Customer Reviews

Age of Empires: Mythologies

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

**** NOTE *** in this review I will be comparing Age of Empire: Mythologies to theAge of Empires: The Age of Kings both are Nintendo DS versions. My thought process is if you liked the original you will have interest in the sequel.

Age of Empires: The Age of Kings is my favorite game for the Nintendo DS. In fact, it is about the only game that I play on a consistent basis. The problem is that I have beat the game dozens of times and I have been eagerly awaiting a new challenge. Age of Empires: Mythologies offers me new albeit slightly modified challenges.

The differences- (I am listing just a few)

- Age of Empires: Mythologies lack the overall depth of Age of Kings - there are fewer technologies, soldiers, heros, maps.... and so on. Basically, the newer version lacks the overall depth of the previous.
- Soldiers/Heros do not gain "Experience" by fighting additional battles. In fact, they stay at the same fighting level until you advance to a new
- Mythologies has better graphics that the original.
- Heros only have one special ability instead of four.
- Wi-fi abilities have been added to Mythologies.
- There additional ways to win instead of just "total conquest". By capturing and keeping temples you can earn a "Temple Victory".
- When you "Age-up" in Mythologies you add a new God to your temple. Each God has special powers and abilities that you can research.
- Only three civilizations - Greeks, Egyptians, and the Norse to choose from.


Things that are similar
- Battle sequences are nearly identical.
- building farms,town,mines
- Both games offers campaigns and features that can be unlocked.

**** NOTES TO PARENTS****

Age of Empires is a war based game, however it is not overly violent. The game does not feature any type of bloodshed. Depending on your child's interest in Mythology the game can be educational since many of the characters and scenarios are pulled straight of ancient literature.

In terms of gameplay - Age of Empires (both versions) are somewhat complicated and may be difficult for kids that are not strong reader or if they do enjoy analytical problems.

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Final Verdict - If I was on an island and could only choose one Nintedo DS game it would be Age of Empires; Age of Kings, since it is a game that offers more depth. However, Age of Empires: Mythologies offers a nice addition and has the added benefit of online play.

4 stars

I bought this game last week, and have been unable to put it down since, it is VERY addictive! I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, seeing as how the only other strategy game I've played was the SRPG Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (which is also an excellent game!), but I have enjoyed every minute of it. I can't compare it to the previous Age of Empires, as this is my first one, but Mythologies more than holds it's own.

MULTIPLAYER: Age of Empires: Mythologies supports Wireless DS Single-Card Download Play (1-2 Players), as well as Wireless DS Multi-Card Play (1-4 Players) and Online Play. I have yet to play multi-card play and Online Play, but the single-card download play was a blast! The premise of the multiplayer is the same as the campaign mode, where you try to defeat each other. The multiplayer matches can be very long, my cousin and I ended up playing a single match for over an hour, but they're a lot of fun.

5/5

GRAPHICS: The graphics are some of the best I've seen on the DS. They are colorful and sharp, with no jagged edges or blurriness. The characters and maps are very well-detailed. The graphics rival those from Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings.

4.5/5

GAMEPLAY: There are quite a few modes to play in Mythologies, including Single Player Campaign, Skirmish, and Scenario, as well as the Multiplayer modes. I have yet to play the Skirmish and Scenario modes, as the Campaign mode is sucking up all my time. The story is kinda lacking, but the gameplay more than makes up for it. On each board, you (typically) start with few characters, and must train more from the buildings that you build. There are two ways to win, either by Complete Conquest, where you defeat the opponents entire army and buildings, or what is called a Temple Victory, where you win (or lose) by default after you (or your opponent) reaches a certain number of Victory Points.

4/5

All in all, you really can't go wrong with this game. At $19.99, this game is a steal, even if you play just for the multiplayer. As a newcomer to the series, I look forward to playing Age of Kings, and any other Age of Empires that may be released for the DS.

Any questions or comments? Feel free to leave a comment, and I will try to answer your question ASAP.

