Pros: Excellent strategy game for its time and still today. In general, much more refined and fun gameplay compared to previous AoEs with more of an emphasis on combat, rather than micromanaging villagers. Still has decent graphics even by today's standards.

Cons: The French.

11/10 would buy again.

If you haven't heard of Age of Empires, then say hello to one of the most iconic RTS franchises. With the release of Age of Empires 2 HD Edition, there's quite a bit to go around for fans of the franchise. But enough about that, how is Age of Empire 3?

Well it really depends on what you're after. Visually, it's still pretty freaking gorgeous, and it holds up quite well, though it does show its age a bit (what do you expect for an 9 year old game). the lighting effects are great, and the smoke and particle effects, especially the destructible debris that falls of buildings is a nice visual treat, and I remember how amazing it looked back in 2005, and to me it still looks great.

In terms of gameplay, it feels more in line with Age of Mythology, Ensemble's previous entry, rather than Age of Empires. From the way you choose a leader each age (mirrors choosing minor deities in Age of Mythology) to general UI layout and control schemes, AoE3 feels much like a spiritual successor to Age of Mythology, with a focus on historics rather than mythos.

Though with this iteration of the series, there are new, much needed improvements. Gone is the need for a drop off point for your workers; like the Atlantean race in AoM:TT (Age of Mythology: The Titans), your workers only need to mine from the resource to generate that resource. This makes macromangement considerably less fiddly.

Another change is how Caravans work in AoE3; instead of building a market, creating some caravans, and sending them to a Town Centre, there are now neutral Trading Posts that need to capture, which provide a steady steam of either Wood, Gold, Food or Experience. There are other neutral buildings the map, such as native settlements, or saloons which give you access to new units.

But by far the biggest addition to the series is the Home City. The Home City has a deck of shipment cards which can be sent to you during the game, depending on how many levels you gain through experience (gained by fighting, find treasure, building or from aforementioned trade caravans). The shipments can range from dozens of cavalry soldiers, supplies of wood/gold/food, to permanent improvements to military, defense, economy and so on. It can change how you play, and it's an interesting additon to the game.

The singleplayer in the Complete Collection offers up plenty of content, with about 8 campaigns, ranging from 15th/16th Century colonials to Battle at Little Bighorn, to the Indian Revolution, and even a little bit in Japan during the Sengoku period. It has plenty of nicely realised characters, interesting stories for each campaign, and enough content for each campaign so they don't feel short. This along with the 14 civilizations you can play in singleplayer (and multiplayer, though there isnt much of a population) skirmishes means plenty of content for your money's worth.

If you're new to the Age of Empires franchise or if you enjoyed Age of Mythology, then Age of Empires 3 will be a fun ride through some events through history. If you preferred Age of Empires 2, then you might not like Age of Empires 3 quite as much. For me though, its a hearty recommendation.

A benchmark RTS development which still exceeds most games in it's genre.
Almost 10 years since I began playing this game & even longer for earlier franchise releases.

A fine installation in the Age of Empires series that has a greater emphasis on combat as well as teaching you about things other than human resource management and medieval history lessons. Instead, you will gain a deep knowledge of zoology and learn how to beat up people and steal their stuff.

