Six years back there came a strategy game that took everyone by surprise. With everything from unit detail, economic management to campaigns were flawless and it left no room for imperfections. Ofcourse, the graphics don't compare to the stuff that is available nowadays but there is no denying that this game outdid everyone's expectations when it was released. No, its not MoonBase Commander I've been blabbering about all this time! Anyone could have guessed, Microsoft's Age of Empires. This RTS gripped people in Pakistan so badly that psychologists had to be hired to wipe out the addiction. I myself had to spend an year in re-habilitation to realize that there is more to life than computer games. I know this kid in the neighborhood who is still addicted to that game. Imagine all the sleepless nights he will have to endure once he finds out Microsoft is coming out with a new title in the series, Age of Empires III. Yes, you heard me and in two months time I guarantee you will believe me.

I guess that's enough for a good intro, time to get down to business. What has Age of Empires III to offer? Obviously, cutting edge technology will ensure fantastic graphics, but, are graphics all you need to purchase this game? That would be a yes for me because I reckon strategy games pretty much resemble each other, with a noticeable change in units, scenarios and campaigns and clearly the technology used to shape up dose biceps! But Age of Empires III has proven me wrong by introducing new levels of game-play which we will go over.

Age of Empires III shifts the series' focus to the colonial era, when European powers carved out their stakes in the New World. The game features five "ages" or epochs, and they are 'Discovery', 'Colonial', 'Fortress', 'Industrial' and 'Imperial'. This covers a good 200-300 years of world's history, and at the beginning of the discovery age you'll still see leftovers of the medieval ages that have yet to die, such as crossbows and pikemen. On the other end of spectrum, trains begin to make their appearance by the imperial age. The major new feature in Age of Empires III is the home city. You create a home city of your own when you create your profile. In a way, the home city represents you and it will grow and evolve the more you play Age of Empires III because you can gain experience points to level up your city and customize it in different ways. I'm clueless as to why this feature was added but certainly its worth more than just a pretty sight.
As you start the game, you get the familiar settlers and town center. Economizing and expanding your territory earns you experience points. Heroes have been introduced (finally) and not only are they tougher and stronger than other units, they can collect various treasures laid out on the map which may give you experience points, extra resources or even something to equip your hero with and make him even more powerful. This is a concept already worked out in the Blizzard Warcraft series.
Overall the game looks spectacular and it has much more to offer. It does, however, require we all to get rid of that 486 and equip yourselves with the latest in technology. Microsoft has yet to update us on the minimum requirements but with screenshots like that I'm guessing it will be choppy on a GeForce 5200 or Radeon 9550. Arrggh, this game is seriously going to dig a hole in my pockets!!

The writer is a gaming fanatic and doing Software Engineering from Bahria University, Islamabad. He can be reached at sinna@itinsight.info