Age of Mythology

aka: AOM, RTS 3
Moby ID: 7662
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Age of Mythology is a spin-off title from the Age of Empires series of real-time strategy games, sharing most of its gameplay with prior titles in the series. However, as opposed to the numerous civilizations that are present in Age of Empires which differ in statistics, tech tree availability and a few unique units and upgrades, Age of Mythology has three factions which differ visually and functionally in their entirety - the Greek, the Egyptians, and the Norse. Each civilization has a different economic model, a different tech tree and unit roster, a different play style, and a different way to acquire favor from their gods.

Other than introducing a 3D engine, the main feature that Age of Mythology brings are myth units and heroes, as well as choosing gods to worship. Gods are split to major and minor ones - major gods act as subfactions (not unlike "countries" in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2) which have their own bonuses and abilities, and each major god has a selection of two minor gods for each age transition. Each minor god brings their own unique units, upgrades and god ability, and only one can be chosen per age.

Myth units are available for training at temples (or docks if they are seafaring) and require favor to produce and upgrade. Heroes are special units who are more effective at fighting myth units than regular human units, while human units still have entire series of upgrades. Certain units also have special abilities which require time to recharge, such as anubites jumping towards their target, or minotaurs throwing their enemies a considerable distance.

Certain economic changes have been made as well, such as farms and fish schools being infinite food sources.

Age of Mythology has a single campaign with 32 missions, titled "Fall of the Trident". The storyline is unified and played from the perspectives of all three playable factions, whose representatives (Atlantean/Greek hero Arkantos, Egyptian pharaoh Amanra, Greek heroes Ajax and Chiron, and more) end up interacting with each other despite the large geographic distances between their homelands in order to stop pirates and followers of the evil cyclops Garganensis from unleashing an imprisoned titan. Skirmishes and multiplayer matches take place on randomized maps which follow several preset templates and feature multiple game modes.

Spellings

  • エイジ オブ ミソロジー - Japanese spelling
  • 神話世紀 - Traditional Chinese spelling
  • 神话时代 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

490 People (246 developers, 244 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 89% (based on 66 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 84 ratings with 6 reviews)

The undisputed Age of Empires III

The Good
*2nd Review Update

So there I was, hearing rumors of an Age of Empires III that turned out Age of Mythology. Unfortunately for us AoE fans, Age of Empires III turned out to be a pile of crap. At least AoM wasn't disappointing at the least. Hah, they finally use "mythology" has a main theme. See this is what happens when people start thinking "Medieval RPG". Hey, nothing can go wrong with "Medieval RPG Thinking" :p

Graphics
So Age of Mythology did a total upgrade to old AoE II game play. From 2D to 3D and very stable I might add, which was still rare considering 3D graphics were quite new, very unstable for a lot of games.

I remember the first time I saw the intro cut scene. My jaw was in awe. The sight of mythological units was somewhat amazing. The fact that I've never seen a giant beetle unit is very much memorable.

New Factions
The game itself comprises of the different approaches, which is represented by the 3 different races:

