Age of Empires III is a
real-time strategyReal-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
(RTS) game developed by Microsoft Corporation's
Ensemble StudiosEnsemble Studios was a video game developer initially established in 1995 as an independent company, but was owned by Microsoft from 2001 to 2009, when it was officially disbanded. Ensemble developed many real-time strategy games, including the Age of Empires game series, Age of Mythology, and Halo...
and published by
Microsoft Game StudiosMicrosoft Studios is the video game production wing for Microsoft, responsible for the development and publishing of games for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Games for Windows and Windows Phone platforms. They were established in 2002 as Microsoft Game Studios to coincide with the release of the Xbox, before...
. The Mac version was ported over and developed by
DestineerDestineer is a computer game developer and publisher based in Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 2000 by former Bungie Studios vice-president, Peter Tamte...
's
MacSoft GamesMacSoft Games is a Plymouth, Minnesota, United States-based computer game publisher and porter specializing in porting Microsoft Windows computer games to the Macintosh...
and published by
DestineerDestineer is a computer game developer and publisher based in Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 2000 by former Bungie Studios vice-president, Peter Tamte...
and
MacSoft GamesMacSoft Games is a Plymouth, Minnesota, United States-based computer game publisher and porter specializing in porting Microsoft Windows computer games to the Macintosh...
. The PC Version was released on October 18, 2005 in
North AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and November 4, 2005 in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, while the Mac version was released on November 21, 2006 in
North AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and September 29, 2006 in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. It is the third game of the
Age of Empires series and the sequel to
Age of Empires II: The Age of KingsAge of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft. Released in 1999 for the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems, it was the second game in the Age of Empires series...
. The game portrays the
European colonization of the AmericasThe start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...
, between approximately 1492 and 1850
AD and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
(expanded in
Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs to 1876). There are eight European civilizations to play within the game.
Age of Empires III has made several innovations in the series, in particular with the addition of the "Home City", which combines real-time strategy and
role-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
features. Two
expansion packAn expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
s have been released: the first,
Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs, was released on October 17, 2006, and introduced three
Native AmericanThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
civilizations; the second,
Age of Empires III: The Asian DynastiesAge of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties is the second official expansion pack for real-time strategy video game Age of Empires III developed through a collaboration between Ensemble Studios and Big Huge Games, and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The Mac version was ported over and developed...
, was released on October 23, 2007, and included three
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n civilizations.
Age of Empires III has sold over 2 million copies as of May 2008. As well as achieving favorable
reviewA review is an evaluation of a publication, a product or a service, such as a movie , video game, musical composition , book ; a piece of hardware like a car, home appliance, or computer; or an event or performance, such as a live music concert, a play, musical theater show or dance show...
s, it has received awards, including
GameSpyGameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
's "Best RTS game of 2005", and was one of the best-selling games of 2005. In 2007,
Age of Empires III was the seventh best-selling computer game, with over 313,000 copies sold that year.
An
N-GageThe N-Gage service was Nokia's mobile gaming platform that is available for several Nokia S60 smartphones. It is a follow-up to the N-Gage handheld game console. N-Gage is a part of Nokia's Ovi initiative....
version of the game developed by Glu Mobile was released on April 28, 2009.
Synopsis
Age of Empires III is mostly set in the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
during the colonial era, between circa 1492 and 1850. In the style of previous games of the series, the game requires the player to develop a
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an, Asian , North American or south America nation's colony from a basic settlement to an empire, progressing through "Ages"—stages of technological development—and destroying the enemy's colony. There are two main branches to
gameplayGameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
: the economy, characterized by the collection of resources, and production of civilian units—which usually gather resources; and the military which involves the production of military units, and the conflicts between armies of rival teams or factions.
A match consists of a conflict between two teams or free for all that race to develop a powerful settlement by creating and upgrading units and buildings, with one eventually defeating the other through combat or resignation; the game ends when there is only one player or team left
standingLast man standing is a multiplayer deathmatch gameplay mode featured in the majority of the more recent first-person shooter computer games...
on the map. Along with these typical
real-time strategyReal-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
features, a new addition is the ability of the player to ship troops, buildings, resources and improvements—such as military or economic bonuses—to aid them.
There are three modes of game play: story-based campaigns, single player skirmishes (conflicts between teams), and online multiplayer skirmishes.
Single player skirmishes take place between human players and computer personalities, conforming to rules that are set up before the game. The map,
artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
skill level, and each player's resource gathering speed may be modified.
Artificial intelligence
Age of Empires III allows players to refine strategies against the
artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
by "Building a Deck" to replace Home City shipments with improved alternatives.
Players may further modify the
AIArtificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
's skill level by fixing a "Handicap" percentage against the AI.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer matches can be played through the bundled
Ensemble Studios Online (ESO)Ensemble Studios was a video game developer initially established in 1995 as an independent company, but was owned by Microsoft from 2001 to 2009, when it was officially disbanded. Ensemble developed many real-time strategy games, including the Age of Empires game series, Age of Mythology, and Halo...
utility included in the game or via a direct LAN or IP connection to aoe 3.
Age of Empires III includes a free multiplayer account on Ensemble Studios Online. Similar in function to
Blizzard EntertainmentBlizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
's
Battle.netBattle.net is a gaming service provided by Blizzard Entertainment. Battle.net was launched in November 30, 1996 with the release of Blizzard's action-RPG Diablo. Battle.net was the first online gaming service incorporated directly into the games that make use of it, in contrast to the external...
, ESO allows players to play matches and chat with other players. Each copy of the game supports one ESO account. A difference between other games is that in
Age of Empires III the player is not required to restart the game, or visit a website to either register an account or play a game.
On ESO, the player can establish Home Cities, as in single-player, and is given the default military rank of Conscript. As the player defeats others in multiplayer battles, they can be
promotedA promotion is the advancement of an employee's rank or position in an organizational hierarchy system. Promotion may be an employee's reward for good performance i.e. positive appraisal...