What can I say but Wow! This game is just great. The first Age of Empires was good, but this follow up is near perfect. So many extra features like relics, god powers, lots of different research options, and myth characters/heroes to play. The game has a bunch of unlockables (boards, charterers, and items), and after you finish the first 3 campaigns (24 boards) you can play through them all again on a hard campaign. And if all those boards aren't enough for you there are 24 scenario boards where you can play the different civilizations against each other (Egyptian, Greek, or Norse), plus you get to use the enemy heroes on some of these boards. For those who still need more, don't forget the vs. mode so you can play against human players online or in person.
I've played most of these type games for gameboy, and if only the newest version of Advance wars (Days of Ruin) could have been nearly half as good of a sequel as this game is.
Just to wrap up, again a Fantastic game, I highly recommend it. Hours and hours of enjoyable play time. No one who likes this type game should be without it.

"Age of Empires: Mythologies" continues the fine tradition of the classic strategy game series. But this time, we get to use the gods, heroes, and monsters of classic mythology to do battle with on the Nintendo DS. Joy! The game packs in countless hours of gameplay featuring more content then you will ever use and most of the satisfaction of classic strategy series' like "Warcraft" and "Civilization"; all in your pocket. It's really amazing how far portable gaming has come from the days of "Tetris". Never thought I'd be balancing resource-gathering, town-building, and research with offensive and defensive ambush strategies and playing multiple worthy AI opponents against each other in a handheld game.

Alrighty then. Egyptian, Nordic, or Greek: pick your favorite. All are here with their own unique line-up of gods, heroes, and combat units, among other things. There is a campaign for each that utilizes all of what each mythology has to offer in a sort of story mode. It's reasonably challenging although I was extremely annoyed at first by the slow build-up before being able to build towns and create the units I wanted to. The game picks your patron god and heroes for you among other things during the campaigns which I did not care for one bit. But if you are new to turn-based strategy wargames like this one, it's a great way to learn. It's also a great way to get points that you can use to unlock tons of new in-game stuff for the real meat of this sort of game: the skirmish mode. There are also scenarios where you are given an army and a certain number of foes to defeat, but I found the mode a bit dull with the lack of customization and too easy. but he, it's another way to get points to spend!

Skirmish mode needs a new name because in a game like this, it is all-out war. You get to choose a map, choose a culture, choose your hero, your patron god (and the unique powers and units that come with them), and also choose you opponents (up to three) and whether they are all gunning for you or each other as well. This is where the game really gains it's replay value since there are TONS of options. I was disappointed that you couldn't have an AI partner for a little 2-on-2 match, but everyone-against-everyone is the best anyways. There's also multiplayer options which I will never use because a single game takes hours to complete and can go on literally forever if evenly matched strategists are playing each other.

The units at your disposal include everything from winged harpies and giant scarabs to myrmidons and catapults to frost giants and valkyries. There are dozens of unit types with individual strengths and weaknesses and each of the many god or goddesses has their own specialty units as well as other powers to help you. As you build up your civilization's resources, knowledge, and favor you can advance or "age up" to gain new powers from allied gods and stronger unit types for combat. the game is really a race against time to gather your strength and keep your enemies at bay until you can build up a strong enough army to crush them where they live. But with three other armies to contend with, that is a monumental task.

So wanna worship Loki, summon Hela's dragon servant and use battering rams to smash your enemies' buildings while fire giants rain flame upon your foes? Go nuts. How about sending a Nemien lion to absorb your foes' archers' attacks while your chimera hide in the forest and sneak around with Perseus to crush them from the flank? Sounds good. Or have the goddess Isis boost your income with her Prosperity power while Hatshepsut builds a series of obelisks to help you stock up on favor and give your units a defensible foothold near a cache of food and gold. Why not? It's going to be a long game either way. The strategic options presented to you in each game keep it infinitely varied and interesting.

"Age of Empires: Mythologies" does a fantastic job of shrinking the experience of a great turn-based strategy game. I was at first very unimpressed, but the more I put into this game the more it kept giving back. This is a game with unlimited replay value that combines elements of the very best strategy series' out there with the coolest elements of the greatest mythologies the world has ever know. This is just a great game all around. The graphics in the fighting sequences look great for a DS title, but once their novelty wears off you can skip or remove them to speed up the pace of the game. Options, options, options is the name of the game for this genre and this one has got them. For full-scale multi-faction wars featuring mythic warriors and creatures in the palm of your hand, it doesn't get any better.

