Age of Empires

[Te Darasuum Mandalor]

Who here likes he AOE games? And why? For me, I liked the gameplay, the campaigns rich story, and the voice acting. Apparently, two KOTOR voice actors were in this.

 

Raphael Sbarge (Carth) played John Black

 

Jennifer Hale (Bastila) played Elizabeth Ramsey, the pirate girl

[The Betrayer]

I played Age of Empires III and all of its expansions. It was bloody brilliant. The diversity in skirmish was just wow.

[Sabretooth]

Age of Empires II was where it was at - one of the finest strategy games to grace the PC. Ensemble dropped the ball big-time with AoE III imo, but to each his own.

[Liverandbacon]

Age of Empires II was where it was at - one of the finest strategy games to grace the PC. Ensemble dropped the ball big-time with AoE III imo, but to each his own.

 

^This. Age of Kings was awesome. In fact, it's been years since I played that game. Perhaps it's time to do another few skirmishes. Has the gameplay held up, or have I left my rose-tinted specs on again?

[Astor]

Age of Empires II was where it was at - one of the finest strategy games to grace the PC.

 

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Rock on.

 

Hard to believe it's been ten years since Age of Kings - it's still one of my favourite games, even though i've since moved onto to deeper strategy games.

[Sabretooth]

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Rock on.

 

Hard to believe it's been ten years since Age of Kings - it's still one of my favourite games, even though i've since moved onto to deeper strategy games.

 

Wow, that intro and I go way back.

 

I still had all the music in the intro memorised in my head, I played it inside as I watched the video.

 

Responding to the OP on why I like the AoE series:

 

It was the first historical game I'd ever played, and was impressed by how true-to-history it was; for a new, 9 year old gamer it elevated games to a status of importance and something to learn from. I pored over the History section in the game everyday, it was all so mystical. There was so much I learnt from the game that I didn't know: the entire European Middle Ages, what a trebuchet or a battering ram is, how the feudal system worked or notable stories in histories, like Joan of Arc or Montezuma.

 

It was really a great time, when I played because I actually felt immersed there in that world, building strongholds and armies and marching them on.

 

Why I didn't like AoE III:

- Fictional, almost fantastical story instead of historical campaign

- RPG-ish progression was annoying

- Short games, easy AI and no epic battles

 

The production quality was excellent though; gorgeous graphics and beautiful crackling muskets.

 

Mindblown Edit: That losing king is Sid Meier.

[Te Darasuum Mandalor]

I have that one too! I haven't played it in 2 years.

[Mav]

Who here likes he AOE games? And why? For me, I liked the gameplay, the campaigns rich story, and the voice acting. Apparently, two KOTOR voice actors were in this.

 

Raphael Sbarge (Carth) played John Black

 

Jennifer Hale (Bastila) played Elizabeth Ramsey, the pirate girl

You do realize that Jennifer Hale is in damn near every game right?

 

OT: AoE2 was my first experience with PC strat games and although I still find them too confusing for me it was quite fun.

[Darth InSidious]

First RTS I played was Age of Empires: Rise of Rome. At the time, it was brilliant; now the gameplay looks rather lacklustre, and the graphics, while serviceable, aren't up to much. The most infuriating thing, though, is the MIDI music. There's only about four tracks, which repeat endlessly.

 

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The story... I'm not sure that semi-historical adaptations quite count as a story in this case. There's very little linking the scenarios, which isn't in itself a bad thing, but it does rather reduce the 'reward' for winning.

 

There's also very little difference between civilisations - it's all tiny balances, but the tech tree is pretty much identical for all - just with different end-points.

 

AoE 2 did fix that, helpfully; farms were still annoying, although at least they allowed you to queue reseeding. I'm not sure I like Age of Mythology's approach to food-production in that sense.

 

Probably the one I got the most play-value out of was AoM; cack story-campaign, but decent multiplayer.

[Liverandbacon]

First RTS I played was Age of Empires: Rise of Rome. At the time, it was brilliant; now the gameplay looks rather lacklustre, and the graphics, while serviceable, aren't up to much. The most infuriating thing, though, is the MIDI music. There's only about four tracks, which repeat endlessly.

 

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Woah, that music brings back memories of crushing my enemies, and hearing the "wololo" of their priests. I actually found the looping music a tiny bit annoying way back then, and I've been spoiled since then, so I'd most likely be far less charitable now.

[Te Darasuum Mandalor]

 

 

I prefered the AOE theme, but the AOM theme was awsome as well.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

AoE 2 did fix that, helpfully; farms were still annoying, although at least they allowed you to queue reseeding.

 

Something that was only introduced when The Conquerors expansion came around. That was exactly what made playing Age of Kings again so difficult. And why would I? It's a damn expansion.

 

I still recall some good old epic games I'd have with my dad. Like playing a King of the Hill game in a Oasis scenario. A lake surrounded by trees with a monument on the center. To reach it, you'd need to cut down the trees, then build a shipwright, "train" a transport, disembark on the island and take control for a while.

 

I opted to train some catapults, but area damage was only possible with the last upgrade. My father chose to build some trebuchets and mow the trees down one by one. Lawl, amusing.

[Sabretooth]

I still recall some good old epic games I'd have with my dad. Like playing a King of the Hill game in a Oasis scenario. A lake surrounded by trees with a monument on the center. To reach it, you'd need to cut down the trees, then build a shipwright, "train" a transport, disembark on the island and take control for a while.

 

I opted to train some catapults, but area damage was only possible with the last upgrade. My father chose to build some trebuchets and mow the trees down one by one. Lawl, amusing.

 

The amount of planning and execution in the game was surprising for a game that was essentially stripped-down and not as complex as other strategy games. Most of the "epic" moments in the game were resultant from this, you had to come up with grandiose plans and execute them and *that* was satisfying. Alas, so many games today end up making the plans and leaving the execution to you.

[Samuel Dravis]

Although I haven't ever played any of the Age of Empires games, I still play Age of Mythology multiplayer with a friend of mine who also loves it. We had a game just a few days ago which involved us smashing our worthless enemies into the ground and then pillaging the land of every scrap of resources... yay, hoarding instinct!