AGE OF MYTHOLOGY

AGE OF MYTHOLOGY
Posted:2002-06-13 By Master Chief Number of View:14674
AGE OF MYTHOLOGY By :Master Chief Posted:2002-06-13 xtreview is your : Video card - cpu - memory - Hard drive - power supply unit source Age of Mythology Publisher: Microsoft Developer: Ensemble Studios Genre: Real Time Strategy ESRB: Teen System Requirements  Minimum: PII 300, 32MB RAM, 3D video card, Win 9X/NT/2K/ME/XP Recommended: PIII 800, 256MB RAM, 32MB video memory   Though I\'m a veteran of the many titles that are often hailed as the originators of real-time strategy, Herzog Zwei and Dune 2 among them, it wasn\'t until Ensemble Studios and Microsoft teamed up for Age of Empires that I truly understood the potential the genre had. This wasn\'t necessarily because it was the best game of its time, though it can certainly stand proudly among them, but because of the historic familiarity and warmth it brought to the table - both of which were largely missing from previous offerings. The public agreed, and casual gamers who had never even heard the name Warcraft before were playing their first RTS.   Age of Mythology is a return to the roots of the series. Indeed, due to the vagaries of Hollywood, the general public often knows more about the mythology of antiquity than it does of the actual history involved. In many ways, the material is now even more accessible than it was before. The gameplay is nearly the same as that of previous outings, except that faith, rather than being an abstracted process of priests converting units over to a side, is a concrete and wondrous thing to behold. Players will once again be able to take the helm of a civilization and carefully mold it into an empire, as Age of Mythology is an RTS in the classic sense: Managing the virtual economy is of prime importance - above and beyond the tactics needed on the battlefield.   In addition to the more standard resources of food, wood and gold, which are necessary for a healthy economy, divine favor has been added to the list. The three major civilizations gain this favor in different ways. The Greeks must devote villagers to pray at temples, which slowly builds favor and is initially very costly as those workers must be fed and are needed for other tasks. By the end of the game, however, throngs of supplicants can generate favor at a breakneck pace. The Egyptians are required to build monuments, statues that take both time and resources to construct. They come in several sizes, and each increases the rate at which favor is gained, up to a limit of five monuments. Favor is the hardest to come by for the Norse, who are only rewarded with it while their units are actively engaged in battle, though this is mitigated by the powerful gifts that their gods can grant them in return for the bloodshed.                        While there are only three proper civilizations, Ensemble routinely boasts of nine, which isn\'t far from the truth. At the beginning of each game, players must choose a major god from the three available for each culture. Not only does this choice grant a one-time use of a specific power and a unique technology to research later, it also adds a dramatic bonus to the civilization. Those who worship Zeus will have strong infantry and generate favor more quickly, while followers of Hades will have more powerful archers and fallen soldiers will often be resurrected as shades to do battle for their god.   Gameplay consists of working to progress a civilization through various ages. This usually requires the construction of a prerequisite building, such as a temple or marketplace, and a tremendous expenditure of food and gold. With each new age, new structures, units and beneficial technologies become available for use. While the material benefits of advancing through the ages are not nearly as dramatic as that of previous titles in the series - where expert players prided themselves on "Bronzing," or achieving the Bronze Age, in a certain number of minutes - the spiritual benefit is immense. Each advance in age will allow players to choose another deity to add to their pantheons, choosing between the two that are assigned to a particular major god or goddess for a given era.                                        By the end, up to four divinities can be aiding a single player. While these minor deities do not add systemic changes to a civilization as the major ones do, they do have other benefits. God powers can be used once during the course of a game. These range from instant gratification, such as a lightning bolt from Zeus smiting an enemy, to the strategic, such as Thor\'s ability to form a gold mine at a chosen location. The powers of the minor deities are much more interesting, however. Apollo can form a permanent entrance and exit to the underworld, allowing units to functionally teleport across vast distances. Bast, the Egyptian goddess of cats, can change day into night. Freyja, the Norse goddess of beauty, can burn an entire forest to the ground, denying the lumber to the enemy. Specialized technology trees are also given to minor deities, allowing them to empower normal units beyond their human levels. The most intriguing feature of the minor pantheon, however, is that of myth units. Age of Mythology, like most RTS titles, uses a variation of the classic rock-paper-scissors format for combat: cavalry is good against archers, who trump infantry, who in turn are able to overwhelm cavalry. While this is not necessarily historically accurate, by and large, it feels acceptable during gameplay; cavalry often does enough damage without a special bonus to not be completely ineffective against infantry, and shields are easy enough to upgrade against