  • Greek;
  • Egyptian and;
  • Norse. Each with different units, different abilities but also different techniques and styles of playing. It’s like playing cards, the difference is the Greek is Poker, Egyptian is Blackjack, and Norse is Bridge. They all have different rules of playing which makes it all more complicated (and fun!). GODS - Technological Tree
    The age advances now are represented by gods. Each race has different gods which represent an outline of a technological tree. The first choice is to define 1 out of 3 possible Major Gods, which will branch into several Minor Gods. Each God has their own specialties effecting units, powers, and game play tactics (ie. production, etc.) Units
    The units are divided into 3 major groups:
  • Basic Units (good vs Hero Units);
  • Hero Units (good vs Myth Units);
  • Myth Units (good vs Basic Units); Well its a little more complicated than that, since some units don't follow the rule above (replace "good" with "usually good"). Basic units are the main bulk of the army. Infantry, Ranged, Cavalry, Artillery --> the numerous and often cheap. The hero units are the leaders of your armies. The elite single unit that can fight off many units at the same time and usually gifted with unique powers. Myth units are the monsters in the game. The representation of the wraith or blessings of the gods in physical manifestation. The presence of these “Myth Units” is the soul of what Age of Mythology is all about. Strategy and Tactics
    This is the most unique and complex RTS I've played yet. To a certain point I must dare say balance of the 3 races (and their hybrids) out-maneuver Starcraft which by most veteran RTS gamers is considered to be the most perfect balance of RTS gameplay in existence...probably because of its simplicity that compliment each of the races. AoE however is not simple. The races introduce very complex and extremely different methods of game play, may it be its combat tactics or its production strategies. The existence of "favor" for example (a requirement for certain buildings, powers, and units) differ for each race. The Greeks gain favor by worshipping at temples. The benefit is the more worshippers there are, the more favor is generated. The disadvantage is that this effects your population limit. The Egyptians generate favor by creating obelisks. The advantage is that you have a passive flow of favor from each obelisk. The disadvantage is it takes awhile to build. The Norse generate favor only by combat. The advantage is besides wiping out (or being wiped out for that matter) enemy units, generation of favor by the Norse is extremely fast. The disadvantage is of course, you have to fight a lot (and try not to die too much). That is a simple example of the differences of each race. The Greeks in general are the "default race" found in most RTS games. The Egyptians however have a unique and powerful Pharaoh which helps hasten production and buildings. The Norse have a portable or moveable supply wagon (read=supply depot). The differences obviously affect unique strategic and tactical approaches during game play. Especially in multi-player. Campaign Story
    In the campaign mode, you play Arkanos. Naval commander, protector, and son of Atlantis. Obviously fictional it seems, even from a mythological point of view, but I must admit the story plot leads into very interesting way. Besides advancing in the game to find out and experience new units and technologies, the story itself is also as addictive. The plot brings you around the world from Greece to Egypt to Scandinavia though what seems to be an underground subway route :p

    **The Bad**
    Only one thing I've found that is depressing. Unit stances. Not short keys. You actually have to click to set the "aggressive", "defense", etc. stance. Although there is a "global" stance option, I doesn't help much in fast maneuvers though.

    **The Bottom Line**
    Age of Mythology is an excellent sequel to the Age of Empires series!
  • Windows · by Indra was here (20756) · 2007

    It has the base of a great RTS, but it's too flawed to recommend.

    The Good
    A fantasy-styled RTS where the Gods actually care about you, unlike other games where churches and other religion-based structures and units are there only to make your units happier or to keep a God happy enough not to blast you to pieces. Age of Mythology gives you a reason to please the Gods, and that's really what this game is about.

    Age of Mythology is your standard RTS set in a fantasy universe, but with a twist of Age of Empires in it. You begin with your standard units - spearnen, archers, etc. - but as soon as you're pleasing your God(s), other units and powers come into play, such as cyclopses, wolfmen, even dragons and phoenixes, as well as four mighty powers that can dramatically change the course of battle. Meteors, underground passages, the ability to turn night into day, healing powers, and more are there for to use, if only once during a battle.

    Your heroes are good fighters, and they also have special abilities that might heal other units in battle, or increase their attack power temporarilly. And if they die, they can be revived.

    Three races to choose from, with their own set of Gods, makes for diverse gameplay. With three main Gods per race, and a number of Gods to choose during the four epochs, fighting an opponent - even if he chose the same starting God/race - will be unique, since chances are neither of you will have the same sets of units or spells.

    You can build walls and buildings on any flat ground (or ground on a slight incline), rather than all other RTS games where you must place them on a tile. A small detail, buit it was neat to see.

    The Bad
    To be frank, the game is simply too small. With such a great base, it was diappointing to find that you were very limited in what you could do. First of all, the "large" map is the size of the "small" map on just about any other RTS game, so if you were hoping for a lengthy epic battle, you'll be disappointed, since the enemy is right around the corner. There is also no random map generator! What gives? That's almost the standard in RTS games now.

    The opening cinematic shows a gigantic legion of fighters going after the enemy. What a load of crap. There is no possible way you can create an army that large. Why? Because of the way the population limit works. First of all, you can only build ten houses to increase your population limit. After that, the only way to increase your limit is by building town centers - but you can't build town centers anywhere, like most games. Instead, you have to find "abandoned settlements" and build them there, and most maps typically have four or so on the map. So, you'll be fighting for these most of the time, but let's say you find the four on the map and you manage to keep them. You're still not going to be able to build a legion of fighters. No, you're still stuck with a very small (at least small compared to the cinematic, or even an average army size in Age of Empires) army. Don't get me wrong, with strategy your small army can beat the enemy, but I wanted to see a large mythical battle, not just a tiny skirmish.