, gradually earning higher ranks, until the highest, General, is achieved. The ranking system is based on a "power rating" system that determines rank based on the difficulty of matches and activity in the game; for instance, more points are awarded for beating a player with a higher-level Home City than the victor. Likewise, more points are deducted for losing to a player with a lower rank. Access to some games can be restricted through the use of the ranking system. For example, in 'Quick Search' mode, the game will match you with a player whose rank is within the chosen parameters.
ESO also supports playing with custom maps, enabling diverse game types such as "cats vs. mice", "fort wars", "gold rush", "pirates of the Caribbean", etc.
Multiplayer matches between Mac OS and Windows clients do not work as the game version is different on each
operating systemAn operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
. This leads to a version mismatch error when attempting to join a match. The current Mac version 1.0.6 is only in sync with the 1.13 Windows version, while the current Windows version is 1.14.
Gameplay
Players begin with a constructed town center or a wagon, an explorer and several settlers (the number of settlers depends on which civilization you are playing with). Players explore the map and begin gathering resources used to build additional units and buildings and to research upgrades or technologies. Actions such as training units, constructing buildings, killing enemy units etc., earn the player experience points. At certain experience point thresholds, players earn shipment cards that may be turned in for shipments from the players Home City, which can include units, an upgrade, or resources. The game progresses similar to most
real-time strategyReal-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
games until one side resigns or is eliminated. Elimination occurs when all of a player's villagers and explorer have been destroyed, regardless of remaining buildings and/or military units.
In
Age of Empires III, the player advances through technological "Ages", representing historical time periods; these provide access to greater improvements, units, and buildings. They include the
Discovery AgeThe Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration and the Great Navigations , was a period in history starting in the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with...
, which represents the discovery and exploration of the Americas by Europeans and allows the player to explore and develop their economy; the
Colonial AgeThe start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...
, which represents the European Expansion into the "New World" and unlocks early military units; the
Fortress AgeFortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
, which represents the fortification of the European colonies, unlocks forts, and allows the player to have a more complete military; the
Industrial AgeThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, which triggers a strong economy, due in part to factories—advanced buildings that automatically produce resources or artillery—and unlocks all units and shipments; and the
Imperial AgeNew Imperialism refers to the colonial expansion adopted by Europe's powers and, later, Japan and the United States, during the 19th and early 20th centuries; expansion took place from the French conquest of Algeria until World War I: approximately 1830 to 1914...
, which unlocks all buildings and upgrades, and allows you to send unit and resource shipments a second time. All Ages cost food and coin to advance to, except the Colonial Age, which only costs food(800). The price of age advancement is incremental, but does not vary between civilizations.
Similar to the "minor gods" system in
Age of MythologyAge of Mythology , is a mythology-based, real-time strategy computer game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios...
,
Age of Empires III uses a "Politician System" to grant bonuses on a successful advancement to another age. When a player chooses to advance to the next age, they are given the choice of two or more "Politicians" that provide them with a different bonus on choosing them. The Politician is given a generalized title from the period that usually reflects the bonus that it gives: for example, "The Naturalist" gives the player four cows. As the player's Home City increases in level, more Politicians are unlocked—at a rate of one for every ten Home City levels—up to level 60.
Civilizations
Age of Empires III allows the player to play as eight different
civilizationCivilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
s:
SpanishThe Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
,
BritishThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
,
FrenchThe French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...
,
PortugueseThe Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
,
DutchThe Dutch Empire consisted of the overseas territories controlled by the Dutch Republic and later, the modern Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century. The Dutch followed Portugal and Spain in establishing an overseas colonial empire, but based on military conquest of already-existing...
,
RussianThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
,
GermanThe German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
and
OttomanThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. Each of the eight civilizations has its own strengths and weaknesses and unique units available only to that civilization. Specific units for each civilization are designated Royal Guard units, receiving greater bonuses on the Guard upgrade in the Industrial Age, but at an increased price. The player can change the name of their Home City, the Explorer name, and is given a pre-named leader from part of the period (for example,
Napoleon BonaparteNapoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
for the French Colonial Empire,
Suleiman the MagnificentSuleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" , for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system...
for
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, and Ivan the Terrible for the Russian Empire). Each civilization has unique shipments to aid its economy and military (for example, the Ottomans are able to order a shipment of
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
for both them and their teammates.)
There are other civilizations playable via the campaign, which include
The Knights of St. JohnThe Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
, John Black's Mercenaries, and the United States of America, which are played as the Spanish, German and British civilizations, respectively, with slight modifications. Non-playable campaign civilizations include the
PiratesPiracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
, Circle of Ossus and
Native AmericansThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, although these civilizations are playable using the Scenario Editor.
Twelve different
tribeA tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
s of Native Americans are in the game as well, but these are not in themselves playable factions. However, players can gain access to unique units and improvements by forming an alliance with the tribes by building a
trading postA trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
at their camps. The native tribes featured are the
AztecThe Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
, Carib,
CherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
,
ComancheThe Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
,
Cree The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
, Inca,
IroquoisThe Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
, Lakota,
MapucheThe Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
, Maya,
NootkaNootka may refer to:* The Nuu-chah-nulth indigenous peoples and their Nuu-chah-nulth language* The place called Nootka Sound* The island known as Nootka Island* The three treaties signed in the 1790s, known as the Nootka Conventions...
,
SeminoleThe Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
and Tupi. Three of these tribes were made playable in the expansion pack
Age of Empires III: The War ChiefsAge of Empires III: The WarChiefs is the first official expansion pack for the real-time strategy game Age of Empires III. It was announced by Ensemble Studios and Microsoft Game Studios on March 7, 2006. The demo version was released October 4, 2006. The full game for PC was released on October...
: the Iroquois, Lakota (under the name
SiouxThe Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
) and Aztecs. These civilizations were removed as the smaller, alliance based tribes and were replaced by the Huron,
CheyenneCheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
and
ZapotecThe Zapotec civilization was an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca of southern Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence shows their culture goes back at least 2500 years...
, respectively. In The Asian Dynasties another three civilizations were added, along with several new native tribes. The civilizations are the Indians, the Japanese, and the Chinese.
- Spanish — (Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
or Castille, Queen Isabella IIsabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
) The Spanish have good hand infantry and cavalry available, and are flexible early in the game due to their faster Home City shipments. The Spanish explorer can train War Dogs since the Discovery Age, when soldiers are not trainable. Their unique units are the Rodelero, Lancer and Missionary. Their best units are the Espada Rodelero, Garrochista Lancer, the War Dog and Tercio Pikeman.
- British — (United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Queen Elizabeth IElizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
) The British build Manors, which are 35% more expensive than normal houses, but spawn one free settler each upon construction, instead of the usual houses; this speeds up early game construction and gathering. Their military is more focused on the later game, with a stronger economy in the early game. Their unique units are the Longbowman, which boast the longest range in the game, and the Rocket, also boasting quite a far range. Their best units are the Redcoat Musketeer and King's Life Guard Hussar.
- French — (France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Napoleon) The French train Coureurs des bois, stronger villagers which may eventually double as infantry. This civilization can have many shipments related to Natives, and so it is the strongest at forging native alliances. The French train the strongest cavalry unit of the game, the Cuirassier (at the cost of 3 population space). Their unique units are the Cuirassier and the Coureur des Bois. Their best units are the Gendarme Cuirassier and Voltigeur Skirmisher. (It is also interesting that while the flag of the French civilisation represents the French monarchy, the House of BourbonThe House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
, their commander, Napoleon, was not emperor of France until 1804, 15 years after the Storming of the BastilleThe storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint...
and the end of Bourbon rule in France.)
- Portuguese — (Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Henry the Navigator) The Portuguese receive a free covered wagon on each age advancement, which can build a town center. This civilization has extra exploring facilities, such as the option of shipping additional explorers and the "spyglass" ability which can reveal unexplored territory. They have a balanced military, which is supplemented by a strong navy. Their unique units are the Cassador (similar to a skirmisher) and the Organ Gun. Their best units are the Jinete Dragoon and Guerreiro Musketeer.
- Dutch — (Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Maurice of Nassau) The Dutch settlers cost coin instead of food, making them dependent on this resource from the very start of the game; this disadvantage is, however, countered with the revenue produced by Banks, coin-generating buildings unique to the Dutch. Their unique units are the Envoy, Ruyter and Fluyt. Their best units are the Carabineer Ruyter and Nassau Halberdier.
- Russians — (Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Ivan the Terrible) The Russians train numerous units in groups, which speeds up production early in the game. This gives them the capacity to overwhelm other players with large armies. This is supplemented by the low cost of their military, and for the most basic units, an almost instant build time. Their unique units are the Strelet, Cossack, and Oprichnik. Their best units are the Tartar Cavalry Archer and the Pavlov Grenadier. Late game units can rapidly create fortifications.
- Germans — (Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, Frederick the Great) The Germans represent all of the Central European kingdoms of the time and start out with settler wagons instead of the normal European settlers. The German Home City only ships settler wagons which are equivalent to two regular settlers. Their military develops steadily because Uhlan cavalry are given as a bonus along with most shipments. Also, the Germans can ship mercenaries sooner than any other civilization. Their unique units are the Doppelsoldner, Uhlan, War Wagon and Settler Wagon. Their best units are the Prussian Needle Gunner, the Skirmisher,Czapka, and the Uhlan. Germans are very good with longer games because of their dedicated settler wagons that build faster, and work better than the average settler.
- Ottomans — (Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, Suleiman the MagnificentSuleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" , for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system...
) The Ottoman economy is slow but constant, due to the fact that settlers are continually produced automatically at no cost but have the disadvantage of having limited settler production. The Ottoman military makes heavy use of artillery units, many of them unique, such as the Great Bombard, the most powerful artillery unit in the game. The Ottomans lack light infantry: the only infantry they can train is the JanissaryThe Janissaries were infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...
, a more powerful type of musketeer. Their unique units are the Janissary, Abus GunThe Abus gun is an early form of howitzer or more likely a bazooka created by the Ottoman empire. They were small, but often too heavy to carry, and many were equipped with a type of tripod...
, SpahiSipahi was the name of several Ottoman cavalry corps...
, Great Bombard, Galley and ImamAn imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
, and their best units are the Gardener Hussar and Baratcu Grenadier. The Ottomans specialize in early game combat because of their quick gain in economy. The Ottomans are also the only civilization that can make gunpowder infantry units at the very start of the game.
Home Cities
Age of Empires III is the first game in the series to introduce the "Home City" concept. The Home City functions as a second city, a powerhouse that is separated from the active game. It cannot be attacked or destroyed, although an Imperial Age upgrade called "Blockade" stops the player's opponents from receiving Home City shipments. Similar to a
role-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
character, the Home City is persistent between games, meaning that upgrades gained through separate games can be applied and stay applied for as long as that particular city exists. Multiple Home Cities can be created and maintained, although each supports only one civilization.
The Home City is composed of five main buildings from which the player chooses their new shipment cards and customizations: The New World Trading Company, the Military Academy, the Cathedral, the Manufacturing Plant and the Harbor. Players can also access the Home City during a match by clicking on the "Home City" button represented on the
HUDIn video gaming, the HUD is the method by which information is visually relayed to the player as part of a game's user interface...
as the nation's
flagA flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...
. The Home City functions differently inside a game. Instead of customizing a Home City or choosing cards, a player can ship cards chosen before the game (and added to a deck).
During the course of a game, players gain XP (experience) by completing actions such as constructing buildings, training units, killing enemies and collecting treasures. Whenever a certain amount of experience points are gained, the player can make use of a shipment from their respective Home City. Shipments slow down as the game goes on, since more XP is required with every consecutive shipment. This XP is also added directly to the home city and is collected over multiple games, allowing it to level up over time. Players can gear their cards into three different combinations: "Boom" (economic combinations), "
RushIn video games, rushing is analogous to the human wave attack in real-world ground warfare, in which speed and surprise are used to overwhelm and/or cripple an enemy before they achieve effective buildups of sizable defensive and/or expansionist capabilities....
" (military combinations), or "
TurtleTurtling is a gameplay strategy that emphasizes heavy defense. Ostensibly, turtling minimizes risk to the turtling player while baiting opponents to take risks in trying to overcome the defenses. In practice, however, games are often designed to punish turtling through various game mechanics...
" (defensive combinations). The first few cards chosen are automatically added to the player's portfolio, where it can be copied onto a deck for use in a game. Later in the game, cards have to be manually chosen because of the limit of cards in one deck. Most cards are available to all civilizations, but some are unique to one. If the Home City being played has more than one deck, the player must select which to use when the first shipment is sent. During a game, players keep this initial deck; this feature encourages players to build decks that are customized for the map being played on, or that counter other civilizations. The decks support twenty cards. As the Home City improves by level, you may gain an extra card slot for the decks for every 10 levels.
Units
The units of
Age of Empires III are based, as in previous iterations of the game, around
militaryA military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
classes of the historic
time periodEarly modern warfare is associated with the start of the widespread use of gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive, including artillery and handguns such as the arquebus and later the musket, and for this reason the era is also summarized as the age of gunpowder...
. The player controls a variety of
civilianA civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
and military units, and uses them to expand and develop their
civilizationCivilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
, as well as wage war against their opponents. The base unit of a game is the "
SettlerA settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. Settlers are generally people who take up residence on land and cultivate it, as opposed to nomads...
", responsible for gathering resources and constructing buildings, in order to improve the
economyAn economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
of the civilization. The number of units a player can control in a scenario is limited by a "population limit", a common
real-time strategyReal-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
game mechanicGame mechanics are constructs of rules intended to produce an enjoyable game or gameplay. All games use mechanics; however, theories and styles differ as to their ultimate importance to the game...
. Each unit that is produced increases the population count to a maximum of 200. Basic units such as
settlerA settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. Settlers are generally people who take up residence on land and cultivate it, as opposed to nomads...
s and
infantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
count as 1, but others, including most cavalry and mercenary infantry count as 2. More powerful units, especially
artilleryOriginally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
or mercenary cavalry, can count for a population as high as 7. Native warriors, explorers, tamed and grazing animals,
hot air balloonThe hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air...
s and
warshipA warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
s do not count towards the population limit, but generally have a build limit, allowing the player to deploy only a certain number of those specific units at a time.
MilitaryA military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
units are used for
combatCombat, or fighting, is a purposeful violent conflict meant to establish dominance over the opposition, or to terminate the opposition forever, or drive the opposition away from a location where it is not wanted or needed....
against other players.
InfantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
are the cheapest unit type and all are land based, using weapons ranging from crossbows to early
musketA musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
s to more advanced
rifleA rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
s. The heavier artillery classes also make use of ranged weapons, primarily
cannonA cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
and mortars; however, there is also artillery armed with
grenadeA grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
s. Mounted troops are also present, and are armed with either
hand weaponsA melee weapon is any weapon that does not involve a projectile — that is, both the user and target of the weapon are in contact with it simultaneously in normal use...
, such as
swordA sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
s, or ranged weapons, such as
pistolWhen distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
s. These units also have significant features, such as
skirmisherSkirmishers are infantry or cavalry soldiers stationed ahead or alongside a larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish line to harass the enemy.-Pre-modern:...
s which do bonus damage against infantry, and ranged cavalry does bonus damage against other cavalry. A new unit introduced in
Age of Empires III is the "Explorer", which is chiefly responsible for scouting and gathering treasure but is also capable of building Trading Posts and has a special attack, used at the player's command. This unit cannot be killed, but can be rendered unconscious, to be revived when friendly units are in range; also, a ransom can be paid to have it reappear at the player's town center. This ransom is credited to the player that disabled him, when applicable. Some shipment cards increase the explorer's effectiveness in gameplay; for example, providing it with "war dogs" can aid scouting and combat. In
Age of Empires III,
shipSince the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
s are available on some maps; this military class makes use of
cannonA cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
or
flaming arrowsAn arrow is a shafted projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.An arrow usually consists of a shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other.- History:...
. Some seagoing units also have the capacity to collect resources, such as food and coin, while others can transport units.
MercenariesA mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
may aid the player in their campaigns in the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. Mercenaries are not trained like standard units; instead they can be shipped from the Home City or hired from saloons for large amounts of coin, so that only economically powerful players can employ them. Most are powerful, but hiring them does not provide experience points, so mercenaries cannot effectively replace the player's standard army, and can negatively affect a player's economy if used excessively. In most cases, a selection of
Native American tribesThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
populate game maps, and support their own brand of military units that can be trained once an alliance has been formed. Some native American military units use
mêléeMelee , generally refers to disorganized close combat involving a group of fighters. A melee ensues when groups become locked together in combat with no regard to group tactics or fighting as an organized unit; each participant fights as an individual....
weapons, a few use indigenous ranged weapons, such as
bows and arrowsArchery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
or atl-atls, while still others adopt ranged European gunpowder weapons. These units usually pertain to the infantry or cavalry classes, but, on maps with water, canoes are also available to the player through the dock.
Infantry Units include Pikeman, Halberdier, Rodelero,
DoppelsöldnerDoppelsöldner were Landsknechts in 16th-century Germany who were prepared to fight in the front line, taking an extra risk, in exchange for double payment. The stated ratio was that one Landsknecht in four would be a Doppelsöldner...
,
JanissaryThe Janissaries were infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...
,
MusketeerA musketeer was an early modern type of infantry soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern armies, particularly in Europe. They sometimes could fight on horseback, like a dragoon or a cavalryman...
, Minuteman, Crossbowman, Longbowman, Strelet,
SkirmisherSkirmishers are infantry or cavalry soldiers stationed ahead or alongside a larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish line to harass the enemy.-Pre-modern:...
, and Cassador.
Cavalry Units are
HussarHussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....
,
CuirassierCuirassiers were mounted cavalry soldiers equipped with armour and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. They were the successors of the medieval armoured knights...
,
CossackCossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
,
UhlanUhlans were Polish light cavalry armed with lances, sabres and pistols. The title was later used by lancer regiments in the Russian, Prussian, and Austrian armies....
,
LancerA lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used in mounted warfare by the Assyrians as early as and subsequently by Greek, Persian, Gallic, Han-Chinese, nomadic and Roman horsemen...
,
OprichnikAn oprichnik was a member of an organization established by Tsar Ivan the Terrible to govern the division of Russia known as the Oprichnina ....
,
SpahiSpahis were light cavalry regiments of the French army recruited primarily from the indigenous populations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The modern French Army retains one regiment of Spahis as an armoured unit, with personnel now recruited in mainland France...
,
DragoonThe word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
, Cavalry Archer, Ruyter, and
War wagonThe war wagon was a medieval development during the Hussite Wars around 1420 by Hussite forces rebelling in Bohemia.It was a heavy wagon given protective sides with firing slits and heavy firepower from either a cannon or a force of hand-gunners and crossbowmen, supported by infantry using pikes...
.
Artillery units are Grenadier,
FalconetThe falconet or falcon was a light cannon developed in the late 15th century. During the Middle Ages guns were decorated with engravings of reptiles, birds or beasts depending on their size. For example, a culverin would often feature snakes, as the handles on the early cannons were often decorated...
,
Abus GunThe Abus gun is an early form of howitzer or more likely a bazooka created by the Ottoman empire. They were small, but often too heavy to carry, and many were equipped with a type of tripod...
, Rabauld,
MortarA mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
,
CulverinA culverin was a relatively simple ancestor of the musket, and later a medieval cannon, adapted for use by the French in the 15th century, and later adapted for naval use by the English in the late 16th century. The culverin was used to bombard targets from a distance. The weapon had a...
, Dardanelles Gun, and
RocketThe Congreve Rocket was a British military weapon designed and developed by Sir William Congreve in 1804.The rocket was developed by the British Royal Arsenal following the experiences of the Second, Third and Fourth Mysore Wars. The wars fought between the British East India Company and the...
.
Buildings
Buildings play a major role in gameplay, as they are used for training civilian and military units, researching improvements, supporting population, providing structural defense or as resource providers. The buildings portrayed in
Age of Empires III resemble the architectural design of that era. All of the games in the series share several buildings, including the Town Center and Docks. The appearance and attributes of a building change as the player advances through the Ages, and some civilizations have their own unique buildings. The appearance of these buildings depends on the civilization. Some buildings can only be built a certain times like the defensive towers.
There are certain architectural styles present in the game; architectural styles determine the appearance of in-game buildings. Each civilization is automatically assigned its architectural style. These three architectural styles are the Western European, which consists of classical styled wooden buildings and is shared by the
BritishGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
,
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and
DutchThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
; the Eastern European, which consists of wooden and straw structures and is shared by the
GermansGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and
RussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
ns, and the Mediterranean, which consists of buildings made of stucco cement and dry brick, which is shared by the
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
,
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and
OttomansTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
Plot
The story-based campaign mode consists of related scenarios with preset objectives, such as destroying a given building. In
Age of Empires III, the campaign follows the fictional Black family in a series of three "Acts", which divide the story arc into three generations. All three acts are narrated by Amelia Black (
Tasia ValenzaTasia Valenza is an American actress who has most recently found acclaim as a voice actor.- Television :...
).
Instead of playing as one of the standard civilizations, the player takes command of a special civilization that is linked to the character or period that each Act portrays.
Act I: Blood
During Act I, the player assumes command of the Knights of St. John, which resembles the Spanish civilization (even though the faction played is actually Maltese). The Spanish had numerous colonies in the area played throughout the Act.
Set in the late 16th century, the first act of the single-player campaign begins with the player in the role of Morgan Black—of the Knights of Saint John—defending the last stronghold on
MaltaMalta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
from Sahin "The Falcon" of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
(in a telling of the
Great Siege of MaltaThe Siege of Malta took place in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire invaded the island, then held by the Knights Hospitaller .The Knights, together with between 4-5,000 Maltese men,...
). Morgan is ordered by his superior Alain Magnan to hold Sahin on the beach, which he manages to do until the Ottomans bring up their great bombards. Morgan then lights a signal fire to call in supporting
cavalryCavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
led by Alain Magnan, who drive the Turks back.
Using a captured Ottoman cannon, Morgan and Alain then drive the Ottomans from Malta and detonate Ottoman weapon caches in the nearby caves. Inside they discover that the Ottomans were really interested in a hidden stone library telling the story of the Lake of the Moon and the secret society called the Circle of Ossus who seek it. Alain orders Morgan to sail to the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
to search for the Lake, but Morgan is attacked by the Pirate Elizabet "Lizzie" Ramsey and is forced to land in the
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. After re-engaging and defeating Lizzie, Morgan's men find some navigation charts which guide them safely to
MexicoYucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....
.
Here Morgan confronts Sahin and the Ottomans searching for the Lake and destroys the Ottoman base. However the Spanish conquistador Francisco Juan Delgado de Leon captures Sahin and some other Turks before Morgan can. Morgan is then forced to fight and defeat the Spanish, who are attacking Morgan's new allies, the Aztecs. After his battle to defend the Aztecs, Morgan realizes that Delgado and the Spanish were after the map to the Lake of the Moon disguised as the mosaic in the Aztecs' town square. The mosaic shows the Lake of the Moon being in
FloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Morgan sets sail for Florida, hoping to beat the Spanish there, but his fleet is damaged by a hurricane and he is forced to dock in
CubaHavana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
. There he earns the respect of Lizzie the Pirate and strikes a deal, promising Lizzie the Spanish fleets gold if she takes him to Florida.
In Florida, Morgan and Lizzie are met by Alain Magnan, who orders Morgan to capture the Spanish treasure ships while he rushes ahead to capture the lake. Together Morgan and Lizzie capture the fleet, killing Delgado in the process, and capture Sahin. Sahin tells Morgan that the Circle believes the Lake of the Moon is the
Fountain of YouthThe Fountain of Youth is a legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks of its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted across the world for thousands of years, appearing in writings by Herodotus, the Alexander romance, and the stories of Prester John...
and that his intention from the beginning was to prevent the Circle from obtaining the Fountain.
Alain Magnan returns from the Lake and orders Morgan to execute his native allies and Sahin as heathens, but both Sahin and Lizzie prove to Morgan that Alain is actually the leader of the Circle of Ossus. Therefore, the Knight, the Turk and the Pirate decide to work together to destroy the Fountain of Youth to stop the Circle's plans for domination of the New World. Upon reaching the Lake of the Moon, the group captures and retains an enormous stationary cannon called a "Fixed Gun". Using the Fixed Gun, Lizzie's fleet of fire ships made from captured treasure ships loaded with Sahin's explosives, and Morgan's ground forces holding off the Circle's elite Boneguard, they destroy the Fountain. As damage to the Fountain increases, Alain Magnan personally leads a force of Boneguard in a counterattack and is killed during the fighting. After the Fountain is destroyed and the Circle defeated, Sahin returns to his own country, and Lizzie, with all her Spanish gold sunk to the bottom of the lake, leaves for the Caribbean (although it is hinted that she reunites with Morgan several years later). Morgan is last seen wondering about the significance of the Fountain and whether it really was the Fountain of Youth and is seen refilling his empty canteen from the water of the lake.
Act II: Ice
During Act II, the player plays as John Black's
MercenariesA mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
, which is modeled after a cross between the French and German civilizations. The French were involved in the fur trade at the time, and German mercenaries were in great use during this time.
In the mid-eighteenth century, Morgan's grandson, John Black, and his
MohawkMohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
friend Kanyenke are on their way through the Carolinas to Brunswick with their band of mercenaries after being called for by the colony's governor, John's uncle, Stuart Black. After defending the colony against
CherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
raiders, John and Kanyenke attack the Cherokee war camps, forcing the Cherokee to arrange a peace settlement. But while John, Kanyenke, and most of the colony's garrison are away at the negotiations both they and Brunswick are attacked by a British army under General Warwick, who capture the town. Warwick captures Stuart and begins questioning him about the location of the Lake of the Moon. John and Kanyenke return and drive Warwick's forces from Brunswick, but Warwick and Stuart are gone. John realizes that the Circle of Ossus has returned. Kanyenke believes that his sister, Nonahkee could be in danger, too, and the pair leave for New England. Kanyenke's suspicions prove well founded and they confront Warwick again when he attacks Nonahkee's village hoping to extract John's location from her. After the battle it is revealed that John Black and Nonahkee are in love, but are keeping it a secret from Kanyenke until a more peaceful time.
John and Kanyenke then take their mercenaries in pursuit of Warwick's fleeing army, and ally with the
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in the
Seven Years' WarThe Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
against Warwick. When
Colonel George WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
tells them that Warwick is a renegade and has been hunted by the British as well, John agrees to track him down for the British. John leads his mercenaries and Washington's forces and destroys Warwick's base in the
Great LakesThe Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
region. The presence of the Circle of Ossus' Boneguard there prove to John the existence of the Circle and that Warwick is the Circle's leader. In the ruins of the Circle's base John finds the decapitated body of his uncle Stuart. John then demands that Nonahkee be kept at home while they pursue Warwick, who has again escaped and fled to the Rocky Mountains. Kanyenke agrees and reveals that he knows about John's relationship with Nonahkee. He tells him that he would not have chosen John as her husband, but he accepts it because he knows that she decides who she loves.
John and Kanyenke then set out to follow Warwick, first earning the respect of the
Great PlainsThe Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
tribes by good deeds and helping to defend them against Warwick's forces, then intercept Warwick's supply train and destroy a fortified Circle base in the mountains. They soon discover that Warwick and his soldiers have fled even farther west, to act as a checkpoint for a Russian army coming down from Alaska. They realize that the Circle plans to capture British and French colonies and towns while their soldiers are at war with one another. With the help of some miners, John and Kanyenke bring down large rock bridges to stop the Russians' large cannons from getting through. John then sends Kanyenke and the remainder of his mercenaries back east as he plants explosives to cause an avalanche and bury the Russians in the mountains. In the end, as John is setting up the dynamite, Warwick and several Boneguard approach him. Warwick attempts to kill John but when the Circle soldiers shoot at him, John dodges the bullets, jumps to the trigger, and pushes it, detonating the mountainside, killing himself, the soldiers, and Warwick, and causing an avalanche. The avalanche buries the Russians and sets the Circle of Ossus back so far that they cause no problems for many years.
By spring Kanyenke had returned to his village, where he learned that his sister had given birth to John's son Nathaniel, whom he began to help raise.
Act III: Steel
During Act III, the player plays as the U.S. civilization (only available in the campaign), which resembles the British civilization.
In 1847, the narrative shifts to Amelia Black, the granddaughter of John Black and heiress owner of The Falcon Company (possibly named after Sahin), a railroad company whose sights are set on expanding new railroad operations in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
since the compensation given by the British and Americans for John Black's sacrifice has been exhausted by John's son Nathaniel financing the
Continental ArmyThe Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
during the Revolutionary War.
After defeating a rival railroad company and laying track to supply the US Cavalry near the Mexican border, Amelia meets a
FrenchThe French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
prospector named Pierre Beaumont who helps her and US Calvarly commander, Major Cooper, defeat a
MexicanThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
army attacking a fort. He then lures Amelia to a mine in Colorado where a surprise visit from an aged Kanyenke, who has brought Cooper and the cavalry with him, reveals Beaumont as the leader of Circle of Ossus. Amelia, Kanyenke, and Cooper chase Beaumont through the mines, where they find a map to the Lake of the Moon.
The three travel to Florida, but find that the Lake has dried up and is now a swamp filled with gold from the sunken treasure fleet. There they destroy a Circle base in the swamp. Cooper finds and attempts to capture Beaumont, but Beaumont commands two wolves to attack him. Cooper shoots one of them with his pistol, but the other kills him. Amelia, now wanting to avenge Cooper, learns from the local Seminoles that there is an Inca city in
Pacamayo ValleyPacamayo Valley is a valley in the Peruvian Andes. It is where the last Inca city was located....
where several barrels of the Fountain's water have been stored.
Amelia and Kanyenke immediately sail to
South AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, where they help
Simón BolívarSimón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
defeat the Spanish. Bolívar offers them guides and, with the Circle's army close behind they make a dangerous passage through the stormy
AndesThe Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
and discover the Inca city in Pacamayo Valley. After helping to defend the city from the Circle in a hardfought battle, Amelia finds that Beaumont has once again escaped, this time with several barrels of the Fountain's water.
Amelia and Kanyenke next fight the Circle at their last stronghold in Cuba, and after allying with the Spanish colony of
HavanaHavana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
and awaiting the arrival of the U.S. Navy, they destroy the Ossuary and the
fixed gunsIn military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
guarding it. As the battle is ending, Amelia and Kanyenke pass under an archway in which Beaumont is concealed. Beaumont jumps down and attempts to stab Amelia but Kanyenke pushes her out of the way. All three tumble to the ground. Beaumont charges at Amelia, about to stab her, but when Beaumont gets near, Amelia kicks him and Beaumont is pushed back. He quickly charges at her again but she grabs her shotgun and shoots him. She later uses the Circle's stored treasure to revive the Falcon Company, and succeeds in building railroads to the west coast.
During the credits, there is a final cut scene between Amelia and an Old Coot first introduced earlier in the campaign. At first, his comments regarding how her family must be proud of her seem out of place—then he makes a reference to the Circle and how she was able to defeat them in only one lifetime, hinting that he is indeed the original Morgan Black. As the Old Coot walks away, his voice grows deeper with a more exaggerated Scottish accent, further supporting this idea. It appears he has lived longer than the average person because he drank from the Fountain of Youth after Act I. Amelia then asks what he just said, he replies with a knowing, "Don't miss your train," and then he walks away.
Audio
The Age of Empires III Original Soundtrack features an original musical score composed by Ensemble Studios musicians Stephen Rippy and Kevin McMullan, whose previous work includes other games in the
Age of Empires series as well as
Age of MythologyAge of Mythology , is a mythology-based, real-time strategy computer game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios...
. It was released on November 11, 2005 by Sumthing Else Music Works. Stephen Rippy, music and sound director at Ensemble Studios, said, "Age of Empires III is a game with an epic topic — it covers the colonization of the Americas over a period of some three hundred years, so it needed to have an epic-sounding score to match. Using a full orchestra and choir as well as some more period-inspired instrumentation, the music follows the story of Morgan Black and his descendants as they battle the Circle of Ossus for a foothold in the New World." The soundtrack also features a bonus DVD that includes fourteen tracks remixed in 5.1 surround, a behind-the-scenes video of the studio session, the
Age of Empires III cinematic trailer and five exclusive bonus tracks.
Technical features
Age of Empires III builds on and introduces new features to the
Age of MythologyAge of Mythology , is a mythology-based, real-time strategy computer game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios...
engineA game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
. One new feature is the inclusion of the
HavokHavok Physics is a physics engine developed by Irish company Havok. It is designed primarily for video games, and allows for real-time collision and dynamics of rigid bodies in three dimensions. It provides multiple types of dynamic constraints between rigid bodies , and has a highly optimized...
physics simulation
middlewareMiddleware is computer software that connects software components or people and their applications. The software consists of a set of services that allows multiple processes running on one or more machines to interact...
engine on the Windows version and the similar
PhysXPhysX is a proprietary realtime physics engine middleware SDK developed by Ageia with the purchase of ETH Zurich spin-off NovodeX in 2004...
engine on Mac OS X. This means that many events such as building destruction and tree falls will not be pre-created
animationAnimation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
s, but will be calculated according to the physics engine, in an innovation for the series. Other graphical features of the game include bloom lighting and support for pixel shader 3.0.
Release history
Following the announcement of the game on January 4, 2005, a
trialA game demo is a freely distributed demonstration or preview of an upcoming or recently released video game. Demos are typically released by the game's publisher to help consumers get a feel of the game before deciding whether to buy the full version....
version was released on September 7, 2005. This contained a cut-down version of the game, introducing new features, such as two campaign scenarios, two random map scenarios (
New EnglandNew England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
and
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
) and access to two civilizations (British and Spanish), and a variety of
modificationsMod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
. An updated demo version was made available with the game's release on September 22, 2005.
The release of the game on September 22, 2005 saw two separate editions being made available. The standard edition included the game and manual, a
collector's editionThe terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
version in a presentation box that includes the official soundtrack, extra documentation, a hardback book titled
Art of Empires that contains concept art and 3D renders from the game and a DVD entitled
The Making of Age of Empires III.
The release of the game has been followed by a series of patches that have fixed minor
bugsA software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
in the software or added new features.
Ensemble Studios has released an expansion for the game named
Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs which was released on October 17, 2006. It contains three new native civilizations that can be completely controlled: The Iroquois Confederation, the
Great Sioux NationThe Great Sioux Nation is a general term sometimes applied to the Sioux. The Great Sioux Nation is divided into three linguistically and regionally based groups and several subgroups:# Lakota...
, and the
AztecThe Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
s. New content for existing European civilizations, maps and gameplay additions (such as the "revolution" feature, in which players can "
revoltA revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
" from their mother country and start an active military coup in the game) was added. Both the original game and the first expansion were made available in a single "gold" edition on October 23, 2007.
A second expansion pack,
Age of Empires III: The Asian DynastiesAge of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties is the second official expansion pack for real-time strategy video game Age of Empires III developed through a collaboration between Ensemble Studios and Big Huge Games, and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The Mac version was ported over and developed...