arrows. However, Age of Mythology adds yet another triangle to the game. Myth units are built in temples and shipyards, and require both traditional resources and divine favor in their construction. Each deity confers up to three different varieties of myth units to its followers. They range the gamut in powers, often having special abilities that trigger when a meter fills up, allowing them an extra destructive burst or a spell-like ability. Some are mere melee fighters, other serve as archers, while more exotic ones serve as siege engines - including the Phoenix, which can be resurrected from an egg for a fee after death or even serve as transports for other units, such as the Leviathan and the flying Roc. But while they share similar roles to their more mundane counterparts, they are capable of inflicting and surviving far more damage. Though it is possible to eventually train normal units to have similar resistances to hacking and piercing attacks, getting them to that point requires an immense expenditure of resources, researching every available upgrade throughout the ages. Myth units have those strengths from the starting line. Despite their power over mortals, myth units have one glaring weakness: heroes.   Rather than gaining levels in a role-playing fashion, heroes fulfill a specialized role in hunting down paranormal creatures. Each culture has its own distinct form of hero. The Greek heroes are legendary in stature, from Hercules with his lion headdress to Odysseus and his bow, and are much stronger than those of other cultures. However, only one new hero is available for use in each age, making the Greeks far more susceptible to massed attacks of myth units. The Egyptians have two hero types. The pharaoh can not only attack myth units and heal friendly units, but he is also capable of empowering building projects to hasten their completion or project his authority over finished structures to increase their efficiency. Priests, while not as useful in battle, are able to heal friendly units afterwards, should they prove victorious. They can also create obelisks that function as rudimentary towers for keeping watch over the land. Though the Norse need to do battle to gain favor, only their human soldiers are seen by their gods; using myth units brings no honor. Among them, the Hersirs are the heroes and gain small amounts of favor just by existing, bringing even more when tearing through enemy ranks. While heroes can devastate myth units, they can easily be brought low by massed attacks from common mortals, completing the second triad of Age of Mythology\'s mechanics.   From a gameplay standpoint, the Greeks will be the most familiar culture. Not only are their troops the best trained and most durable, they also have more varieties of combat units than any other civilization. Their largest weakness is often their inability to heal units after a battle. The Greek military also requires a lot of resources to maintain, so a larger populace is needed to support them - as well as pray at the temples for favor. The Greeks are especially good at scouting, having access to many inexpensive flying and aquatic units. In stark contrast, Egyptian combat units are often quite feeble, especially at the beginning, but are cheap to produce and maintain. None of their buildings require any wood for construction, so workers can concentrate on harvesting other resources, at least until the middle of the game, when lumber is required for upgrades and more advanced units. While priests and their obelisks make for poor scouts, what they do see remains uncovered, making it possible to play with a more defensive outlook. That stance is bolstered by their ability to hire mercenaries. While they cost a great deal of gold and vanish after a minute or so, they train nearly instantly and can decide the course of a battle near a friendly town center.   With dwarves as a common unit, the Norse are easily the most mythologized of the three cultures and have the largest learning curve for players to adapt to. While regular laborers can chop wood and gather food, it takes the sturdy dwarves to mine gold, which they do with great aplomb. Rather than constructing resource centers, the Norse have mobile carts that they can move about, making it far easier for them to take advantage of hunting game, which is much faster than farming. Both gatherers and dwarves can be converted into soldiers, should the need arise, though there are structures that specialize in unit training. Buildings themselves are constructed by military units. While this can be inconvenient on occasion, a large army can put together a hill fort in practically no time at all. Favor can be hard to come by, as it is gained after the player needs it, not before, though the Norse myth units are some of the most powerful in the game, largely consisting of giant-kin.                                                                             Age of Mythology has but one single-player campaign that spans 30 odd missions. It follows the exploits of Arkantos, an Atlantean hero, as he makes his way to Troy and embarks on an adventure that will take him across, and under, the world. The campaign is roughly divided into three sections, each taking place in one of the game\'s three geographic and cultural areas. Along the way, he discovers new allies and a deadly foe that is intent on utilizing the greed of the dark gods as a way of unleashing primordial forces long held at bay.   