CodeOptimist Posted October 18, 2003 Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 I've decided to write some short articles about some RTS games and what I liked/disliked in each one. The first game I'm looking at is Age of Empires (including the x-pack, Rise of Rome).I'm really a fan of ancient history so natually, I liked this game.BreakdownAnimation [Good]The animation was good. 3D animation looks a lot better than 2D sprites, but Ensemble Studios did a fairly good job here with the resources (and computing power) available.Civilizations [Neutral]The civs were good, but could have been better. Games with specialized civs are much more fun than generic civs. This is a semi-good example of a "generic civ" game. Age of Mythology and Empires: Dawn of the Modern World are good examples of "specialized civ" games.Gameplay [Neutral]Overall, the game was fun, but the fun was somewhat reduced by the lack of more advanced GUI/strategic options (i.e. build queues, formations, etc).Graphics [Good]The graphics were also well-suited to the ancient feel of the game, though a little low-detail.Interface [Neutral]On one hand, the interface was somewhat nice. On the other hand, it was somewhat limited.I always thought that the GUI was a bit too dark, even for an ancient history game. I think a semi-dark GUI is good for an ancient history RTS, but I would have preferred it to be a smidgen lighter.Other than the lighting, the GUI was limited in other aspects, including not having build queues (although that was added in the x-pack). Overall, it felt somewhat "primitive".Music [Good]Yes, it was MIDI-ish and somewhat repetitive, but it added to the general "ancient feel" of the game.Multiplayer [Neutral]The multiplayer setup wasn't hard to use, but there was no save-game option for multiplayer.Pathfinding [bad]The pathfinding AI in this game was terrible, obviously created for 200MHz machines. Such is the evolution of computers.Sound Effects [Neutral]The sounds and voice-overs were OK, but a little on the low-quality side.Timeframe [Good]As I said above, I love ancient history! I really wish this game could be "updated" for the new advances in computers since it's a great game.Other/MiscWhile not a big issue, I like games that are more "specialized", as I stated in the Civilization section. The areas that deal with specialization are civs and Wonders. In Age of Empires, both of these areas weren't very specialized.What It Means for 0 A.D.Gameplay isn't the most important factor in a game. The GUI and feel of the interface are sometimes overlooked factors, but are very important.Games that have widely different civilizations are much more fun to play (especially in multiplayer) than games with not-so-different civs. I'll expand on this a little more in future reviews.Next Up: Age of Empires II Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wijitmaker Posted October 18, 2003 Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 Hey great idea CO, I look forward to more!LOL I like your description on the music.Do you find that in games with a wide variety of civilizations that all the civilizations are pretty similiar? Or do you like less civs with more distinction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acumen Posted October 18, 2003 Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 Great review, CodeOptimist. I really wish this game could be "updated" for the new advances in computers since it's a great game.At its deepest, darkest core, that's what 0 A.D. was always meant to be. So hopefully you'll get your wish.Otherwise I agree with your assessment, although most of the problems you've pointed out were resolved in the sequel (smart blokes, that Ensemble Studios). The Pros and Cons of the Age of Empires games has seriously shaped the design of ours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses S Griffin Posted October 18, 2003 Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 yes, the pathfinding did suck in AoE, bigtime, esp. with those darn ships, not even smart enough to sail around a small island Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeOptimist Posted October 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2003 Thanks for all the comments!LOL I like your description on the music.Do you find that in games with a wide variety of civilizations that all the civilizations are pretty similiar? Or do you like less civs with more distinction?Well, that is usually the case with games that have lots of civs to choose from. The civs begin to get less and less distinct. However, I don't think that they become less distinct because there are more civs. There just hasn't been a game (yet) that has many distinct civs. (I think Empires:DMW will be the first)I don't really care how many civs there are in a game, although I would prefer more over less. As long as they don't begin to all seem the same.A good example of what I mean (and I'll point this out in review #2) is: AoE vs. AoK. In Age of Empires, I never really knew what civ to pick. Granted, I didn't play it a whole lot, so I didn't know good civ strategies, etc. But, the civs seemed so much alike that I'd either randomly pick one, or just choose Egypt. (I liked their building art )In Age of Empires 2, I had no trouble picking a civ. There were two reasons for that. One being that the civs were more unique (with better bonuses, better tech trees, etc), and second being that you could easily compare civs (with the tech tree viewer).At its deepest, darkest core, that's what 0 A.D. was always meant to be. So hopefully you'll get your wish. That's what I've been hoping for all along Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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