Macintosh

Age of Empires

"Been there-done that" gameplay and graphics, but I have to admit that it's still a good time, at least for a while. If you are either a hard-core strategy/sim player who at night dreams in Tiberium-colored glasses or a history buff looking for your chance to show the ancients how it should have been done--this game is for you. However, if you are looking for a strategy/sim that pushes the bounds of the genre in new and challenging directions, look elsewhere.

Though I am still a relative newbie at RTS games, AoE is challenging and fun. The different methods of playing the game are building your own scenario, playing a redesigned scenario, playing a campaign, or playing a random map. There is even a deathmatch option. No matter which you choose, you are in for a rip roaring good time. I confess to having my doubts at the beginning, but it is an enjoyable game.

Dieses Spiel ist, obwohl es von Microsoft kommt, wirklich grossartig. Die Grafik, der Sound, das Gameplay, die Netzwerkoptionen; alles läuft sehr gut und macht dieses Spiel zu einem Unvergesslichen Spaß & Abenteuer. Die einzelnen Animationen und Sounds sind wirklich cool - auch für die heutige Zeit, bzw. für die heutigen Verhältnisse! Age of Empires (kurz: AoE) ist eines der Spiele, die ich auf jeden Fall wieder kaufen würde - auch Heute noch! Nur noch eines: Solltest ihr dieses Game zu tun, vergesst nicht, einmal nach draussen zu gehen, bevor es heisst: "He Leute, kommt raus, es ist Frühling!"

Age of Empires is a very ambitious game, attempting something that hasn't really been done before. While it succeeds in some respects by providing some unique game play elements, it fails in many of the basics of good game design like unit AI and play balancing. The result is a game that is both fun to play and frustrating at the same time. If you're looking for a fun real time strategy game, Age of Empires fits the bill, but don't expect a well refined sim like Civilization II.

Still, this difficulty factor coupled with the amount of time it takes to play out the scenarios means that the game will have a place on your hard drive for a long time to come. Good thing, too, as MacSoft--who are generally very good about bundling the expansion packs in with the first release of the Mac port--left us high and dry this time. They did, however, include a mission editor in case you really want to be God, and with the multiplayer feature, you can take on other gods as well. However, they have to be Mac users; multiplayer games are limited to communication between Macs only.