Age of Empires Online review – Part 3 – Art & Design
Part 3 of the Remember ES Age of Empires Online review looks at the art style of AOE-O and other aspects like the UI design. Firstly, it is important to note that the engine behind Age of Empires Online is the same engine we have been used to for the last few iterations of Age. AOE-O uses the Bang! engine first introduced with Age of Mythology, the first Age game to utilise modern 3D graphics, moving away from the 2D bitmaps used in Age 2. Age 3 demonstrated just how excellent the Bang engine can be at generating realistic graphics (remember the water!). The Bang engine was used perfectly to produce the stunning realistic art style of Age 3. AOE-O uses the same engine but does things a little differently, instead of using a realistic art style like Age 3 we now have a more “cartoony” style with AOE-O. Read more
Age of Empires Online review – Part 2 – Multiplayer
Multiplayer
Multiplayer in Age of Empires Online takes two forms – player vs player (PvP) or Co-Op play. PvP is similar to traditional Age of Empires multiplayer and refers to players being matched against each other, such as “Supremacy” and “Deathmatch” on ESO from Age 3. Co-Op play on the other hand refers to co-operative play where players join forces against the AI in quests or the Defense of Crete. Read more
Age of Empires Online review – Part 1 – Gameplay
According to the online countdown over at AOE-O Fans, Age of Empires Online is now just 2 days away from launch. A number of community members have been lucky enough to secure pre-release keys to play the game early ahead of the August 16th launch date. Remember ES has been checking out the pre-release and today wanted to share my thoughts on the final product. The pre-release is the full version of the game, although there will be a small patch in the coming days for the full launch what we are seeing is the near final version. In just 2 days Age fans worldwide will get what they have been longing for, a new release in the Age franchise since the Asian Dynasties release in 2007.
The Remember ES review will be split into 5 parts:- Gameplay, Multi-player, Art & Design, Sound & Music and Conclusions. Each part will be coming out over the next few days, so keep checking back! Read more