General:
>Zoology Lessons – Some things you will learn: Capybaras and tapirs live in Central and South America, Ibex, Saigas, and Marco Polo sheeps live in central Asia, Serows live in Japan and the rest of Asia.
>Japanese Daimyos can materialize samurai out of thin air.
>Shogun Tokugawa is a wizard that can open portals to other worlds and summon the likes of monks with clubs, shinobi that shoot grenades using their bows, and entire artillery companies.
>The original American Continental Marines were an army of Japanese Ronin Samurai mercenaries.
>If you throw a lot of torches into a building, it will not burn. However, it will break apart and then finally explode.
>Native American fire pit dances generate magic that they put to use in battle, putting Warcraft spellcasters to shame.
>Medicine men, surgeons, and priests all perform the same healing magic.
>Even standing near an idle monster truck could be lethal.
>Even before the creation of the United States, George Washington always knew he’d end up on both the quarter and the dollar bill.
>As an Asian power, you can ally with your enemy through the consulate… and still wage war with their forces with soldiers from their own home country.
>Chinese flamethrowers never burn anything, they just kill it and blow it up.
>The British employed the use of longbowmen well into the 1800s.
>Cuauhtemoc of the Aztecs is a cool guy; he has a blood fetish and refers to himself in third person.
>Queen Isabella so desperate, she’ll sleep with Cuauhtemoc
>Akbar of the Indians is worse than a fervent Jehovah’s Mormon as he constantly attempts to convert you to his religion (Hinduism) while beating him up. On the bright side, he can’t nuke you like Gandhi.
>Russian strelets are a gift from the Aztec blood gods.
>Russian strelets are equipped with large foam axes and airsoft muskets.
>Created an Iroquois home city called Toronto, named the warchief Rob Ford. He smoked crack, befriended blowgunners and blew up his own city.
>As another reviewer simply noted, you can beat up monkeys and steal their money.
>The Haitians hoped that their new ironclad warships would be their knights in shining armor. They turned out to be their morons in aluminum foil.
>The story of the original Thanksgiving is full of lies, propagated by the capitalist pigs in Washington. The true story goes as follows. In 1603, Shogun Tokugawa wanted to construct a new shogunate palace. He sent a group of Japanese pilgrims across the ocean. A few years later, they landed on Plymouth in New England, an excellent place for a new shogunate palace. There, they befriended a native scout and his pet intrepid scout turkey. Shortly thereafter, a group of allied Chinese pilgrims came ashore and set up shop alongside them. The Japanese and Chinese came together for a great turkey dinner. HOWEVER… The French and the Ottomans landed around the same time and did not take kindly to what they saw as encroachment upon their lands. A great war ensued in which the Chinese and Japanese ultimately prevailed. In the end, a great Thanksgiving feast was held in the new shogunate palace with Tokugawa as the host.

Civilizations:
>You can beat up the British and steal their tea.
>You can beat up the French and steal their military victories.
>You can beat up the Dutch and steal their tulips.
>You can beat up the Portuguese and steal their secret liquor.
>You can beat up the Spanish and steal their dogs.
>You can beat up the Germans and steal their beer.
>You can beat up the Ottoman Turks and steal their turkey.
>You can beat up the Russians and steal their vodka.
>You can beat up the Iroquois and steal Hiawatha’s poetry.
>You can beat up the Sioux and steal Gall’s gallbladder.
>You can beat up the Aztecs and steal their bottled blood.
>You can play as the Japanese and steal your allies’ food.
>You can beat up the Chinese and steal their many inventions and claim them as your own.
>You can beat up the Indians and steal their elephants and then beat up their sacred cows.

Campaigns:
The campaigns of the base game and The Warchiefs expansion provide an interesting story that follows the Blacks, a family of mostly brutal dark magic thieves. They can create entire armies and civilizations that a can appear and disappear within an hour. However, they end up being known and portrayed as heroes as they more often than not beat up bad guys and steal their stuff. The Asian Dynasties have similar stories but are completely unrelated to the Black Family.

Blood – As Morgan Black,
>Beat up the Ottomans and steal their cannons.
>Beat up pirates and steal their maps.
>Beat up the Spanish and steal their money.
>Beat up the Knight’s Templar and steal their water.

Ice – As John Black,
>Mock your uncle Stuart’s lack of masculinity despite the fact that he packs the most powerful right hook punch in the entire New World.
>Beat up the Cherokee and steal their cannons.
>Beat up the rogue British and steal back your damsel-in-distress girlfriend Nonahkee.
>Pursue a rogue British general across North America with a fleet of monster trucks.
>Finally, blow yourself up and prevent the Knight’s Templar from leading a Russian invasion of America.

Fire – As Nathaniel Black,
>Beat up the British and steal their colonies.
>Beat up the Hessians and steal back your damsel-in-distress mother Nonahkee.
>Win the Revolutionary War with giant stone busts of George Washington that crush and trample entire armies.
>Level the British forts at Yorktown with these colonial titans while they proclaim, “Check in your wallet. That’s me on the dollar bill.”

