Seeing how I own AOE1, AOE1 - addon, AOE2 and AOE2 - addon, I am considering AOE3. I downloaded the demo and have played it only an hour or two last night. Is there any one else that likes this series that has any comments on 3?

I am a - thinking of a nice way to say this - defensive player. That is I build walls like crazy then wait for attrition to help me win. Not on purpose, of course, I just am not great at speedily keeping track of everything. :D

Anyway, I'll leave it at that...

I have every Age game ever made, including Age of Mythology and the expansion - which you haven't mentioned :P
Age 3 is, to put it simply, a good game. It's got as many new good ideas as all the previous age games had back in their day.
At the moment its still full of techincal bugs, and if you're planning to play online, you won't have much luck.

The campaign, of which I've played about 30% until now, is pretty good. Not exceptional, but has good a good plot and the voice acting isn't as bad as in some games.
For skirmish games, there are some things missing... first, its like AoM, you can't choose your map size. It's auto-sized for the number of players. Second, the only type of skirmish game is Supremacy. For some reason, there's no Deathmatch, theres no King of the Hill, wonder race, or anything else... There are, however, random map scripts and scenarios for download on the official community site www.agecommunity.com
Multiplayer is really where it's at though. Find yourself a couple of friends and make a LAN or play by Direct IP. The game's fun value really comes to the front line in multiplayer!

I own number three.
It's worth the price, the civs are balanced, the map editor is awesome, gameplay has several new perks and bonuses.

One problem, it's not much new, it's like AOE2, except with sexy graphics, a colonial setting, and some extra perks thrown in.
Don't get me wrong, if you like the older AOE games, you should definetely go for this one, but if you're looking for much new, you won't find it.

Although I could recommend it for the scenario editor alone.

Buy the complete version, you get to go up to age 5, it adds trains, like 6 more civs, and your homecity can level to a massive point.
Oh, way more random maps than the demo, a few extra play modes, and great multiplay!

The voice acting in AoE 3 really annoys me - all those really poor attempts at British accents get on my nerves. I've only played the campaign (never been any good at multiplayer RTSs - more of a TBS and FPS man) and it's a big improvement, though they still fell into the old traps of having the same old scenarios - hold out for X minutes then go destroy the enemy with your reinforcements, etc (granted, even StarCraft did that, but at least the plot was better :)). Can't speak for the multiplayer. The game still plays a bit fast for me, but I'm not a big fan of the series, so you might like it.

I have never played any campaign in the Age series. This one is no exception but speaking exclussively about its multiplayer I say it is a playable game that I have spend some time on in multiplayer but it lacks lasting appeal.
One of the reason for this might be the enormous amount of bugs that are still in the game (even with the first patch).
The diversity that excists in the different factions is a point in its favour though.

I'm just a single player loner. I get my rear kicked otherwise, so I am content just playing the computer. Not to mention I am on dial up. :D

On AOE 3 the most annoying thing to me (from my limited playing) was the "close up" view that "normal" camera gives you. Even on "Very far" I keep wishing I could see more of the map at once. I want to see the enemy coming before they are attacking me.

OK, this will tell how bad I am, but oh well. I play AOE 2 on "slow" speed and a standard game for me last 3 hours. I'm going to blame it on my optical mouse. I much prefer the analog mouse as the optical mouse misses clicks if I move too fast.

Rise of Nations was fun on easy, but if I increased the difficulty I was not able to win because that game doesn't offer walls.

I use some hotkeys, but not as many as I need to in order to be a good player. I want a game to be fun, not work!

The only thing I don't like is the whole "colonial" setting. Makes it feel like it's ripping off Sid Meier :P

Otherwise, no complaints. Always loved the series (have AoE1+xp, AoE2+xp and AoM+xp) and there's a Portuguese civilization, how can I complain? :D

Dumb question: In the demo there is no way to save a skirmish; you can only resign. Since it takes me soooo long to win, I cannot always finish a game in one sitting. I assume the full version allows you to save instead of resigning.

Any info is appreciated!

:blink:

Yes you can save a skirmish to resume at a later date.

i have all age games and for me the 3 it is the best, but i like mytology too. :whistle: