AOE III - My Review

[Skywize]

Darn, and I had been really looking forward to this one too, but all the reviews and comments seem to be very average at best. I guess I'll pass in favor of Civ IV then, so its not a complete loss.

Save some money there

AOE and AOK had ties to history, multiple campaigns with different civilizations, it made for a great gaming experience.
I just don't "feel" AOE III.
You play with some maltese knight trying to stop some circle from gaining control of the fountain of youth (as far as i have gotten into the game).
It feels like one of those many many many user made scenarios for AOE and AOK, except most of those scenarios are better than AOE III :P
Maybe AOE III redeems itself in multiplayer, but what other than cards/home cities does it have going ?
It doesn't hold the candle to RoN, not even close.
And the "far" zoom sucks, i guess "near" zoom means no zoom at all.

To put it in football terms ... fumble..turnover...run back for touchdown (AOE III vs Civ IV as far as user reviews go)

[Spaceman Spiff]

I never play the campaigns in RTS games. I think the last "campaign" I ever finished in an RTS was Starcraft, no joke. I can't STAND the linear feel of RTS missions and quests, which is why I love games like RTW or Civ. You have an objective: Conquer the world. And how you do it is totally up to you.

So whenever I play an RTs now I only play the skirmish mode against the CPU, usually a deathmatch.

Still would rather play RTW or Civ any day.