Age of Empires Online: The Greeks (Digital Download Card)

by Microsoft

• Classic RTS Gameplay. From the creation of your capital city to resource management and competitive matches, Age of Empires fans will feel right at home.
• New Innovative Features. Embark on quests alone or with a friend, earn rewards, your empire even continues to grow and accrue resources when you aren?t online
• Empire Building: Start with a humble town, build it into an epic empire, then show it off to your friends
• A Living and Growing World: Every completed quest brings new abilities and new rewards! The more you play, the more powerful you become! Online Execution
• Adds new social interaction, customization, and MMORPG gameplay in an evolving and persistent world.

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B005553ZCK
• Item Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Media: DVD-ROM
• Release Date: August 16, 2011
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,098 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The award-winning, best-selling Real Time Strategy game is moving online. Build mighty empires, manage resources, and battle with or against other players in epic historical settings. Craft and trade items, chat, and level up by completing quests. Plus, earn rewards for your efforts: new units, weapons, armor, and skills. And that´s just the beginning of this rich new experience.

Game Description

Age of Empires is back and more fun, and immersive than ever!

Buy Now and Receive Exclusive Bonus Content

This Exclusive Greek Pack Includes:

• Premium Greek civilization — unlock the power of Rare and Epic items, Advisors to enhance your civilization, the Player vs. Player Arena, awesome technologies, and much more!
• Give your civilization an edge with the exclusive Windy´s Wild Widgets Store, where you can buy or sell special ability items.
• Hotkey quick reference card.
• Limited-edition poster and Advisor cards.
• Instructions to download the free-to-play experience.

Game Features

• Classic RTS Gameplay. From the creation of your capital city to resource management and competitive matches, Age of Empires fans will feel right at home.
• New Innovative Features. Embark on quests alone or with a friend, earn rewards, your empire even continues to grow and accrue resources when you aren’t online.
• Empire Building: Start with a humble town, build it into an epic empire, then show it off to your friends.
• A Living and Growing World: Every completed quest brings new abilities and new rewards! The more you play, the more powerful you become!

Product Description

The award-winning, best-selling Real Time Strategy game is moving online. Build mighty empires, manage resources, and battle with or against other players in epic historical settings. Craft and trade items, chat, and level up by completing quests. Plus, earn rewards for your efforts: new units, weapons, armor, and

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The Age of Empires Re-Boot August 29, 2011

By Foistie

Fun: 3.0 out of 5 stars   

The current release of `Age of Empires Online' (AOE Online) is a distant shadow of a once stellar gaming platform. That being said, here's to the hope that future patch releases will implement many of the items which should have been in the 2011 game at its original August release. A brief history of the AOE franchise up to and including the new AOE Online release follows:

The 'Age Of' History [AOE]:
Original Developer: Ensemble Studios [ES] with AOE I originally released in 1997

The original game components of both the AOE I and AOE II series (both 2D games) were based upon Real Time Strategy (RTS) game play for both individual and team play with games ranging from 1v1 players to 4v4 players. Multiple player games could be played with teams (i.e. friends) or random players with a variety of settings from which to choose. At the release of AOE I, Ensemble Studios hoped that it could eventually cover a significant expanse of human history through four equally broad releases (including expansion packs) generally to be titled AOE I, II, III, and IV.

The first two "Age Of" releases (AOE I & AOE II) were considered by many as the pinnacle of Real Time Strategy though some would include the original StarCraft in this list. Other titles of note during the 1990's and early 2000's included the original `Westwood Studios `Red Alert' Command & Conquer platform as well as the original `Blizzard Entertainment' World of WarCraft RTS titles (not the same game as the current `WOW' massive multi-player on-line game of today).

