Age of Empires III Review

I only play one type of PC game, and that is the RTS (Real Time Strategy) Genre, and I can narrow it down even further. I only play one type of RTS game, and that is the “Age of” series by Ensemble Studios.

They started of with Age of Empires, god knows who introduced me to it, but it probably was young Ady. I remember playing this for hours on Al’s PC in the house we shared (Timmy’s House).

Then came, as you would expect, Age of Empires II. Yet again hours and hours were taken up with this little Time Thief. A quick 30 mins, would see you look up as the birds are just waking up and people off to work…. WTF… You would say, I’ve only been on it for a few minutes, when in reality, hours and hours had passed.

Plus with the advent of widely available internet use, you could fight with people over the net, or as we did on various computers around the house on our own little network.

Both of these Age of Empire games are based on actual Historical events, but to break the mould, they next brought out Age of Mythology. Which was just as addictive and time consuming as the previous ones? At this stage I was married and would sneak up stairs at every available opportunity to play. With Armies of Minators pitted against hoards of Centaurs, what a rush.

And finally after playing AOM over and over again, we have the latest edition. Age of Empires III. And as of 12.05pm this afternoon I am the proud owner of said game. I have forewarned the wife and kids, that I shall not be available for the next week. I shall sate myself at the Altar of Empires. I shall command, build and destroy nations… I shall be immersed for hours on end…..

One final note, being bored at work, I decided to download the Demo version to play on my Work PC to pass the day. Now remember this is a DEMO. How big do you think the Demo is to download…. 426 MB…. ½ a Gig…. WTF.

For years I’ve lived a double life.
In the day I do my job,
I ride the bus,
Roll up my sleeves with the hoi polloi.
But at night I live a life of exhilaration,
Of missed heartbeats and adrenaline,
And, if the truth be known,
A life of dubious virtue.

I won’t deny I’ve been engaged in violence,
Even indulged in it.
I have maimed and killed adversaries,
And not merely in self defence.
I have exhibited disregard for life,
Limb,
And property,
And savoured every moment.

You may not think it to look at me,
But I have commanded armies,
And conquered worlds.
And though in achieving these things
I have set morality aside,
I have no regrets.
For though I’ve led a double life
At least I can say,
I have lived.