GAME SUMMARYStory Line.Player’s Role.Installation.User Interface.Game Play.Scoring.Artwork.Sound and Music.Special Features.Manual.Bugs.GAME REVIEWWhat Is Good About The Game?What Is Bad About The Game?Why Is It Better Or Worse Than Similar Games?What Is The Appropriate Audience For This Game?Are There Any Design Mistakes Present?SUMMARYOverall Strengths And Weaknesses.Is The Game Worth Purchasing?How Could It Be Improved?Age of EmpiresDeveloped by Ensemble Studios Corporation for Microsoft CorporationStrategy Game$25.00System Requirements:- Multimedia PC with Pentium 90 or higher processor- Microsoft Windows 95 operating system, Windows 98 operating system or Windows NT Workstation operating system version 4.0 with Service Pack 3- 16MB of RAM for Windows 95 and Windows 98; 24 MB of RAM for Windows NT- 80 MB of available hard-disk space- 50 MB of available hard-disk space for swap file- Double-speed CD-ROM drive for game play; Quad-speed CD-ROM drive for cinematics- Local Bus Super VGA video display (with 1 MB of VRAM)- Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device- Sound board plus speakers or headphones to hear audio- 28.8 Kbps modem for head-to-head play- Internet access for Internet playActual Requirements: The only change I would make to the stated requirements would be to have more RAM. The game seems to move more smoothly with at least 32 MB of RAM. Obviously, the speakers, modem, and Internetaccess aren’t necessary to play the game. They can, however, make playing it that much more fun, especially the speakers.GAME SUMMARYStory Line. In Age of Empires there are a four different campaigns. Each campaign is associated with a certain ancient empire’s rise to glory. Each campaign is split up into a variety of scenarios with a variety of different goals associated with the story line. At the beginning and ending of each scenario, some historicaldata is given about what actually occurred. The first campaign, “Ascent of Egypt Learning Campaign”, is designed to teach the player the basic steps needed to successfully play the game. The other campaigns that can be played are “Glory of Greece”, “Voices of Babylon”, and “Yamato Empire of the Rising Sun”. The scenario goals of each campaign start out fairly easy in order to familiarize the player with the game and become progressively more difficult. Player’s Role. Each player’s roll in Age of Empires is to build up a civilization and create an army in order to defeat the other civilizations that are its enemies. The player is able to defeat the enemy through a variety of methods. First, the enemy can be defeated by destroying all of its buildings and killing all of its characters. Second, an enemy can be defeated by capturing all of the ruins and artifacts that are scattered throughout the game board and holding them for 2000 years (approximately 10 minutes). Third an enemy can be defeated by building a special building called a wonder and maintaining it for 2000 years (approximately 10 minutes).Installation. Installation of Age of Empires is fairly easy. Once you access the CD-ROM, an installation window appears with step by step instruction to guide you through the process.User Interface. The game can be played solely with a mouse if desired. All of the necessary commands are displayed at the bottom of the game board in the form of large buttons. Also, there is a map of the entire playing field atthe bottom of the screen. This map starts out black and is filled in as you explore the area.Game Play. In each scenario the player starts out with at least one villager and perhaps a town center. The player must then use his villager(s) to gather resources such as food, wood, stone, or gold. Then the player must build a variety of structures and create new characters. Each type of building or character has its own attributes that are useful in defeating the enemy. Some types of buildings are able to produce certain types of villagers or soldiers which you can use to attack the enemy. Other types of buildings are able to modify certain characteristics of those villagers and soldiers in order to make them stronger, faster, or more resistant to injury. After you build a few buildings and gain enough resources, then you may advance to a new age of evolution. In each age of evolution, new technologies become available to you. Each technology, however, requires you to give up a certain amount of resources.Scoring. There are many different ways to score in Age of Empires. First, you gain points for every enemy character that you kill. Also, you gain points by obtaining technologies and creating characters. If you have the most kills, technologies, or characters then you receive a bonus score. Also, if, at the end of the game, your civilization has survived then you get another bonus.Artwork. The graphics are quite clear and each character is easily identified from the others even though the playing field is somewhat small.Sound and Music. The music in Age of Empires is ok at first but eventually it is necessary to turn the volume down quite a bit. The sound effects are very useful while playing the game. Whenever the construction on one of your buildings is complete the game makes a specific sound that correlates to that type of building. Also, if the enemy is attacking one of your characters, then a warning trumpet is played.Special Features. In Age of Empires, it is possible to create your own scenarios. You are able to transform the landscape in any way you see fit. Also, you are able to modify the characteristics of each civilization on the playing board. You also place all of the resources and wildlife on the game board.Manual. The manual that accompanies the game is mostly comprised with how to start the game and the differentattributes and histories of the different civilizations. There is not a great deal of information on strategy or game direction. Most of this type of information is available in the game itself. At the beginning of each scenario, there is a list of hints that can help the player to achieve the scenario goals.Bugs. For the most part, there doesn’t really seem to be any bugs. One thing that is strange, though, is the fact that the computer will not transport any of its villagers over water. If it did this, then it could use much better strategies in defeating your armies.GAME REVIEWWhat Is Good About The
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