Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Major time sink..., March 6, 2001
I purchased the original Age of Empires years ago when it first came out, and the Roman expansion when it became available, so I have the equivalent of the so-called "Gold Edition".Out of all the games I own, this is the most addictive. Time just flies by when I'm playing this game, which isn't always a good thing. This IS a good thing when my flight has been delayed however. With my laptop, extra lithium-ion batteries, and Age of Empires, airport delays are not nearly as painful as they used to be. To create a game that remains addictive and interesting over the years is quite an achievement. Most video games become boring after a while, either because they are too frustrating and difficult, or they are too easy or repetitive. Finding a balance that is both entertaining and challenging is tough, and these guys have done it. I personally love the random games. The environment really dictates the strategy you should use, as it does in real life, and the possibilities are nearly endless. You can also design your own scenarios, which kills a lot of time and allows you to experiment with environmental conditions that the random map generator would never come up with. The Roman expansion didn't add much, but it also didn't cost much. The most important feature I was looking for was the ability to put gates in my walls. In Age of Empires, if you build a wall around your civilization, you can not get out without destroying part of the wall. As I understand it, this has been corrected in Age of Kings, which I have not gotten yet. If you enjoy real time strategy, you're gonna love Age of Empires!
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A smash hit!, November 30, 2000
By A Customer
I am not an rts expert but after playing the demo I knew I wanted it. This game is so immersive that when you begin, you have no clue where to start. There is so much to see and do. If you are new to the series, you should try out the campaigns which are carefully designed according to skill level. This game can be compared to a mixture of sim city and warcraft. Not only do you build massive empires that look incredibly realistic, you also have to maintain and nurture a small nomadic tribe that will eventually grow into a world power. The game combines war stategy and food gathering techniques plus terrain strategy and economic simulation. There are several modes of play. There are the campaigns of course. You start with easy campaigns and proceed on to tougher scenarios. The cool thing about this mode is that the objectives are so varied. Not always do you have to destroy your enemy. Somtimes you have to rescue a trapped unit or find a lost relic. This keeps the game going. The next mode is the death match. You start with stock piles of wood and gold and food. Using your rich store, you have to advance through the ages and develop an army to defeat and destroy your growing enemy. This is an exiting mode! You don't have to worry about food shortages. All you have do is build fortifications and create a large army. The third mode is a customized scenario. This is the real deal in the game. You have complete control over how your world looks. Do you want a island power like Greece? Or maybe a huge mainland. The choice is yours. You can even use cliffs to stategicly fortify your city from attack. In addition, this game has over 100 technologies and units that make the game varried and interesting. You choose from 16 civilizations to start with, each with distinctive strengths and weaknesses. Maybe by now you can see how complex this game really is. If you are thinking about buying it, I assure you, this is a game that will not let you down. Microsoft and ensamble studios have created the best rts game hands down.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AOE will tune your brain-waves to crave more and more of it, July 23, 2001
If you you spend little time with your family, or need to "get things done"...stay away from Age of Empires because this is the most amazing, entertaining, and of course the most addictive game in existence. I'll tell you how AOE changed my gaming experience. I used to be a video game fan, and disdayned pc games as boring, slow passed and silly. As with most console games, skill is directly proportionall to the speed of your fingers as you press the bottoms in the control pad, nothing more. Well, in AOE skill is measured in terms of intelligence. I yet have to find a review that makes justice to this game. I will try to achieve that here. Some people say that AOE becomes boring in the long run because it is impossible to win: "the computer is to hard to beat." Well, they could not bee any more right, and wrong at the same time! I spent my first month playing AOE 24/7 just to learn all the technologies, unit attributes, and civilizations by playing campaigns and random maps. Two months after I became frustrated being still unable to beat the computer on a regular basis. So I lost interest and went back to play Tekken 3. But one day a friend came over and beated 6 computers by himself in front of me, and set to hardest difficulty! Wow I was amazed, he used hot keys, he knew some great strategies to move trough ages and technologies rapidly, he managed his economy amazingly and organize his army for an efficient kill! The computers were no match. "I must know your secrets my friend!!!"...well, he just told me to play in the zone: www.zone.com/aoe And let me tell you that was when my aoe experience begun. AOE is a multiplayer game, far superior to star craft, Age of Empires 2 (which I also own to my regret), Age of Conquerors and any other strategy game, or just any other game. period. It is impossible to summarize all the strategies involved. And this is because AOE is a game that evolves, people come out with new strategies, there is no fix set of rules. Sounds weird I know, all you can do is get the game, get on the zone and play. Don't worry about being a newbie, people will show you how to play. Then all you gotta do is improve and invent ;) Well, today I have been playing almost everyday for over a year and guess what? I am still thrilled by it, just like that hundreds of people I play with/against in the zone every day. And also, I can beat the computers so easily now that it is not even funny.
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