Age of Mythology together with the The Titans expansion is the most recent game in the Ensemble Studio's Age of series, and without the doubt it has been improved for even better than the previous ones. Similarly to other Age games, AOM's gameplay consists of gathering resources, building structures, training villagers and armies, and progressing through four ages while trying to either destroy your enemy, build a wonder to gain economic or military advantages or accumulate a certain number of resources to gain economic victory. The major differences with other Age games stem from - you guessed it – mythology. The three civilizations in the game (four with the expansion) are very distinct, not only because of their different units but because they do things differently (more on that later). On top of that, for each age (four in total) a player can choose a god to worship who provides access to specific god powers (right pic), to structure and unit upgrades, and mythological creatures. God powers are special actions that range from luring animals on the map (to hunt them for food) to unleashing meteors on the enemy. Building and unit upgrades are god-specific but just like normal upgrades stay with you until the end of the game. Mythical creatures have great stats and special abilities, which make them good against human soldiers. To be able to build myth units god favor must be gained, which the three nations acquire in their own way: Greeks send their villagers to perform religious bows at the temple building, Egyptians build monuments (up to five) which steadily generate favor, and Norse gain favor by doing damage to enemy units or buildings on the map. As said before, civilizations also differ in other ways, more specifically in resource gathering, military units, gods, mythical units, heroes, architecture, etc. Then there are heroes that adds a new strategic aspect to Age of Mythology. Hero units are exceptional at countering myth units and also have the ability to pick up artifacts in temples (which provide bonuses to units or buildings as long as they are in place). Heroes vary by civilizations: Greeks can have one for each age; Egyptians have one Pharaoh who can heal and empower buildings and many secondary heroes priests who can heal and attack from range; Norse can build many slow and melee Hersir units that work well against mythicals; Atlanteans can promote their units to hero status. The other units of AOM are balanced in the more traditional RTS way (infantry>cavalry>archers>infantry and siege>buildings), the aforementioned mythological creatures mix up the formula in the manner of hero > mythical > human > hero. There are also some unique nation-specific units such as Norse huskarl infantry that counters archers, for example. The expansion pack The Titans brought many balancing tweaks and a new race Atlanteans, but above all the option for each race to summon a powerful titan once per game who could destroy the whole civilization (you have to advance to the last age, research a certain knowledge in town center and dig the Titan out of the ground with your villagers). Unleashing the titan on your enemy is very satisfying and brings extra strategies on the table, adding to the already impressive mix. Like the others two Age games, AOM is published by Microsoft which is good for their serious attitude towards testing and quality. In conclusion, AOM's unique races, god powers, myth units and titans enable to use much more strategies and counter-strategies than the standard RTSs. Therefore, Age of Mythology must be one of the premium RTSs available today. 18/20 - Based on 6 HOURS 4/4 PRODUCTION VALUES - Excellent. 4/4 ACCESSIBILITY - Interface is easily understandable, similar to AOE's. 3/4 PACING - Campaign kicks off good, then later gets repetitive I've heard. 4/4 INNOVATION - Interesting gameplay offered by myth units, god powers, unique races, and titans. 3/4 IMMERSION - Like any single player RTS, better online.
Calling Age of Mythology anything but great, would be an insult to gaming. This game is just brilliant in every respect and a true RTS. Yet another milestone in RTS gaming by Ensemble Studios, who've made quite a big nam... Read Full Review
The Campaign (single player mode) on this game is only a small part of it, I enjoy the online experience (which is of course free) 10 times more than I do the Campaign mode. But anyways lets first talk about the Campaign... Read Full Review
