under the cover of night and allow in the rest of your troops, who quickly raze the metropolis, is a great deal of fun. Another level in Egypt has you fighting over a tedious-moving caravan in what best can be described as a tug of war (Warcraft iii: The Frozen Throne would accept a jab at this great thought as well). Some other highlight is a mission prepare in the Underworld, where y'all take to protect a group of dwarves who are desperately trying to build a new hammer for Thor.

What differentiates Age of Mythology the near from past games is the focus on mythological creatures and powers, although wrapped in a apparent historical tapestry co-ordinate to each civilization. In that location's even a fascinating in-built mini-encyclopedia, which details the game mechanics and historical data on each unit, godly power, edifice and only nigh everything else that'southward selectable.

Because of the setting, interaction with the gods is a regular occurrence and especially plays out during the iv historic period upgrades. Depending on the mission, you tin can choose to worship one of 2 pocket-sized gods, and your selection determines which special units, upgrades, and god powers volition be available, adding a wonderful fleck of strategic depth. For example, if you’re playing a mission wherein water is a factor, you’ll want to option a minor god that gives yous a water-based myth beast, such every bit the Kraken, which you lot can then summon to obliterate an enemy fleet. Defensive players can vouch for gods that enable healing, strengthen buildings or reward them with a "Vault of Plenty" that streams a steady flow of resource to whomever controls it.

Later each age upgrade you’re given a god ability, with a maximum of four per mission. Again, these powers â€" which range from swarms of locusts to massive asteroid attacks that flatten stretches of land â€" help eternalize a particular strategy. And if you pick your god powers carefully, you lot tin can apply them one after another to decimate an enemy’southward forces.

In terms of military units, the three playable sides provide a bevy of unique men, heroes, and mythological units. Each side has its ain standard military grunts, such as spearmen or the equivalent, just the real fun comes from using hero and balanced myth units. And this residual is particularly noteworthy. A powerful myth animate being will make short work of the game’south standard grunts, but since heroes get an assail bonus when fighting myth creatures, it’southward extremely important to take a couple of heroes mixed in with your fighting force.

You buy these mythical units and godly upgrades with the help of 'Favor', which essentially works as a resources gathered past peasants when they pray at a temple (actually each civilisation gains Favor differently – for example the Norse proceeds information technology through combat, while the Egyptians build monuments). Favor takes place of AOE's traditional Stone mined at quarries, simply it's an interesting trade-off (towers and walls are built using Golden now).

2_1In addition to the single-player entrada, you go 21 random skirmish maps (each map has specific elements, such every bit a primary river, just randomizes its location) that tin likewise be used in multiplay. AoM has iv multiplayer modes â€" Supremacy, Conquest, Deathmatch, and Lightningâ€" and the game is playable over a LAN or online via Gameranger. Of the four multiplayer types, Deathmatch will be the near familiar to Age of Kings players, while Supremacy and Conquest are variations on the “destroy everything in sight†theme.

You'll have a great fourth dimension playing Historic period of Mythology. The campaign, whose levels are diverse and impact on some creative designs, should take yous at to the lowest degree a week to complete and will offering a off-white challenge to players of various skill levels, and online multiplayer is equally fun. It’s elementary to recommend for fans of Ensemble’due south Age of Empires games, or for any RTS fanatic.

System Requirements: P III 450 MHz, 128 MB RAM, one.5 GB HDD, 32 MB Video, Win 98

  • Buy Game:
    shop.steampowered.com
    world wide web.amazon.com
  • Download Demo
    fileplanet.com
  • Customs Website
    aom.heavengames.com
  • Vintage Website
    www.ensemblestudios.com

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