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Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties Expansion Pack Review (continued)
More User Submitted Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties Expansion Pack Reviews
Date: 2007-10-25
THE EXPANSION THAT MAKES Age Of Empires 3 TRULY SHINE!
This is a solid expansion to the AGE OF EMPIRES III, the one you will play for hours at end. Although the 3rd installment of AoE was the weakest of the series (I personally enjoyed much more AGE OF EMPIRES II), I have to admit that I was really pleased by this expansion - and cannot complain but about minor things.
After the lukewarm WARCHIEFS, which introduced Native American civilizations, this expansion introduces three major Asian civilizations (Japanese, Chinese, and Indian) - with their corresponding campaigns.
The Japanese campaign takes place during the Shogunate civil wars. The Chinese campaign (trying to avoid any...political shoals) is on the fictional discovery of the New World by the Chinese (I would have preferred it to be about the unification of China under the Qin dynasty - but, then again, that would make it quite similar to the Japanese campaign). Finally, the Indian campaign is centered on the uprooting of the British East-India Trading Company.
All three campaigns follow a scenario that will surprise you at many points (and frustrate you in some others). Nevertheless, keep in mind that this is an RTS game - so don't expect a JAMES CLAVELL novel plot twists.
The graphics are just a notch better than WARCHIEFS, the interface has received only minor retouching strokes and one can rely on finding, once more, the known exceptional gameplay. Not only are the new units carefully balanced, they can be seamlessly incorporated with the previous AGE OF EMPIRES III units. Stacking Samurai infantry against Highlanders anyone? (yes, only one can survive in the end...)
My only complain is the music: AoE's are of the games that are played for endless hours. So music is important not to be tiresome. This being the ASIAN DYNASTIES expansion, I felt that the game developers missed the chance of introducing some new and distinctly Japanese, Chinese and Indian tunes. Well, one can always bring his own music I guess...
One of the best expansions this year.
RECOMMENDED.
Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties Expansion Pack Reviews Page: 5 of 5 Prev<< 1 2 3 4 5
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