Graphics: Perhaps the greatest compliment that could be paid to Age of Mythology is that it looks nearly identical to Age of Kings, the previous installment by Ensemble. That\'s not the kind of response that developers and gamers alike wish to hear, but despite being a 1999 release, Age of Kings is still very attractive by any standard. That it can now all be done in real time 3D is simply astounding, as units are functionally every bit as detailed as before. The transition to 3D brings a host of new features, not the least of which is in-game cutscenes. Although the marvelous pre-rendered introductory sequence falls a bit short when compared to the accomplishments of Blizzard or Square, Age of Mythology is the first of its series to offer narrative scenes between missions, all delivered with the game engine. Despite textures being sometimes stretched a little thin, the protagonists of the campaign are all modeled exquisitely and some amazing sequences unfold, such as a collapsing cavern and a hillside avalanche - typically done with more dramatic flair than that of Warcraft III.                        Age of Mythology is decidedly not accurate in all its depictions of history but it gets the broad strokes right. It often seems as if the team sought out to copy objects directly out of a first-year Art History textbook rather than understanding how they might have looked in their own era, leading to blanched white Greek temples - a common misconception. Other things are obviously done with artistic license, such as the oversized diorite-stone statuary standing in for Egyptian monuments. Structures are both detailed and enjoyable to look at as they grow more complex as the civilizations advance through the ages. Ground is leveled for building foundations and farms hug the sides of slopes. Another interesting touch is that temples are modular and are given a likeness of the deity that they are in service of. Units are also constructed well, given the number of polygons that they have to work with. More impressive, however, is the degree of interactivity in their animation, often a product of the balancing system that allows for myth units to be especially powerful when compared to regular infantry. Hydras sprout new heads as they grow in strength and a Cyclops can lift a soldier up with one hand, shake him about by his leg, and fling him into trees or other combatants, knocking them over like pins at a bowling alley.   A multitude of resolutions are available, and unlike its 2D predecessors, those playing at higher resolutions are not given an advantage over their opponents. Rather than being able to see more of the battlefield, the artwork simply becomes more precise and refined. Players can freely zoom in and out, although view rotation is disabled by default. While it can be fun at first to enable it, the feature is of limited usefulness, so many are likely to leave it turned off after their initial experimentation. There are two main levels of detail, aside from the ability to toggle footprints and other minutiae, with the lower disabling textures to spare bandwidth for those with only the most rudimentary 3D hardware. Those with even aging dedicated gaming cards, however, will be able to enjoy massive resolutions without any dramatic slowdown. I found 1600x1200 with 4X full screen anti-aliasing to be completely playable, though it was apparent that the textures and interface artwork were designed with much lower screen sizes in mind. The only stuttering seemed to occur during cutscenes, but this seems to be a problem with camera operation, not fill rate, as if it was tracking through a series of points rather than an actual geometric curve.     Interface: Even though the interface of Age of Mythology is evolutionary in nature and a continuation of one of the best GUIs in the business, Ensemble has found room for improvement. The "farm queuing" debate has finally been laid to rest. Once a farm is built, it will now provide food indefinitely. While some might argue that it takes away from the strategy of individually replanting fields or using the queue system that was debuted with the expansion to Age of Kings, to most, it simply fixes a problem that never should have been there to begin with. Other functions have also been consolidated. Building walls, always a strong point of the series, has been made even more user friendly. They can now be built at any angle, and reinforcement points are shown as the player tests out different build patterns. With the press of a key, walls can be continued around corners, allowing for the enclosure of an entire settlement in one mouse action. Rather than having to select gates from a menu and place them individually, one needs only to select a portion of a finished wall and click a button to pay a fee to upgrade the section to a gate.   This streamlining has been applied to the entire interface. Buttons to toggle research unit upgrades are often placed in several locations, making them accessible from different context menus, both at the general armory as well as the structure that produces the unit in question. Other useful features are the coding of unit groups. Each group bound to a numerical key is given its own banner at the top of the screen and is coded with symbols, depending upon the nature of the units that compose it; siege engines are represented by gears and ranged attackers with arrowheads. Not only is the "idle villager" banner back, similar ones are also given for both heroes and combat units. The in-game manual is also integrated to an impressive degree: To find out detailed information on any creature or soldier one is facing, it is only necessary to click on it, and then on the info button which will summon a page filled with combat statistics and historical facts for the unit. In the single-player campaign, this pauses the action, allowing the player to accurately access all the factors involved in the engagement.     