In May 2001, Ensemble Studios was purchased by Microsoft; one of many gaming industry roll-ups.... After the successful release of AOE I and AOE II, Microsoft/Ensemble Studios took the AOE franchise in a different direction by serving as the developer of a November 2001 Star Wars title (Galactic Battlegrounds-basically AOE II with different skins) and then as developer of their October 2002 `Age of Myths' title. Age of Myths represented a departure; a gambit from the AOE series. Basically since the `Age of Myths' game was not part of the AOE storyline, it allowed ES to be more experimental. `Age of Myths' continued to represent a finished and polished game at `game release'. This was soon to change...

Age of Empires III was released in October 2005 as a 3D game while the focus of the AOE series had clearly shifted. The game was not released as a `polished' product and instead was missing a number of items (such as the ability to 'change' hotkeys) which were then added later as `patches' to the game. The thrust of AOE III went in an entirely different direction to the point that the original 'ES' lead designer (Bruce Shelley) stated in a February 2011 (Eurogamer) interview that Ensemble Studios had approached Microsoft and asked Microsoft to take the Age of Empires brand off of the game prior to release. This did not happen. Ultimately Microsoft shut down Ensemble Studios and disbanded operations in 2009.

Age of Empires Online:

Microsoft eventually dusted off the AOE title and entered game production with `Robot Entertainment' who served as the game developer. On the plus side, `Robot entertainment' had a number of the game designers from the original `Age of Series'. The `Robot Entertainment' designers also seemed intent on taking the game back to the original roots of AOE I and II from a `game-play' perspective. AOE Online also interfaced with a modified `leveling/questing' platform in order to appeal to current `Civilization' and/or `World of WarCraft' type players who enjoy leveling up a player, or in the case of AOE Online, an entire civilization.

Unfortunately during the latter stages of production `Robot Entertainment' was replaced with `Gas Powered Games' (`true reasons' undisclosed) who came into the show quite late in the game and with none of the previous AOE developer experience associated with the crew at Robot Entertainment. It's not that `GPG' has done a poor job; they simply came in hampered with the above stated issues as well as being saddled with having to appease a corporate conglomerate (Microsoft).

August 16, 2011 release of `Age of Empires Online' (AOE Online):

The current release of `AOE Online' lacks the sophistication, polish, and in-game enhancements to which AOE players have become accustomed. The list of `missing' elements is notably long while hopefully most will be addressed in future `patches' or `add-ons'. However, that will be determined by the eventual success or failure of the enterprise from a revenue perspective.

More specifically, there are certain key items which this RTS game must have; especially when the AOE series has historically provided them in the prior games. For example, basic game play requirements for the original AOE series included the ability to have `set team' games as well as 3v3 and 4v4 multi-player `random team' or `set team' games. The original series also provided a copious number of `in-game' settings (map size, pop. size, etc.) all of which have gone missing from the `AOE Online' release. Today's `AOE Online' game offers a player vs. player skeletal structure of just 1v1 and 2v2 (no 3v3 or 4v4) but no `real' ability to have set teams in 2v2. I say no `real' ability because you can set up an `arena' game with a teammate but you then have to do all the work in the `chat' window to try to find people to play with you. Compound this with finding players of an appropriate `level' or `skill-set' and you will find yourself pulling your hair out by the roots.

The reality is that the current platform is designed solely for 1v1 or 2v2 `random player' games which limit your ability to get to know people, become friends, or join guilds. Ironically there are still 4 levels within the game; yet with the average 1v1 game, you won't be seeing level 4 (Golden Age) too often. Microsoft (the owner) and Gas Powered Games (the replacement developer) have stated how `difficult' it is to instate (or rather re-instate) true `team play' plus 3v3 and 4v4 random and team games into the current platform. And yet, the original games (as well as long-time AOE players' expectations) call for exactly that...at a minimum. Microsoft/Gas Powered Games have `implied' that they will eventually get around to true `team games' as well as 3v3 and 4v4, but that could mean anything from:

1) If we get enough people to buy the game to justify the cost vs. return,
2) If we get enough people to buy the add-ons to justify the cost vs. return,
3) It's on the drawing board and we'll get to it eventually (the key word is `eventually').