The AoE concept is excellent and the game is conceptually well designed, but the more I play the game the more I recognize design flaws. The scenarios and campaigns, for the most part, are rather easy--easier than "Kings" if I remember correctly. Once you play through those at the normal and hard levels, they aren't much fun to play again. So I turned my attention to the Skirmish games where I found the most challenges and enjoyment. Unfortunately, it only offers three player options (Romans, Egyptians and Norse), the heroes have only one innate power each and most or bland if not useless, and there are a very limited number of maps and the maps play by far the largest role in gameplay. If this game had a "random map" feature like Civ, I could play it endlessly (like I do Civ). But it doesn't.

Regarding the design flaws, I've found that in the Skirmish maps, Norse computer opponents are unable to properly advance so they are cannon fodder, which leaves you only Greeks and Egyptians as meaningful foes and thus not much variety, especially when you are playing Greek or Egyptian. (Combined with the limited maps, the skirmish games go from being the best feature to the worst.) Also, the scoring system and accompanying graphics seem to confuse itself frequently so often you invest time in a long, hard-fought battle only to find yourself with a score of -36428. If they'd include perhaps one more player option, an option for random maps, and cleaned up those two design issues I would have given this game a SIX. As it is, I give it a four for gameplay and a three overall because I got bored with it far sooner than I should have.

As a great lover of Greek Mythology, I think this game really captures everything. The graphics are great, the storyline for each culture is well thought out, and the actual cultures blow me away. Each culture (Egyptian, Greek, and Norse) all include there main gods, and each come with special powers that either benefit your culture or wreck havoc on your enemies. Also, each god you choose to worship comes with a mythical beast, ranging from sphinxes to harpies, and even to ice and fire giants. In addition, the gods seem to have an odd sense of humor, making you wonder if you should laugh or cry.
Another quality of the game is that, if you don't like the story mode, you can play a game against between 1 to 4 computer players.
Buy this game, and you won't regret it!

This isn't the type of game I normally play.....being a fan of games like Cake Mania and Diner Dash. Decided to pick this up after we read the Percy Jackson books (still on the mythology kick). I really like this game!

Being completely NEW to this type of game play....no cons, just pros for me. I REALLY appreciated that this game has tutorials for you to accomplish before being thrown into the missions. I specifically bought this game new because I thought I would need to look at the instruction book to figure out how to play. The instruction booklet was completely useless. The tutorials are all you need.


You start off with a few people in your military (heroes, archers, cavalry, etc.) You also have a builder who is used to build up your base, your farms, your mines. Every turn, you try to advance your borders a little further by challenging the armies of your enemy. Each member of your military has specific strengths and weaknesses (which are shown on the screen when you select them). When you obtain enough favor and materials, you can advance an "age". At that point, more god powers will become available and you can upgrade your military.

I have been playing this game (as I have time) over the last 5 months and I haven't even scratched the surface with all that it offers. I finished the Egyptian section and I am almost finished with the Greeks. I like that there is a lot of strategy involved in this game.....you don't just finish a level and win. You could sit there and play one level for over an hour and STILL lose if you don't plan your strategy well.

I have both Age of Kings and Mythologies, and there is a very good reason I am playing the latter more often nowadays. Age of Kings is now WAY too easy. Age of kings is easy to the point where I can make it as hard as possible, and still toy around with the enemy before killing them. Mythologies is very different. Even on normal difficulty your enemy will attack you, and if pushed back, they will keep throwing men at you until the bitter end. As well as being an actual challenge, Mythologies also puts itself ahead of Age of Kings with civilizations that actually play differently from one another. Although the game lacks some of the depth and mathematical sense of Age of Kings it is still just as good or possibly better due to its different play-styles.

The Age of Empires: Mythology cartridge I got was full of programming errors: the AI couldn't handle the Norse. The game would crash... and if a player finished the battle it would not calculate the score correctly. Did they do a recall? The game was clearly defective.

My son loves Mythology. He plays this game more than any of his other DSI games.