Gameplay: Age of Mythology features one of the best single-player campaigns among RTS titles. While many of the individual missions are quite creative in their own right, such as an abstracted "tug of war" match for the possession of a relic, what really sets it apart is that it gives the player so many choices. As one progresses through the ages in each scenario, the deities that are chosen can shape the course of the battle through the various myth units and god powers that are at the player’s disposal. This adds a personal touch to the campaign that is hard to ignore; it also gives Age of Mythology a certain measure of replayability that competing offerings tend to lack. Even the tactical scenarios, where there aren’t any settlements available or economy to speak of, have been made much more interesting and enjoyable than those of previous installments in the series. Indeed, many fans of the franchise have had nothing but contempt for the tactical engagements, not because they were excessively horrid in past outings, but because the economic aspect of the game was so compelling. This is reinforced by the ability to build walls and gates. Despite being simple enough objects on their own, they turn a meaningless territory into a virtual city, personalizing Age of Mythology even further. Players truly get the chance to guide and develop a civilization.   Numerous complaints that have plagued the series have finally been addressed. Many critics will be silenced by a more elaborate system for the unit cap. While up to ten houses can be built to increase the maximum number of units available to a faction, town centers also increase that number, and they can also be built in multiples or upgraded to support a higher population. Villagers now count less than military units when it comes to the cap, as well. The "town center rush," where players would construct them as powerful offensive towers in enemy territory, is also a thing of the past; they can now only be built on predetermined settlement areas. While cinematics between scenarios is a welcome addition, some might bemoan the loss of the statistical display after a mission, recounting the various happenings of the encounter. Not everyone will miss knowing that they out gold-mined the computer or how many buildings they razed, but a few will see this as an unfortunate omission.   While the single-player campaign will deliver upwards of thirty to forty hours of gameplay the first time it is experienced, a variety of other modes are available. A great number of maps for skirmishes against computer opponents are also included, many of which contain their special own twist to the action, such as providing players with citadels from the beginning of the match but offering no opportunities to build new settlements. A truly random map function is also available, and advanced coders can even try their hand at editing the scripts that generate them as detailed information on their workings is included with the documentation. There are also numerous game types that have different victory conditions. A "conquest" match is the most straightforward but a contest of "supremacy" adds additional ways to win, such as by building a great wonder and defending it for a period of time or by capturing all of the available settlements. A lightning match greatly accelerates the speed of play while a deathmatch gives players nearly unlimited resources for building their armies.   The included manual is rather slight, only explaining basic concepts such as resources and listing the various gods and some of their abilities. An electronic manual in PDF format is included on the first CD, and has more information about various structures, technologies and human units, but to get a real understanding of Age of Mythology, it is necessary to use the in-game help system, which is much more complete. Those who only own the basic edition, rather than the more expensive collector\'s edition, however, will have to print out their own technology-tree diagrams for each culture from PDF files, should they desire them.     Multiplayer: In many ways, Age of Mythology is both under and overly balanced when it comes to a multiplayer experience. Under, in the sense that certain units are far too powerful, such as the Phoenix, which serves as a flying siege engine. A pack of two or three of them can easily pick off outlying settlements and be gone before the owner can even muster a defense - one that must include substantial numbers of ground units with ranged attacks, as there are few flying units with offensive capabilities in the game. Micromanaged Frost Giants and Medusas can also be used to devastating effect, freezing an enemy\'s most important units in their tracks, leaving the rest of the army to be easily picked off. On the other hand, the sheer number of units and god powers serves as an inherent balancing agent, even if a few exploits exist. Indeed, between the two combat triads of archer-cavalry-infantry and hero-myth-soldier, it can be difficult to rock the boat at all, let alone to one\'s advantage. There are even special counter units, such as "anti-archer archers," which includes slingers and peltasts (the latter being spear-throwing skirmishers named after their uniquely shaped shields). However, many of these counter units are somewhat less than historical, and have no logical basis for their presence other than that they are required to exist in order to fill a certain position. While this adds an interesting layer to the gameplay, it can become overly cumbersome in comparison to more streamlined offerings.   