Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties Expansion (PC)

...i own all of the Age of Empires games over the years, i thought i might as well get the final chapter for now.

The whole feel of the expansion pack is very similar to the original AOE 3 and the war chiefs.

New features:
(Civilisations main offensive strength)
The game adds three eastern civilisations: Indians (Several types of elephants), Chinese (Troops trained in mixed groups, enhanced siege weapons) ...
...to the americas during the age of discovery which the 1st game is based on.

The online game has not been changed, but personally i didn't find it needed it as it was my favourite part of the game.

I did thoroughly enjoy the game, and still play it even though i have had it for months. It is very addictive and the online play, makes it even more so. If you enjoy AOE 3 then it's a definite purchase, but if its your first ... more

As i own all of the Age of Empires games over the years, i thought i might as well get the final chapter for now.

The whole feel of the expansion pack is very similar to the original AOE 3 and the war chiefs.

New features:
(Civilisations main offensive strength)
The game adds three eastern civilisations: Indians (Several types of elephants), Chinese (Troops trained in mixed groups, enhanced siege weapons) and the Japanese (Daimyos, can train troops, recieve shipments and affects nearby units like warchiefs).

This time when you wish to advance to the next age, instead of just selecting the icon from your town center, you must build great monuments, each are specific to their civilisation and offer an immediate bonus e.g. troops or resources, aswell as a passive bonus that continues to benefit you until the end of the game.

You also have export; another resource which is an automatic trickle, you then build another new feature; a consulate. You then ally yourself with a european nation, and you can buy units groups of units or additional improvements.

I found though that in actual gameplay a few tweaks had been made as the presentation seemed much better. Personally i thought that on the initial game, the icons looked cheap and not particuarly realistic in comparison to the rest of the gameplay.

The campaign mode had been re-thought as in the first two games it was a made up storyline. For these campaigns have a truthful past for the Japanese: "the transition between the Toyotomi Dynasty and the Tokugawa shogunate" the Indians: "Simulates events during the First War of independence" the Chinese however are bac to make-believe as they journey to the americas during the age of discovery which the 1st game is based on.

The online game has not been changed, but personally i didn't find it needed it as it was my favourite part of the game.

I did thoroughly enjoy the game, and still play it even though i have had it for months. It is very addictive and the online play, makes it even more so. If you enjoy AOE 3 then it's a definite purchase, but if its your first time with Age of Empires you should seriously consider Age of Empires 2. 

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