This includes the main game and „The Titans“ expansion. It is the best „Age of“ game. It adds gods, mythological beasts / units and favor (faith) to the mix and has a remarkable story campaign based of Greek, Norse and Egyptian legends aka methodology. It is the same real time strategy concept as the other “Age of” games. You are gathering the resources gold, wood, food and added for this game favor (faith) to develop your kingdom. With the resources you can construct buildings, create units and research improvements. For a bigger chunk you can advance to a new age (archaic to classic to heroic to mythic age) each time unlocking new stuff. There are 3 different factions with Greeks including Atlanteans, Egyptians and Norse (Vikings). The new parts are the gods. You start with one of the main gods of the pantheon including bonuses and with each advancement you can chose between 2 different additional gods with different improvements. For example the Greek god of metalwork, blacksmiths and carpenters Hephaestus will give you benefits for weapons and armor in each age. Also each god gives you access to a one time wonder (magic). This can be a benefit like for example a charm that attracts deer to make hunting faster (and more productive), a meteor strike or a treasury with a slow but steady gold income. The higher the age the better the wonder. Of cause there are mythological units you can unlock. Greek have for example Minotaurs, Centaurs and legendary heroes, Norse have Giants, Trolls and Valkyries and Egyptians have (giant) Scarabs, Sphinxes (multitude of Sphinx), and Mummies to name a few. Each mythological improvement or unit needs favor (faith), How this is acquired is depending on the faction and is well researched. Greeks get it by sending workers to temples for praying, Egyptians by building monuments and Vikings / Norse by fighting (lesser by hunting and fishing). This alone gives variation but it ends not there as all factions have more difference. For example: While Egyptians have weaker units (until later ages) they have priests that can heal while the other factions are very limited in this. Norse have wagons that work as mobile storage houses while the others have to build appropriate buildings. Greeks have stronger units but those are more expensive and the favor gathering limits your resource gathering and available unit number. This game adds a fourth faction with the Atlanteans which is quite nice as many of us were thinking about why Greeks and Atlanteans were the same. As by the main game standards those have unique units and features compared to other factions. Atlanteans have no hero units but can promote regular units to heroes making those better. Also they do not need to build gathering buildings as workers are those too and they get favor (faith) by having town centers (The more the faster). Atlanteans are powerful but units are expensive and upgrades need more resources. Of cause it adds the Titan units. These are really resource and time costly but also devastating. A Titan is far more powerful than a group of top tier mythical units and can crush an army of enemy units with ease. The main game has a huge campaign with 32 missions and the expansion has a smaller but still relative long campaign. You play as Arkantos admiral and hero of Atlantis. He was on his way to retirement but a war between their independent Greek colonies and the Trojans broke out and it would be an insult to send a lesser military leader to their aid. He does not know that this Trojan war will just be a small prelude to a far bigger conflict. The story is excellent and uses a lot of elements from lore and legends. They exceeded all my expectations here as it is far more than just simply connecting missions. A lot of games in the genre fail in this regard and so I should praise this even more. The expansions deals with the aftermath 10 years after the main games conclusion. The story works well and I especially like that they added a lot of references to the main game. Those developments are nice, logical and put a smile on the faces of players of the main game. Graphically it looked really good for its time but aged a bit which I see not as a negative. Especially the introduction cinematic was truly excellent. The soundtrack is still excellent. No matter how often I replay the game it becomes never boring nor fails to deliver. Overall this is my favorite game in the franchise and probably also in the real time strategy genre. An easy recommendation and I hope they continue the franchise in the future with new games.
What is not good about this game. I have played many Real Time Strategy (RTS) games and this is the one I always come back too. Age of Mythology orginally came out some time around 2002 for the computer. I purchased Age of Mythology Gold which included the expansion Titans. I am use to playing the Titans expansion so I will merge the orginally and expansion into one, because once you play Age of Mythology you will want more of it. The game comes with two stories. They are difficult. I think I was only able to beat them with cheats. lol. The campagins is not the higlight of this game. I love to play a simply LAN (Local Area Network) match against my younger brother or with him agaisnt a bot. Even playing a bot by yourself can be fun. There are four different factions to choice from: Greek, Egyptian, Norse, and Atlantean. From each of those their are three different gods to worship from the factions. That equals twleve different gods to use which leads to many different tactics and ways to play the game. There is also multipalyer (there use to be anyways) and it was great. The level editor is the best I have used in a RTS video game. By best map was this level I made where you paly against the god Gaia. It was me and my cousing aganit her. She regenerats health almost instantly and when we triumphed it was great. See if you can beat her. When making my levels it was easy to learn how to incorporate triggers and such other elements. For being an old PC game the graphics are good. They about as good as Age of Empires 3. The music helps add to the gameplay. The villagers talk an unkown language that make me laugh (not like the Sims). I guess I should end the review of this fantastic game so I can go play it.