Internet play is facilitated by Ensemble Studios Online, which serves as a matchmaking service and a chat client. A host of features such as player rankings, auto-handicap settings and ladder statistics are included. This service is tied to the dreaded Microsoft Passport, which, while largely transparent to users, did leave me a touch unsettled as I created a new Age of Mythology account and my hard disk thrashed violently before I received a validation response. There are many impressive in-game features, such as the ability to vote on the course of action should one of the players drop from the match. The bandwidth and CPU power needed to run Age of Mythology scales proportionately with the number of players involved. Ensemble recommends a P4 2.4 GHz or better for those daring enough to participate in a 12-player session. A more realistic match of four to six players will still require a system with nearly 1 GHz of power - well over the minimum specs for the product.   The slower pace of Age of Mythology is ideally suited for LAN competition, however. A good session might include two-players working as a team against four computer opponents on a large random map. Not all players appreciate the breakneck speed and multitasking that is necessary to compete in most RTS titles. Here, they will have the breathing room they need to expand and build up their civilization, perhaps even forming a walled-in city alongside that of a friend - one of the best experiences in cooperative gaming, period.     Sound FX: Sadly, some of the sound effects are uninspiring, among them a few rather important ones, such as the metallic clash of weaponry, which often sounds inappropriately weak. Fortunately, the bulk of the effects are done with great clarity and purpose. From the sounds of wildlife, to the cues that a building project has been completed, to the chopping of wood and the falling of trees, the excellent quality remains largely consistent. Unit responses are also excellent, with each done in their native tongue. While I can only understand the ancient Greek, the phrases were well chosen and are not merely translations of English expressions, but unique idioms, indicating a great degree of thoughtfulness. The voice acting of the protagonists throughout the cinematics is also solid, if not stellar.     Musical Score: Despite an auspicious opening at the title screen, if there is anything underwhelming about Age of Mythology, it is the music. While there is a variety of themes for both peace and the thick of battle, it often sounds tinny and artificial - especially unfortunate given the subject matter. While by no means horrid, it is typically and mundanely average in character.     Intelligence & Difficulty: Four difficulty levels are included: easy, moderate, hard and titan. These seem to control the aggressiveness and efficiency of the enemy AI. While the easy mode might be a bit too simplistic for the average gamer, the moderate setting can often be quite challenging. Another level in-between the two would have been appreciated. Fortunately, most of the scenarios allow the player enough time to research all available technologies and proceed forth with an overpowered army, should the need arise.   While the AI of Warcraft III was capable of soundly trouncing the average player, it did so in a very balanced and predictable manner that could be easily exploited by veterans of the genre. What it couldn\'t do, however, was build an empire. Indeed, in order to truly test the capabilities of an AI, a random map is required, and as such, few games dare to include the feature. Age of Mythology is one of them. Not only is its AI capable of scouting for resources effectively, it maintains a fairly intelligent balance between expanding and fortification, working toward an effective economy. Although it usually creates a fair mix of troop types, it does seem more willing to take risks in order to win by producing a substantial number of specialized units than the AI of many other titles. Custom AI preferences can even be used to fill out slots in multiplayer matches, with names such as "Big Boomer" and "Aggressive Rusher."   Unfortunately, friendly units still seem to have problems with pathfinding, often ending up going in unexpected routes if blocked by a compatriot. Because of this, a fair amount of babysitting is still required. The attack-move command is also listed incorrectly in the manual, complicating this further for those who miss that information in the readme.doc errata. Formations can still be tricky, sometimes doing more harm than good, though they do tend to place the units in intelligent positions given their attributes.     Overall: Age of Mythology has resurrected everything that made Age of Empires a public, if not always a critical, success. Appealing to both the intellect and the imagination, it presents itself vividly and audaciously, leaving little doubt that it intends to be a complete experience in every possible way. Although it might not be the smoothest multiplayer option on the block, it certainly has the single-player game locked down tight, and those who feel alienated from the Battle.net crowd might want to give its fantastic LAN capabilities a try. Joseph Campbell once said that a myth is somebody else\'s religion. I suggest that you make this game yours. xtreview is your : Video card - cpu - memory - Hard drive - power supply unit source we would be happy to answer for your question . if you have suggestion or comment regarding this review our support would be glad to help just join our forum and ask u will get the best answer to discuss check our forum section :-) RATE THIS REVIEW 1 2 3 4 5    / 5   View Stat

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