    Another reason the town center thing sucks is - let's say you're playing a two-on-two game, and suddenly you're attacked by your two enemies. You fail to defend yourself and doom is imminent, so you do the only thing you can - retreat to your ally's base. But what can you do now? You can't just build a town center and try and rebuild, like so many classic battles in Starcraft and Age of Empires. You either have to find an abandoned settlement or...well, die. Your choices are so limited, it makes it pointless to try to retreat.

    There also isn't that many different units. Each race gets their own set of units, but they're almost identical. Each race gets the standard fighter, standard ranged unit, a few units on horses, a few stronger fighters and a few siege weapons, with some boats. The only real difference between the races are the mythical units and - hold on here - there are two myth units per race. Two. Yeah. Two. Well, no, there are more myth units, but you can only HAVE two different types of myth units in a battle.

    But, what does it matter, having such a limited amount of units when your armies are so small anyway?

    The game has the base of a great RTS, but the sheer lack of size of the battlefield or range of units or potential population size makes this game disappointing and not fun.

    The Bottom Line
    It's a fantasy style RTS game where the Gods are of some use. Those that enjoy smaller battles will certainly love this game, but those, like me, who love battles that last hours at a time will absolutely loathe this game.

    Windows · by kbmb (415) · 2003

    A great game in its own right, but also where everything started to go wrong

    The Good
    In the media there's a term known as "jumping the shark." It's where TV show, author, band, whatever, makes a creative decision that, while it may be well-received, marks the point where the artist/band/whatever begins their downward slide. Years later, people will point to that change and say "see? That's where things started to go shitwards."

    Metallica jumped the shark when they released The Black Album. The Brady Bunch jumped the shark when they added the Cousin Oliver character. The Simpsons jumped the shark when they moved away from their core conceit of Springfield itself and began basing their shows on non-sequiturs and celebrity cameos. And guess what? Ensemble Studios jumped the shark when they released Age of Mythology.

    Age of Mythology is a real-time strategy game similar to Age of Empires I and II, except instead of history it's based on the myths of the ancient world. You don't get to conquer the world as Alexander the great, but you do get to is destroy enemy armies with the Greek Cyclops and Hydra, and sink enemy ships with the many-tentacled Kraken.

    The game's design is far simpler than Age of Empires II. You play as one of three civilizations; the Greeks, the Egyptians, and the Norse. Once you've selected a civilization you can then pick one of three primary gods to worship, each of whom will confer special abilities upon your civilization (for example: worshipping Zeus gives you stronger infantry and allows you to build Pegasi flying units). Each time you advance an Age in the game (there are four) you get to pick a minor god to worship, who will likewise give you special bonuses. This allows you to tailor and develop your civilization as the game progresses with far more flexibility than in Age of Empires II, where you start out with a pre-set civilization with fixed bonuses and abilities.

    What makes the game really fun is that each god grants you a special "God Power" which lasts for a limited amount of time and can only be invoked once. Your early god powers are things like Zeus' lightning bolt (instantly kills an enemy unit) and Loki's Spy (allows you to see what the enemy is doing). At the end of the game you've got super-powerful God Powers like Horus' Tornado, which sucks whole enemy armies into a whirlwind of dust! The graphical effects for these God Powers are truly astounding, even by today's standards.

    Since God Powers can only be used once, you've got to decide whether to use them early in the game to gain a quick advantage or hold on to them like a hidden ace up your sleeve. They can even be combined, for instance you can use Nepthys' Ancestors power (creates an army of undead skeletons) and Bast's Eclypse power (gives mythological units double attack for a couple of minutes) together for a surprise attack of souped-up undead warriors.

    Each god also lets you build a special Myth Unit, an especially powerful mythical creature that complements your human attack force. Some Myth Units have special abilities, such as the Hydra that gains an extra head for each enemy it kills. The combination of Myth Units and God Powers drastically reshapes the way gameplay works, and shakes off the layer of complacency Age of Empires II had a times. Each Age of Mythology game plays out different, and you never know what to expect.

