Age Of Empires III (Mac)

Age of Empires is known for being a state-of-the-art real time strategy (RTS) series. And this is the best installment in the series so far. It is well balanced, so all the different kinds of troops has both strengths and weaknesses - which encourages different strategies and styles of play. Just what you wan't from a RTS. The feel is good, and both graphics and sound is stunning. And it has a very rich and interesting storyline for the single player campaign.

I've played it on both Mac and PC, and it translates very well. A clear recommendation for all RTS enthusiasts.

Let me clear things up here - Age of Empires III is a slightly simplified game when compared to it's predecessor, the Age of Kings, but that doesn't mean it's a bad game. It is by far one of my favourite games... the civilizations are balanced and the online is great (and active). It manages to be easy to learn, but hard to master. I have been playing for about 6 months now and have only recently worked out how to properly use the British to their full advantage. Great stuff.

Pros

Beautiful graphics
Balanced gameplay
Epic musical score
Challenging online

Cons

Online can cut out and disconnect at times
Doesn't use Ensemble Studios Online as in the PC version

It is perhaps one of Microsoft's crowning achievements in the field of video games. 'Age of Empires' is a series that, like 'Flight Simulator', has continued to expand beyond the early limitations of computer technology and into a field of unprecedented opportunity. This is entirely the case with Age of Empires III - a game that is absolutely a class above everything which preceded it.

With such being the case, faults are hard to elaborate on, and so I'd only be forced to pick on the sometimes unpredictable movement of your battle units. In cramped spaces and areas with rocky/built-up land, your warriors will walk around like headless chickens as they attempt to 'navigate' a small boulder in front of them. Of course, careful planning can avoid this before it gets too bad, but I find it funny to look at more than anything!

Aside from this glitch, the physics are just beautiful for a game that is several years old. It doesn't matter whether your towns people are cutting down trees which shake and fall realistically, or the manner to which your buildings - literally - fall apart in all the right places and right materials from gunfire, its a joy to look at and totally adds to the sense of realism and fun. There is rarely a happier feeling than invading your neighbours territory and watching their buildings 'crumble' apart in all the right ways.

As standard, the game provides feedback for your gameplay with a reward system; the more XP you gain in-game from fighting well or completing tasks, the more opportunities their are for 'shipments' (which provide you with goods whilst in the game). You have the choice of a free play mode that allows you to just set up your game against the computer - ideal if you don't like the story-based principle of gaming and just want to do things your way. From this, you can pick teams, locations and difficulty, so the game is really tailored for you.

Conversely, you can do the normal campaign mode which allows you to compete in an expanding story set across many different levels. I personally don't find this as enjoyable as starting a free play, because you have less control over the narrative and have to wait for the computer to catch up on various tasks.

I play this on my two year old iMac (running OS 10.7 'Lion', Intel Core i5) and it runs flawlessly. I can even set all the graphic options to High and still runs smooth without any kind of lag, although my machine does get very hot... I guess it deserves to be pushed now and again though! If you're concerned about the high prices that third-party sellers (ridiculously) ask, then do scour the web as this game is available to download in full at 2.3GB.

In short, I feel that this is the best Age of Empires game to date and have yet to got bored of it!