fantasy

While at the mall, I was pretty bored of most strategic games. So I picked up Age of Mythology thinking I would be treated to a great gift. But now I have mixed feelings for the game.

It is just like ages of empires. The resources are the same and gathering them are the same. But there is a new one called favor. To buy myth units or certain upgrades you need favor. For the Greeks you pray at a temple, Egyptians build monuments, and Norse fight. The Greeks are basically the regular race. The main one in the game. They are okay, but kinda boring after a while. The Egyptians have cool god powers, and do not really need to chop wood for any reason. The Norse are the best, they have the best units and can build quickly with their army. While playing online, Norse always dominate because they build several fortresses right outside your town then attack. Because Norse build buildings with their infantry, they have a huge advantage. But their godpowers are not that great compared to the other races.

God powers are given to you when you advance an age. If you advance to a new age you get to pick a minor god to worship, and each god has its own god power. Most of the god powers are kinda lame, and you can just waste. Zeus has a lighting bolt which kills one unit, but does not kill main units in the story, so it has no point. The only good ones are meteor, tornado, plenty vault, and earthquake. Meteor and tornado are the best Egyptian god powers, because they decimate areas of buildings. Earthquake and plenty vault rock. Earthquake belongs to the Greek and totally destroys every building in an area. Plenty vault also belongs to the Greek and provides a steady resource flow.

But the fighting gets old. The unit selection is awesome, but still, norse will win. Norse have the best units and just rock. Egyptian do not need alot of wood, so they can be good. Greek needs everything and the only rewarding experience is the 2 god powers I mentioned above. If you truly love ages of empire you can like this game. Most missions result in you killing one unit, then going on to the next mission and rebuilding your base all over. So the campaign gets really frustrating. Especially on moderate where the attacks are constant. In all seriousness, if you want to buy this game go ahead, but please wait till it is on sale.

If there is one thing the Age of Empires series achieved that almost no previous strategy games have, it's longevity. Games come and games go, but Age of Empires has remained installed on my computer for 3+ years and it still gets played regularly. This longevity has been achieved through supreme game balance, great variety, and amazing depth and complexity.

In this vein, Age fans welcome Age of Mythology, Ensemble Studios' latest strategy game that uses the core principles behind their previous games, but spices up the mix with ancient lore and mythology and adds all of the trimmings that go along with it. Greek heroes like Jason and Heracles join the fray against fierce medusas and enormous golden colossus beasts. Egyptian pharoahs fend off giant scarabs and powerful Avengers of Horus. Norse Valkyries and frost giants march into battle against mummies and war elephants. And this is just a taste of what the game has to offer.

Having taken part in the pre-release Alpha Test for this game, I can attest that the graphics are very nice. While maybe not as visually spectacular as Unreal Tournament 2003, Age of Mythology uses a very advanced engine where translucent waves gently wash upon the beach, units have detailed animations, snowflakes fall from the sky, sunsets bathe the world in an orange hue, and herds of animals go about their daily lives.

To sum up: if you enjoyed the Age of Empires series, or if you enjoy real-time strategy games in general, Age of Mythology is a must-buy. Just on time for the holidays too! This game will easily outlast all the other one-shot games that have been retired to your shelf to gather dust.

The Titans Expansion is the add-on to Age of Mythology. It provides a load of new features, including a fantastic campaign featuring the Titans of Tartarus. You play as Kastor, the son of Arkantos, (hero of the Age of Mythology campaign), to rid the world of the Titans escaping from Tartarus. Throughout the campaign, you have to use strategy to defeat the large, hulking Titans with massive HP and attack numbers.

There is also a new civilization introduced in the Titans, the Atlanteans. The Atlanteans are different from the rest of the civilizations in many ways. For example, the Atlanteans gain favor from their Town Centers, quite like how the Egyptians gain favor from building monuments. Also, their villagers gather and build much more quickly than other civilizations, but at a cost. They are more expensive and require a longer period of time to train. However, citizens can be transformed into Heroes by the click of a button, (and quite a bit of resources). When you choose the Atlanteans, you worship one of three gods, Kronos, Gaia, or Oranos. Each of them have unique powers that greatly benefit your civilization. Kronos has a power that lets you Time Shift your buildings, literally uproot one from the ground and transport it to another place within your line of sight. Oranos lets you build Sky Passages that can transport your troops and citizens across all sorts of terrain. And finally, Gaia creates Lush around all of her buildings, making it so that no enemy can build there. Also, some Atlantean god powers can be used more than once such as Shockwave. Shockwave stuns enemy units in a certain area and can be used three times. However, to use it again, you must wait for a certain period of time, which varies which each god power.
A few reasons I like this expansion is because of the new campaign, the new random maps it introduces, the changes to the Scenario Editor, the new god powers, and the Titans. Yes, the Titans. The Titans are the massive creatures that can win or lose a game. First, you must advance to the Titan Age and build a Titan Gate, which takes a very long time to build. Then, your mighty Titan will be summoned to wreak havoc on your enemy. Overall, I believe that the Titans Expansion is an excellent addition to Age of Mythology.