    Other than the mythical element Age of Mythology keeps most of the rock-solid gameplay of the previous games. You can trade, fight, or boom your way to victory. You can wage huge battles or cripple your enemy's economy through raiding. This all worked well in the previous games, and what isn't broken doesn't have to be fixed. One of the few changes is that each unit you build takes up a different amount of population. Villagers only use one slot, infantry normally use two, cavalry use three, and myth units use four or five. This means you can either have a small but powerful force or a large army made up of cannon fodder...a great idea that has been long overdue.

    Graphics are an impressive deal, with an advanced 3D engine coded specifically for the game that supports pixel shaders, millions of colors, and a simple physics engine that allows units to fly around the screen and buildings to collapse realistically. I prefer Age of Empires II's sprites to Age of Mythology's polygons but that is a matter of taste. The game supports ambient lighting and you can play by day, by night, or during an eclipse.

    The game even takes a clue from Warcraft III and includes an in-built multiplayer game finder that immediately matches you up against equivalently skilled players, another nod to changing times.

    The Bad
    I'm not crazy enough to say that Age of Mythology is by any means a bad game. The production values are incredible, the unit balance is solid, the multiplayer is great, the addition of Gods and God powers is excellent, and the myths-based storyline is cool. But it is inferior to Age of Empires II. And not by a little, by a lot.

    Once you're tired of blasting soldiers around the screen with meteorites, Age of Mythology's gameplay is shallow. There are fewer units, fewer buildings, fewer resources, fewer everything. In Age of Empires II you could delete your town center and rebuild somewhere else if you wanted, in Age of Mythology you can't. There's an obtrusively low population limit that limits everything you can do. The whole game feels...restricted.

    And this brings me to another point; the game is newbie-friendly to the point of being retarded. Let's not confuse the issues here, accessibility always has been one of Ensemble Studios' main concerns and so it should be. But Age of Mythology is so dumbed down it almost cripples the game. Simplified interfaces and gameplay is one thing, but why have they made rushing impossible? And how come there are practically no formations or stance buttons? And where are all the hotkeys? Age of Mythology is tailor-made for the bottom-end newbie, at the expense of more experienced gamers.

    And while there is a lot to be said about the game's mythological theme it sends the cheese factor through the roof. Personally I would have preferred a more serious approach rather than having goofy-looking giants and two-headed trolls and whatever else they got out of the latest AD&D module.

    The Bottom Line
    Age of Mythology is a fine game and I recommend it. Unfortunately, it marks the end of an era and beginning of a new, crappier one.

    Bands, writers, and TV shows very rarely recover from jumping the shark. Will Ensemble Studios buck the trend? Ask me when Halo Wars comes out.

    Windows · by Maw (832) · 2007

    [ View all 6 player reviews ]

    Discussion

    Subject By Date
    disc 2 dolphin-san Apr 22, 2008

    Trivia

    1001 Video Games

    Age of Mythology appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

    Board game

    The game was adapted into a 2003 boardgame of the same name published by Eagle Games.

    Code

    Age of Mythology has over three million lines of code.

    Engine

    This is the first game in the Age series, developed by Ensemble, to use a 3D engine.

    Mountain giant

    The mountain giant unit has a unique, little-known special attack – it can kick dwarves like soccer balls.

    Online servers

    The game's online servers (which were hosted on Ensemble Studios Online or ESO) were shut down by early 2013.

    Sales

    In 2003, Age of Mythology won the Gold-Award from the German VUD (Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland - Entertainment Software Association Germany) for selling more then 100,000 (but less then 200,000) units in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

    Awards

    • 4Players
      • 2002 – #7 Best PC Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
    • Computer Games
      • March 2003 (No. 148) - #4 in the 10 Best Games of 2002 list
    • Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (Entertainment Software Association Germany)
      • 2003 - Gold Award

    Information also contributed by Maw, PCGamer77, Pseudo_Intellectual and Xoleras.

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    Contributors to this Entry

    Game added by Kartanym.

    Macintosh added by Corn Popper.

    Additional contributors: Andrew Hartnett, Unicorn Lynx, Corn Popper, Maw, Zeppin, Paulus18950, Cantillon, Patrick Bregger, Plok, FatherJack, Zhuzha.

    Game added November 3, 2002. Last modified March 3, 2024.