Age of Mythology

For the benefit of those just released from solitary confinement, Age of Mythology adds the legends and lore of bygone civilizations to its Age of Empires-style military campaign. The Greeks, Egyptians, and Norse seek to gain Favor (a new resource which replaces Stone) from their gods like Thor, Odin, Isis, Osiris, Zeus, Hades...so that they can build monstrous myth units like Cyclops, Hydras, Dragons, Mummies, and so on. Favor can also be used to enhance weapons and armor to make your armies more powerful. As you advance through the different ages, you'll also get god powers. Some are beneficial, and will provide rain for your crops. Others bring fiery death to your opponents.

This will probably the most talked about aspect of the game, because it's just so frickin' wild and cool. You can get whole forests to come to life and attack your enemies, build huge monsters like the Hydra (yes, it grows more heads as it takes damage), and pound the enemy city into a crater with meteor storms (thankfully, you only get four god powers per game, and you can use each one only once so the game doesn't get too crazy).

This alone would be pretty cool, but it's added on top of a pretty deep RTS system, one where a few key units in the right place can hold off legions. So, a handful of archers who specialize in knocking down cavalry can kill a lot of guys on horsies, but the guys on horsies won't find it so easy to whack them. You can also summon heroes (all recognizable names from mythology like Hercules, Theseus, and that best Greek hero of all: Jason) who will give bonuses to those they fight along side of (I like the battle cry they make when this happens). And there are so many units and upgrades that it's highly unlikely that you'll get to try them all over the course of a game. No, actually it's impossible. Because although there are only three factions, you choose between three major gods each to start, and then two gods to worship each time you advance an age. Each god will give you different powers, myth units, and upgrades.

Aside from the god powers and monsters, the Greek and Egyptian civs are pretty standard. The Egyptians get a very important Pharaoh unit, who can empower buildings to perform better, and you gain Favor by building statues as opposed to the Greek way of worshipping at a temple, and that's their major difference. The Norse are very different by RTS standards in general. They gain Favor by attacking, and their infantry units can build structures, while their peons can only gather. I found it tricky to adjust playing as the Norse, but they're good if you're a confidently aggressive sort (which I ain't), the AoM version of the Zerg.

The single player campaign has 32 missions--first Greek, then Egyptian, then Norse. Missions types cover the usual things--eliminate the other guy, bring important person or thing to the circle of power, hang on for X minutes... They've also worked in a few more dynamic missions, where you not only need to get an army together, you need to get it somewhere before someone else's army does. These missions make the single player campaign a lot more interesting, as does the plot. This game is far more narrative-driven than previous Ensemble RTS games, with frequent in-engine cutscenes, and a common story and set of characters to follow through the whole campaign. (By the way, if you're wondering where you've heard the voice of Ajax before, he played Nym in the Star Wars: Starfighter games). It's a pretty good story too, with heavy ties to actual mythology, and even a bit of history. You'll do the Trojan War thing, down to the horse. You'll have to assemble Thor's hammer and Osiris' body (Isis, he's your husband, you do it).

The game also has the requisite small party missions, where you take a handful of troops and try to keep them alive by attacking when the odds are good and using special abilities and god powers. If you've read my review of Warcraft III, you'll know I'm not big on these. To me they always seem like the developers are shilly-shallying (I've always wanted to get that word into a review) between RTS and RPG while delivering the strengths of neither. However, I must admit AoM has some of the most original uses of this mission type ever. One of them not only makes a neat little tie-in to Greek mythology, but it also does something that no other RTS game ever has--made me deadly terrified of the peons. There's also another one that plays like a dream sequence.

These things I've described, except for perhaps the Norse civilization, aren't revolutionary. You can see elements like these in other RTS games, like Warcraft, Warrior Kings, and of course, Age of Empires. The key is that these things have been put together so well. You may have had chocolate cake before, but that doesn't mean you don't want another slice, and let me tell you, this is one damn fine slice of chocolate cake.

Is there anything not to like about AoM? Nit picking stuff, but yes. Although the over-arcing story is good, it really makes the Greek side of things look like the stars of the show. There's even a part where a Greek hero barks orders in a snowy passage in the Norselands. Couldn't they have just had a Norse hero take over here? Ah, I'm probably only pointing this out because I prefer both Egyptian and Norse mythology over Greek.

The only weak area then is probably that even with all the new stuff, this game is a lot like Age of Empires, so if you've had your fill of that series, you might have problems getting into AoM. However, if you're a non-fan of AoE because you thought that the more realistic and accurate approach of Age of Empires wasn't exciting enough, you'll probably love the added fantasy elements of AoM.

Multiplayer is good stuff. There's a Quick Setup mode, which will search for your preferred game types, or Advanced, where you can pick from a list in the traditional fashion. The game types are Conquest, where you must beat the other players through military conquest; Supremacy, where you win by defeating the other players, claiming settlements, or building a wonder; Lightning, where the game moves much faster than normal, and Deathmatch, which is like Conquest, but you start with a ton of resources. I did my playing at ESO (Ensemble Studios Online). I did find I had a few laggy games, but nothing too bad. Occasionally Quick Setup took a long time to find an idea match though. Hard to say if that was server trouble, if there weren't any games that matched my criteria, or a combination of both.

Sound and music are pretty good--the maps mix in animal cries to good effect. The map design itself is very beautiful, helped along by the fact that there seems to be an endless amount of map art. Not just structure art (though each civ's structures and units are really well done)--every corner of every map seems to be spruced up by old columns, unusual rock formations, statues, or something. They did the effects on these maps quite well, too. When ships sink, you can still see them briefly, broken below the surface of the water. The wheels of your caravans seem to sink into the desert sands. The animation is also great, which makes battles much more interesting to look at. Large units pick up and throw smaller units, or charge into them and send them flying. Lighting bolts and fireballs occasionally light up the battlefield as you invoke god powers.

And on top of all that, there's also a Quick Battle mode, and pretty detailed map editor. This latter thing is probably for more advanced users, but I'm guessing it won't be long before some enterprising fan draws up a big tutorial, if there isn't one out there already.

While Age of Mythology doesn't really rewrite the whole book on RTS games with innovation, it does have a veritable shopping list of great features. Call this a "total package." Now that Ensemble and Blizzard too have made such packages, it will be interesting to see where the RTS genre goes from here, because we're still waiting on the next evolution I think. But while I wait, I will enjoy invoking the powers of the gods.

Oh, and Ensemble Studios? If you make a game around Lazer Bear, we promise to give that game a 10/10 no matter what.

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