A true classic in the realm of RTS. If you want to get into RTS games this is a must play. The game has a lot to offer, you'll have a ton of fun playing it.
The gold edition combines the great parts of the main entry and expansion pack to enjoy the RTS experience to the fullest. Whenever you dont know what to do, simply start AoM and have fun!
This is a great gem in the Hall of RTS gaming history, it combines the historical setting of the previous Age of Empires games and adds a dash of fantasy and mythology and comes up with a highly enjoyable gaming experience. The basics of AOE gameplay are present, you gather resources, build buildings, research technology, and recruit units in order to gain and edge and eventually eliminate your opponent/s and all those areas are well-balances, easy to manage, and fun. You have three civilizations, each with different technology trees, bonuses, buildings and architecture styles, units, and pantheons. Each of those are subdivided into 3 different categories based on the patron deity, this confers a bonus in a particular field and gives access to a smaller pantheon of lesser gods. As you advance from age to age you chose one of two gods and the choices available to you are based on your patron deity, these lesser gods confer even more bonuses, unique technologies, a specific mythical unit, and a god power which can be used once and range on a scale of helpful to game-ending. This leads to each game having a huge potential for diversity and each civilization is able to use their particular advantage to be equally competitive. The most unique feature is the myth units which are like regular units but extremely strong and more powerful, they are a bane to all regular units and can therefore be countered with Heroes, stronger regular units. Heroes are either limited in number, expensive, or specific only to myth units and are therefore managed as cautiously as the myth units themselves but in return they can perform special tasks or get special bonuses. The original campaign is long and enjoyable, with a diverse array of missions and an interesting story. The AI is one of the best in a strategy game and will progressively become more difficult as the level is increased. It is unique in that it doesn't reward the AI with cheats but instead increases their speed and use of tactics, therefore economic warfare is an entirely viable option but the AI is equally as adept in this regard. The expansion is lackluster. It adds a new and unbalanced civilization, a few new technologies, and a campaign which provides a few good maps but lacks any depth or effective story. It adds a new unit, the Titan, which is available on random and in multiplayer maps. It is an extremely strong unit with an extremely large attack, so much so that the first civilization to acquire one is effectively the winner. The only defence against a Titan is another Titan, which means 3-way matches are essentially a waste of time. But aside from the expansion the game is as close to perfect as you will find in this genre. It is full of classic game-play, innovative, unique, and fun. A must for any PC gamers collection.
If you are looking for something without the blood and realism, but that provides diverse forces and units to work with plus a wide expanse of possibilities for creative and experimental strategizing, this game is second to one (Impossible Creatures with the Insect Invasion expansion). Next to IC, I've never had more fun with an RTS game, and I constantly hear it calling me back for more.
When you get the titan first, you'll think it's the coolest part of the game. When you don't, you'll curse the futility of attempting to defend yourself against one. The better you get, the less the latter will happen, and you will find that being first to the titan is not a guaranteed win. There is nothing more exciting than a titan war, and the victor will be the one who best supports his powerful behemoth with the right mix of regular units, heroes, and lesser mythological creatures.
Victory doesn't always go to the army of greater numbers; it's more likely to go to the army with the better supply line. Being able to pump out new units as fast as they get wiped out can eventually turn the tide in your favor even if you were out-manned at the start of a battle. To be successful in this game, you also need to learn to hold the line while sneaking in the back door to swipe a settlement and lower your opponent's maximum number of units.
And never underestimate the value of a well-played god power. There is such a giddy feeling about turning half of your opponent's army into pigs, and a well-placed hell's gate or a well-timed meteor shower can give you just enough edge at just the right time.
The game is already old by industry standards, but the graphics are good, the fun factor is high, and if you have any creative bone in your body, there is tremendous replay value.
SummaryFrom the creators of Age of Empires® and Age of Empires® II: The Age of Kings, comes Age of Mythology®: Gold Edition. Enter an age when powerful heroes led mighty armies of fearsome beasts and warriors. A time when the gods could tip the scale of a battle with lightning, meteors, tornados and more. Start your conquest with th...