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> Results: Age of Empires: Age of Kings
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Taking a massive strategy game like Age of Empires portable is a daunting task. Transforming it from real-time to turn-based along the way makes that task even more difficult. Yet this is what Majesco has done with Age of Empires: Age of Kings on the Nintendo DS. It's a wonderful and challenging game that provides hours of portable entertainment.
The game is segmented based on your heroﾗthe tutorial comprises Joan of Arc's story, for exampleﾗand each hero has several campaigns they must complete before moving on to the next. Each of these campaigns has different objectives, starting resources and technology ages. Each hero is related to a difficulty, so Joan of Arc is ﾑtutorial', Genghis Khan is ﾑEasy', and so on. Every hero has a ﾑcombat advisor' who provides the tactical information for the campaign, as well as an assessment of the likely outcome of each battle. You control everything in the game including unit movement, battles, the building of unit and resource production facilities and researching new technologies. It never feels like micromanagement and all works very well in the context of a portable game.  Control is handled by either the stylus or the D-pad. As the number of units on screen increase, stylus control becomes difficult and the graphics become cluttered, but the unit limits the game enforces makes sure things never get out of hand. The menu system is easy to learn and navigate, making the daily process of resource gathering a strategic rather than tedious endeavor. Age of Empires is a bit like several little chunks of history played out in specific campaigns, and as such you become engaged with your heroes and advisors, although your troops are often just minions (unless you are Joan of Arc, in which case they are martyrs!) This makes for some compelling gameplay as you work to build your empire while devastating your enemies. The challenge will keep you busy for many hours. It is a wonderful game that fits perfectly in a turn-based combat style and as on-the-go gaming.  
Age of Empires: Age of Kings is one of those games that is at once intelligent, fun, challenging and appropriate to show anyone you see. It's a great game for anyone up to the challenge, and the ﾑ10+' Age Seal is based more on reading and long-range strategic thinking than anything else. If you know an 8-year old playing Risk successfully, let them loose on this!
I actually got to test the ﾑok for anyone' theory. While playing one of the Genghis Khan missions on a plane flying cross country, I had a woman in her 60's sitting next to me, playing Sudoku on paper. She asked me about the Nintendo DS and about the game I was playing, and what it involved, mentioning she had been watching for a bit. I let her know that I had started with some very basic resourcesﾗsome villagers and troops and a small base to accompany my championﾗand needed to quickly build up my troops and also my buildings while simultaneously researching new technologies. I did that while positioning myself strategically, checking how rapidly my enemies were advancing in their resource building, and trying to defeat them in battles and destroy their income generation wherever possible. She said "Wow, that isn't the type of thing I think about when I see someone playing video games." I said that too many people think video games are just mindless wastes of time and don't realize how much value some of them have. She watched the transition from one campaign to the next and remarked how it was like a history lesson she could show her grandchildren, and I said that was a great idea. This review edited by Dave Long Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Browse Amazon.com's selection of "age of empires" themed games Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Age of Empires: Age of Kings |
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