, was announced on May 18, 2007 and features three Asian civilizations: the Japanese, Chinese and Indians. It was released on October 23, 2007.
A
Mac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
portIn computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
of the game was released on November 13, 2006 by MacSoft, followed by the first expansion on June 18, 2007.
On November 21, 2010 Microsoft sold the game including its two expansion packs as a part of its relaunch of its Games for Windows Live platform for 10 cents or 10 Microsoft points. The overwhelming and unanticipated demand created a shortage of account keys leaving some of those who had purchased the game through the promotion unable to install the game. Microsoft remedied this issue by assuring all customers who purchased the game that account keys would be generated with in one week and automatically uploaded to each profile. As a result of this promotion the overall sales of the game have sharply increased.
Reception
Age of Empires III was well received by critics and reviewers. The game received an average score of 82%, and is the one-hundred-and-seventeenth most popular personal computer game, according to
Game RankingsGameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
.
Age of Empires III was listed as the eighth best-selling PC game of 2005, and over two million copies of it had been sold by May 2007.
GameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
pointed out that "Age of Empires III has some very big shoes to fill," and
GameSpyGameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
remarked that it "may not redefine real-time strategy gaming, but it sets the bar so high that we will be comparing games to this for years."
IGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
also commented on the game, saying "Age of Empires III is a superbly balanced and polished game," and that "Discounting a few niggles in the interface, the whole presentation is rock solid."
Graphics
The game's visuals were highly praised by reviewers. In a preview, IGN said that "After seeing the screenshots, our jaws hit the floor at the amount of detail," while in their review,
1UP.com1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
described it as "one of the most beautiful games you will put on your computer for the foreseeable future;" GameSpy agreed, stating, "
Age IIIs graphics are unmatched in the strategy genre." GameSpot also admired the graphics, but had a negative comment as well; they said, "Were it not for the awkward unit behavior...
Age of Empires III would look truly amazing." GameSpy awarded
Age of Empires III the "Best Graphics" award at GameSpy's "Game of the Year 2005", mentioning that the graphics engine boasted "all the high-end technology you had normally find in
first-person shooterFirst-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
s."
Sound effects
The in-game audio was also commented on. GameZone praised the game's sound effects, saying that "you will feel the explosions of the cannon balls, the muskets firing their endless volleys, and the destruction of a building. It all sounds extremely realistic, and makes the game come that much more alive."
EurogamerEurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
said "AoE3...sounds fantastic," while Game Revolution mentioned that "The ambient sounds, music and voice work all suit the colonial theme." However, IGN was less impressed, saying that the sound was "Good enough...but does not stand out."
Single-player campaign
Reviewers were divided about the single-player campaign. GameSpot thought it was "standard for a real-time strategy game", but also complained that it had "less-than-stellar voice work and awkward cutscenes;" GameSpy agreed that "Age of Empires IIIs campaign is not revolutionary", but thought that "the voice acting is great." IGN praised the campaign's story, in that it gave the player a "nice sense of purpose"; they thought "The 24-mission campaign is very well designed." Eurogamer said the campaign lacked originality, stating, though "well-written and imaginatively framed," the campaign "offers exactly the same kind of challenges that RTS campaigns have been offering for years;" Game Revolution disliked the campaign more than the other reviewers. Comparing it to
Age of Empires IIs campaign, they said: "The plot actually got worse.
Age of Empires III...avoids all the interesting and prickly issues like genocide, epidemics and slavery, instead subbing in a wimpy tale of a family destined to protect the Holy Grail from a Satanic Cult."
Multiplayer
Age of Empires IIIs multiplayer was highly lauded, as was the Home City concept. The topic of multiplayer was touched by GameZone, who said "this game demands multiplayer mode, and Ensemble Studios provided this for the players," while at 1UP, the reviewer commented similarly, stating, "Multiplayer support has been significantly upgraded with a slick interface, support for clans and a number of other useful features." GameSpy commented on the Home City as well, saying, "the 'home city' system creates long-term depth and strategy." EuroGamer, however, stated: "Stop with the gifts!...You do not need to let me flick to a home city screen every few minutes so that I can select a free unit or resource windfall. I'm not some spoilt toddler that needs to be bribed with endless sweeties."
Awards
The game was presented with two awards by
GameSpyGameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
in 2005: "Real-time strategy game of the year" and "Best Graphics". GameSpy highly praised the game overall, giving it 5 stars in its review, which particularly noted the graphics and multiplayer experience. The game was named fifth-best game of 2005 by GameSpy.
Other awards, including an "Outstanding" from GameZone, reflect the positive critical reception of the game.
The game was given an 'honorable mention' in the 'Best Music' category.
Yahoo!Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
's report differed, but still had many positive features. Like GameSpy, Yahoo! also praised the effort put into the graphics and physics, but maintained that these are essentially eye-candy. Both Yahoo! and Eurogamer were both disappointed by the traditional economics-based strategy of the game and believed that this, with the lack of useful formation and tactics, meant that the game does not stand up to other modern real-time strategy games. Eurogamer shared these final thoughts and described the new Home City shipments, along with all the treasures scattered around the map, as silly and childish ways of trying to complement the game's lack of strategy and tactical choices. However, Eurogamer recognized that Ensemble Studios was brave to implement "something quite different" from other real time strategy games — the Home City concept.
Other reviews
Age of Empires III was the eighth best-selling PC game of 2005 despite its late release, and has sold over 2 million copies to date.
Game RevolutionGame Revolution or GR is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshots, and videos...
said that it is "as detailed as a history book, and about as much fun;"
GameZoneGameZone is an American multiplatform video game website. GameZone's daily coverage includes reviews, previews, news, hints & cheats, and editorials. Additionally, GameZone offers downloads, a child-targeted website and in association with GameStop, hosts GZGameShop, an online retailer...
agreed, stating, it is "one purchase you will not come to regret."
See also
- Age of Empires
- Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs
- Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties is the second official expansion pack for real-time strategy video game Age of Empires III developed through a collaboration between Ensemble Studios and Big Huge Games, and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The Mac version was ported over and developed...
External links