Age of Empires 3 is the most complex, yet well-rounded RTS game to this date. Although there have been harsh comments about AoE3, claiming that it has fallen too old for its time and has no strategies, there is literally little wrong with the game at face. The reason I say 'literally little wrong' is many of the harsh comments are opinions based on false statements. In fact, Age of Empires 3 only modernizes the RTS genre with some of the best features, while uniquely combining old-time favored attributes with advanced graphics and game-play. ES borrowed thousands of proven elements from past games and spiced them up with an "Age of" feel. AoE3 is not only a grand package all in one, but also a very competitive, balanced, and strategic game. There's all the reason for age fans to enjoy this game, and plenty more for strategic gamers to, because the game’s competition environment is limitless.
Even now, 6 months into this game, there has not been a single expert that has dominated the ladders completely, except for the mysterious Grunt. In almost every Age game, there has always been an unbeatable expert that topped all the charts. First it was Koven in AoK, and then Iron in AoM. Maybe Grunt has been this, but other players such as Starsky, NaturePhoenix, Black_ice_ have also been considered #1 at some points (Starsky). What ES has done this time around is grouped some of the most prestigious experts from the community and put them on the AoE3 balance team. At first look, the game makes the civilizations seem very similar, but each civilization has its own niche considering the numerous military and economy capabilities that makes the game so diverse and hard to balance. Despite this, balance issues have been addressed last patch (1.05), as most of the age community can agree that all civilizations are capable enough to be brought to top 10. However, it is, as always, not easy to balance the civs, and most of the community can agree that the four top civs are Spanish, Germans, Ottomans*, and French* with the last two being nerfed last patch and Spanish being the worst. The other civs are balanced considerably, however their strategies are focused on more of a booming perspective, that hasn't been fully undertaken by the community yet. Portuguese especially is being increasing popular among top players. A fair analysis of each civ is still probably best to be made by one of the ES balance team members as they really participate in the community while also make logical decisions. As far as strategies, this game has actually been claimed to have so many strategies that it has caused the community to unknowingly consider it lame. (Zorn) With hundreds of strategies, there is a strategy triangle: 'rush>boom>turtle>rush'. ES has stated that this 'has never happened before' and that it really has made the game that much better (Deathshrimp). The HC has made strategies all the more complex. Knowing what and when you are going to something is now probably even more important than anything else. The HCs allows strategies to have specific decks that make strategies more definable, but also more versatile and focused. In general a rush can be closely related to the use of the new natives in the game. They are built from native trade posts and are more cost-effective than regular units since they are no pop, cost less resources, and train faster. A boom can be closer related to the use TCs, wood resources cards, and fishing on water maps. The trading trade posts can also increase economy as they gather experience for shipments or resources for economy. A turtle can be closer related to the use of towers and hit-and-run units. The hit-and-run unit 'skirmisher' has really been considered so powerful in this game that it was nerfed by speed last patch. Towers are also decently powerful in this game that puts a stop to raiding as they ruin cavalry and allow villagers to gather inside. Colonial (Age 2) turtlers commonly defend until they get to Fortress which then they use Mercenaries and stronger units to overcome a rusher or boomer. Many of aspects of the game are currently being thrown together to form hundreds of different strategies. However the most proclaimed strategies has probably been the Fast Fortress (FF), Ottoman Janissary rush, Native rushes (Aztecs, Lakota, Nootka), and Pikeman rush. There have been complaints in this game that the Fast Fortress dominates all game-play at the competitive level. One reason, is the use of mercenaries, but there have also been FF strategies not using mercenaries, and instead the age 3 units that are far superior to the age 2 units. However, with powerful rushes such as Pikeman forbid the players to do a pure FF. Colonial Rushing or Colonial 'Wars' has also slowly entered the community slowly as it is important to gain some map control, but the general consensus is to enter Fortress at a reasonable time in order to compete properly.AoE3 does include laming, but laming isn't always bad. Mercenaries are units purchased through the HC as a card that costs 1200g. They are very powerful units, so they usually always pay for themselves. Although mercenaries are common for the FF strategy, it is said by ES that almost any competitive game should make some use of them. When and how mercenaries should be used is still not completely determined by the age community, but right now they are used as strong support to the main army. Mercenaries have been discovered as very powerful units in the game about a month after release (since they require high HC levels), and were often claimed to be the entire game. Games would turn into Swiss Pikeman and Black Riders beat the choice of Stradiots, Stradiots beat Jaegers, and Jaegers beat Pikeman/Black Riders. However, ES answered this concern saying mercenaries are suppose to be powerful, but they are still counter-able if resources are used wisely. Since mercenaries are cut-and-dry with a one-time payment, mercenary build orders swarmed the community and dominated much of the game-play. Although full-out mercenary army will eventually die, in almost every competitive battle, ES expects there to be some kind of mercenary use, which the community has tended to accept now as it has found the general balance of a regular units and mercenary units.One of the unnoticed develops of AoE3 is the absolute need to explore. Exploring has developed many of its own characteristics as the 'explorer' has many unique choices and bonuses depending on the civilization. For example, the Spanish get an amazing bonus for their explorer, which as probably aided to their power. Another unnoticed addition to AoE3 could be the church and church techs, which aren't always used, but for the Russians and Portuguese, they are able to ship over some very powerful ranged cavalry. There is so much about this game that can be questioned, analyzed and reviewed, which simply hasn't because every idea is unlimited. Every aspect of this game is changed over the smallest patches, and the recent patch listed over 100 balance changes. This changed the game so much while the old game still wasn’t thoroughly tested. Among untested strategies thoroughly used by the community is booming. ES is helping, by posting Malice's Fish Boom at age community.In general this game is a game to compete with. The more competition and the more players are matched up against each, the more this game's complexities are discovered, balanced, and enjoyed. AoE3 has had competitions posted around, but many experts have left the game simply because there is no competition. That's really a joke because some of AoE3's best players, including Grunt haven't been beaten and have held the top with strategies that have now been considered lames because of the copying of these strategies. AoE3 competition environments now include ESO's own Power Rating, Age Sanctuary, Imperial Ladders, RTS-League, and the past A3 Tournaments at AgeS. Really the community and the game's competition are so unlimited. 6 months past the release of the game, and there's much to challenge about the game.Overall, there really is no cut and dry set-up of understanding the complexities of AoE3. All players must commit time in developing strategies and their overall game-play. In ES's own Fast Industrial Tournament, player Odeton stated that it took him eight 6-hour days to perfect his strategy, which is practically a full time job. He won an awesome Intel computer because of that. There is really nothing simple or easy in AoE3, and it has created the most complexities of any RTS to-this date because of the pace-paced, HC-flexibility, and interesting battle-tactics to the scene. With all the talk of it being an old-styled game, AoE3 is really just overlooked because of its perfected graphics, which is more obvious to tell absolutely rocks. Looking at overall, AoE3 provides more than just a 'game'.This is exclusively posted here, at Age of Empires 3 Heaven.
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[This message has been edited by Realn (edited 03-18-2006 @ 10:51 PM).]