Game Play:

Regarding game play, the game was launched with the ability to `purchase' (individually or together) up to two civilizations (Greek and Egyptian) while two more civs (Persian and Celts) can be purchased in the near future. In this case, the developers have stated that the two new civs are `coming soon' so it is clear that this is what they are currently working on (as compared to working on the team play and 3v3 or 4v4 options). This development choice (new civs) raises cash in the short term. Hopefully Microsoft will recognize that the second choice (3v3, 4v4, teams etc.) keeps players playing and playing for a long long time.

The combination of `leveling' and `questing' (ala WOW or Guild Wars) within a `Real Time Strategy' (player vs. player) game is somewhat interesting though the quests can only be so `varied' given the RTS nature of the game coupled with the allocated size of the server platform. Still it is refreshing to have a change of pace from player vs. player gaming and the `leveling/questing' aspect of the game provides a welcome advancement of this game. Plus you can focus on getting better gear depending upon how serious of a gamer you are. I do like the fact that you have to `level up' each purchased civilization. On one hand it's a `time-sink' to do so; but for those who enjoy leveling games, it's at least something to do if you aren't into 1v1 or random 2v2 or have grown bored with that aspect of the game.

Another plus is the use of the current on-line gaming platform which helps to eliminate the cheating which was rampant in the older title AOE games. In the original AOE games, Ensemble Studios rarely `patched' games and never seemed to have a perfect solution for the cheaters/hackers whereas the current Microsoft platform seems to deal with that issue quite nicely.

Summary:

In its current state, the game will appeal to 1v1 random players and to a lesser extent to players who like leveling/questing/home city building. As the game sits today, it has eliminated the players who expect 3v3, 4v4, team play and the ability to customize the in-game team experience. Those who grow bored quickly with longer games will find `AOE Online' appealing as the typical 1v1 game is decided very quickly. Whether the fate of this game is also to be decided quickly will be determined by whether or not Microsoft `patches in' all of the other missing elements pertaining to this once proud historical game of the ages. Read more ›

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Have always loved the Age of Empires Series October 12, 2011

By C. Ward

Amazon Verified Purchase

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I've been playing Age of Empires since it's first release. I'm not a fan of the WOW style of game play so I'm glad when Microsoft did a AOE online version they kept with the real time stragdy style of game play.

First off you can download it for free and play alot but I purchased the special package they offered on release day.

Anyone that played and liked AOE in the past will love this as well.

The most impressive part for me was how well it played on a low powered laptop even when I turned up all the game graphics details.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Launch flaws fixed, much more features and game-modes March 30, 2012

By DrNegative

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I have always been a huge fan of the AoE series since my younger years. While the basic familiar gameplay remained and the graphics were polished, I initially gave it 3-stars when this game first launched, for lack of features and a rough leveling grind.

The latest patch (3/27/12) has addressed a lot of those complaints and balance issues, and they have since then released "Booster packs" to make the overall gameplay much more fun. The "Skirmish pack" was released and allows you to play with friends in a fully customizable game mode which was more like the old days. Along with an Arena mode for PvP, and the "Crete booster" for wave-based fighting, all of which is your choice single player or co-op, this game has jumped up to 4.5 stars in my book. Four civilizations to choose from now instead of the two available at launch is also a plus. The prices for all this content has dropped steeply compared to what it was at launch. You can unlock almost the entire game now for about $25 (half of what most games cost new these days), which in my opinion is a steal for what you get back in fun-factor and value.

In my opinion, since launch the major patches, boosters, and additional civilizations finally give this game the polish to stand near its predecessors. This is the version which should have launched in August 2011.

1.0 out of 5 stars Age of Empires On Line January 21, 2013

By Charles H Perry Jr

Amazon Verified Purchase

It was very complicated to install. When I finished the installation, a program called Steam was on my computer. I was supposed to use Steam to order more computer games. The software said Age of Empires Online is free. I was never able to get it to load to my computer. Since it only cost $10 I did not return it.

