Age of Empires: The Age of Kings

"Age of Empires fans and turn based strategy fans will both be pleased by this game"

Most successful titles that radically switch platforms will still get their sales. Of course any fanatic of the series will spend the money... but will they enjoy themselves? More often than not I would say no. When I saw Age of Empires for the DS sitting on the store shelf I had my serious doubts, but of course I had to buy it. I wasn't more than ten minutes into the game when I determined that Majesco created a real hit with this game.

Overall Ratings:

Gameplay - 9/10
During each game you will have to do things like build structures, gather resources, research upgrades to advance through the ages, produce units and siege enemy cities. The gameplay of AoE for the DS was somewhat of a culmination of many different games.

Usually you will be facing off against a single hostile faction, but occassionally you can be up against two or three of them, and from time to time you will have an ally providing you with help. Each faction moves their entire army in one turn, then the game cycles to the next faction, and so on and so forth. After each battle you'll be presented with a summary of the battle, including military strength and other things which will be plotted on graph charts. Also, when completing campaign games you will be presented with a summary of the battle from a historical standpoint.

You can build a city nearly anywhere you desire, and are limited at 1-4 cities depending on the map and scenario. On the squares adjacent to a city you will be able to build a variety of structures such as an archery range, barracks, marketplace, and many others. On the squares kiddy-corner to your cities you will be able to construct towers that will help to defend your city. As you advance through the ages you will have a wider variety of structures to build. Know that you will not have to build in excessive amounts (like in most RTS games).

Gathering resources has been simplified since the PC version of the game. Basically you build a mine or a farm on top of either a wheat source or a gold source. Once the structure is built you will gain the appropriate resource at the beginning of each following turn. These resources are required to research, build and produce units.

By bringing up your menu while playing you can access the research menu. The research menu is split into four sections, starting at Age I and going through Age IV. At Age I you'll be able to research simple things like a loom (increase villager's defense), while at Age IV you'll be able to research more advanced things like crop rotation (increased food output), or ring armor (+25% defense for ranged units).

Once you've researched a certain amount you'll be able to advance one Age from one of your cities, assuming you have enough resources. Advancing an Age will have many benefits. Naturally, you will be able to research from the new research list. Also, all of your troops will be upgraded (Militia will advance into Swordsmen when advancing from Age I to Age II). The idea is to be the most scientifically advanced empire, so that you can easily dominate your enemies.

Producing units is fairly self explanatory. If you meet the requirements (resources, available population, and the proper building is constructed) you'll be able to produce a unit from the appropriate structure. While barracks can produce infantry and archery ranges can produce ranged units, a marketplace can also hire mercenaries. Mercenaries are very powerful and cost a lot of gold, and are often unit types you can't otherwise produce (like War Elephants).

Each faction will more or less have the same units (swordsman, archer, spearmen, scout cavalry, etc.), but they will have a unique hero unit, as well as elite units that are unique as well. Elite units are immensely powerful, and can usually only be produced from a castle structure (which you can build as a stand-alone structure once you reach Age III). Hero units are very powerful both in combat, and for utility purposes. Each hero has special abilities (heal nearby units, buff nearby units with +25% attack and defense, etc.) that come in handy.

Finally, you'll want to storm the enemy's territory (though, you will be having border skirmishes for the duration of each game) when you are ready. Whether you choose to be scientifically advanced, militarily robust, or utilize small groups of elite troops combined with thoughtful strategic maneuvers, you'll be required to take down most enemy units and any cities the enemy controls. Depending on the strength of your enemy and how much terrain they control, these military clashes can last from several minutes up to an hour, and provide a lot of fun.

Some mechanics deserve to be pointed out when it comes to unit control. Units will gain an additional range for attack (assuming they're ranged attackers) and for vision when they are on mountains. Movement will be hindered when passing through swamps or over mountains. Also, units have special abilities ranging from charge (bonus damage for cavalry when on plains) to anti-cavalry (bonus damage vs. cavalry units). There are about twenty different special abilities, and they add great depth to combat.

Siege machinery is included in the game and can be useful for either taking out enemy units or structures. They have certain drawbacks (like only being able to move on roads and flat surfaces) to account for their raw power. Units will heal a portion of their health when spending a turn on a friendly structure. Special units like monks can also capture relics and return them to your church for increased resources. This game has a wide variety of units and strategies that can be applied, and I would say it rivals Advance Wars in it's actual application of strategy.

Additionally, depending on the rating you receive during battle, you will gain points that you can use to unlock various things. You can unlock advanced units that can be used by any faction, single/multiplayer scenario maps, or skirmish maps.

I found the multiplayer mode very appealing, but was ultimately disappointed with it. It's up to four players and you can choose teams, with the option of teaming up with a human ally and facing off against two allied computer players. The main downfall of this system is that the enemy is not nearly powerful enough. Even when set on the hardest difficulty they won't provide much of a challenge, if any at all. Secondly, my brother and I experienced a lot of game crashes during multiplayer mode. There's nothing worse than spending fifteen minutes getting everything set up (cities built and armies produced) only for the game to crash when you begin invading. I do hope that Majesco will release another game similar to this where these problems are addressed, because it could provide endless amounts of fun.

Story - 5/5
Assuming the roles of legendary characters like Joan of Arc, Minamoto Yoshitsune, Genghis Khan, Saladin and Richard the Lionhearted you'll be thrust into some of the epic conflicts of the past. While the story doesn't perfectly adhere to what historians believe to be accurate portrayals, it provides a lot of basic information and fairly good depth for each situation.

Also the game includes small portions of information about the various research subjects (such as the bronze age, or the bodkin arrow). While not entirely thorough or accurate, it's a good start to pique one's curiosity so that they can research things of interest further.

Graphics/Sound - Nil
The graphics were great. Each unit was easily discernible, and identifying similar troops for different factions was also easy. Heroes and elite units stood out from others. Terrain was easily identifiable. Battle sequences were fun to watch (until you've seen them a thousand times).

Sounds were fine. Hearing the clash of weaponry during battles was fun, as well as the voices that sound like they came straight from the PC game. Majesco kept it real when it came to music, and the sound effects were a nice change from the annoying beeping noises from the mid-nineties.

Some things could have been better when it came to sound, but I thoroughly enjoyed the graphics.

Play Time/Replayability - 4/5
Between five different campaigns, a bunch of single player scenarios, more than a score of multiplayer maps, and unlockable content, Age of Empires has a good amount of play time.

Since there's such a wide variety of content and games take a while to play, this game has a fair amount of replay value. Whether resetting your progress and starting from scratch or trying to get the best ranking on each campaign mission you can play Age of Empires time and time again.

Final Recommendation - 9/10
Overall, I found the gameplay to be extremely fun, and it was only docked points for the lack of functionality in multiplayer. With a good story, many things to research, pleasing graphics and sounds, and a more than adequate play time and replay time, Age of Empires: The Age of Kings is a great product.

Switching from an RTS to a turn based strategy game sounded like a stretch to me, but Majesco pulled it off with great success. Any fans of the series should be pleased, and any turn based fanatics will also have a good time. If you're either of those, then I recommend you get your hands on this game as soon as you can. Since it's on a DS you'll be able to pull it out and have some fun no matter where you are.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/04/09

Game Release: Age of Empires: The Age of Kings (US, 02/14/06)