Review by: Greg Niehaus
Published: May 25, 2006

I have to move fast as there are only moments before this outpost is overrun by French Army regulars.. After that it will only be a matter of time before the capitol falls. Two days ago an advance unit reported back to us that they had spied enemy activity near here No sooner had we begun to shore up the defenses we were being bombarded by cannon fire. Why has there been no word from the capitol? They were supposed to send reinforcements long ago; meanwhile our own infantry regiments are barely keeping their nails dug into the front lines to prevent our inevitable defeat.

‘Look’, one soldier yells, ‘off in the distance.’ Could it be? Yes! A brigade of his majesty’s Dragoons are flanking the French regulars and pounding them out of existence. Cannon fire rips through their lines and ensures that they never return to see their native soil. We shall survive to expand this colony and with it, the empire. God save the King!

As to be expected, this third installment in what is one of the biggest PC gaming franchises in history really brings excitement. Following the Age of Kings, Age of Empires 3 casts you into the discovery age and takes you all the way through the post imperial age. Choose from eight different civilizations (Spanish, British, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, German and Ottoman) as your home nation and lead your colonies to dominate fifteen different new worlds that vary in terrain. You will have to look out for hazards along your way.

As you begin your quest for new lands you begin with the obligatory town hall, six settlers and an explorer. The town hall is the place to train additional settlers as well as receive shipments from your home city. One well thought out piece of the game is that your enemy cannot build close to your original Town Hall.

Settlers are your common labor types. To begin with they will be your resource gathering (food, lumber and coin) group.Soon you will give them the task of constructing new buildings for your town. These buildings, or course, are used to generate resources, train military units and improve your technology.