3.0 out of 5 stars What's the point? December 20, 2012

By J. Wang

Amazon Verified Purchase

I was looking for a way to get AOE Online for a while, however the only way I could find to get the game was to purchase a physical box... with a card in it. The card tells you where to go to download the game with an activation code. So I purchased an empty box with instructions to get a product online? Smooth move, Microsoft.

The game itself is fairly decent. By playing more games, you unlock more technology which helps you further on in the game. The graphics are a little too cartoony (I miss the good old days of AOE II) but it runs relatively smooth. Quests can be bothersome, and traveling around to different areas as well can be confusing as well.

However, the game still retains a bit of the old feeling of the game that so many people are nostalgic about, and finally multiplayer is much easier to attain. While I don't recommend getting THIS particular purchase, finding a copy that you can download and activate online immediately may be worth it if you're hoping to get back into the game.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Appeals to a Wider Audience... August 31, 2011

By C. Fenley

Fun: 4.0 out of 5 stars   

Age of Empires Online appeals to a broader spectrum of gamers than the previous AOE releases. In fact, this game will probably be a disappointment to RTS purists. However, it will have a greater appeal to people who liked the building aspect of AOE (and other RTS games) but didn't like doing all that work for an hour of gameplay. It's like Madden NFL players going through the draft, training camp, and preseason every time they want to play one football game. Age of Empires Online introduces "Franchise Mode" to RTS gaming.

MMO ASPECTS

You start with a home city. It's not very useful at first, but you can use it to produce crafting materials, special items to upgrade your units/buildings, assign "advisors" for each age, and decorate with your own personal touch.

You also do quests. As with most MMO games, the first few levels of quests serve as a tutorial. Experience RTS gamers will find this exceedingly easy. I would recommend doing them on Elite mode for a little extra challenge and bonus loot. Yes, there are quest rewards ranging from gold to crafting materials to epic items for your troops. Of course, all rewards are persistent. If you get a really cool sword to upgrade damage for your infantry units, you will have that upgrade in every successive quest and pvp match or until you remove/replace that piece of equipment. In addition to quest rewards, just about every map also has one to three chests guarded by neutral units. These chests range from "lightly guarded" to "heavily guarded" with corresponding difficulty in defeating the guardians. Of course, the reward from the chest is usually relative to difficulty.

You can do quests with one other person.... The ability to co-op quests adds an element of fun and makes some of the harder quests much easier.

RTS ASPECTS

Fans of AOE and other RTS games are going to be very familiar with this gameplay. However, let me start out by saying you can't simply buy the game and begin player vs player combat immediately. You have to reach Level 6 before you get an arena that will allow you to play against friends on the same server. The random and ranked player vs player matches can begin early on, but the pvp population is relatively low at the time of this writing. This means you are likely to be matched with someone who is Level 40 and has a great deal of epic gear. So, not only will you be out-geared and out-leveled, you have to be Level 20 before you can advance your army to the fourth age. In summary, I think RTS gamers will really enjoy the pvp of this game as long as they can make their way to Level 20.

FREE vs PREMIUM

This review is for the premium product and that's what Amazon is selling. The FREE players have a significant disadvantage in both MMO aspects and pvp aspects. For example, free players are limited to two store houses in their persistent capitol city, while premium players can build up to five store houses and they have access to the larger capacity store houses. Also, free players cannot build an arena and they cannot equip rare or epic items on their units.

SUMMARY

The game is a lot of fun, but if you're just looking for the latest version of AOE to install and begin unlimited PVP with your friends; this is NOT that. You have to work through the MMO questing and leveling before it becomes an open-ended RTS game. Having said that, MMO gamers who have shied away from the RTS genre may want to give this one a try. I think you will enjoy it immensely. Read more ›