Steel – As Amelia Black,
>Beat up rival companies and steal their railroads.
>Beat up the Sioux and steal their land.
>Beat up the Knight’s Templar and steal their money.

Shadow – As Chayton Black,
>Beat up the Sioux again and steal their land.
>Beat up a Civil War veteran and steal his money.
>Beat up General George Armstrong Custer and steal his mullet.

(Asian Dynasties)
Japan – As General Kinchiro (Batman),
>Beat up Japanese daimyos and steal their land.
>Note: The Japanese can run mid-19th century steam trains in the early-17th century.

China – As Captain Huang,
>Beat up pirates, Indians, and Aztecs with your shirtless partner Lao Chen, and then completely cover up your presence.

India – As a sepoy named Nabir,
>Beat up your own countrymen and steal everything they have.
>Shoot your commanding officer’s bodyguard and just walk away.
>Beat up the British and steal their saltpeter.
>Beat up the British and steal back your elephants.

11/10. If you don’t have the money to buy this game, beat up someone and steal their money.

i think aoe 3 should have a workshop to create more stuff

My opinion on every AOE is almost the same. I absolutely love these types of games. I enjoy building and training a growing army then completely smashing everyone else (unless they are better than me huhuhuhu) but honestly AOE III is a bit graphic outdated now but it’s still an amazing game for it being released in 2005.

Recommendation: Absolutely. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys strategy games and won't mind a bit less graphics then the newer games.

I own two coppies of AOE3, that's just how great of a game it is.
Between my retail copy and my steam copy I'd have nearly 1000 hours played.
Positives: "Card Deck Tech Tree" Allows you to select up to 35 technologies that are unlocked based on your XP in the match. The abillity to name your Explorer and Homecity. City leveling and user leveling adds noticeable multiplayer progression. Tradepost [specified spots on the map allow you to build a tradepost for extra resources, units and technologies offering a bit of a King Of The HIll feel].
Negatives: No diplomacy [unless a custom scenario], only 3 team options [FFA, 1 or 2], no capturing enemy units/technologies [in previous games you could use your priest/monk to convert enemies to your team].

Well, a third part for Age of Empires. What to expect of it?

If you have never played the first two parts of AoE, here you'll get a little summary: Age of Empires I and II were defining new standards for the RTS-genre when they came out. Not as fast-paced as Starcraft or WarCraft, but with more strategical Depth and more focus on the organization of your camp and with a build-in history-part wich made the game even a little educational without decreasing the fun of the gameplay. You always could choose from many different cultures which had some units and technology in common, but some unique units and cultural advantages and disadvantages.

Now, what is different in AoE III?
First of all, after AoE I playing in antique times and AoE II playing in Medieval times up to the discovery of the new world, AoE III consequently plays in times of the colonization of America and the civil war. Like AoE I & II, AoE III contains many true historical events, locations and persons, but unlike both prequels, the main storyline of the campaigns is highly fictional so that it might be difficult to tell which events in the game truely happend and which are made up. The main storyline of the campaign is about a sect which tries to find and conquer the fountain of youth in the new world and a family which is bound by fate to stop them. On their journeys they encounter many historical persons like Georg Washington or Bolivar, but most of the game is about hunting down the sect. So the game is far less educational then the previous ones.

The second big difference is that the cultures do not longer have most techs and units in common but every nation has their own tech tree. Some things of course still are open to every culture but the differences between the cultures are far bigger then before. This isn't much of a problem because you can still tell the strengths and weaknesses of an unfimilar unit very fast, but it is more difficult then before to play a new nation.

And the there are the RPG-elements. Not only do you have imortal hero-units (like in Age of Mythology) which can only be knocked unconscious and stand up again if no more enemy units are around, you will also play random maps with a "hometown" which can level up between games and send you support if you collect enough experience by surviving a certain time, killing enemy units or building your camp. Although this may increase the motivation to play more random maps they removed the option to play a random culture, which I really loved in AoE I & II.

The AIs are weaker then in AoE II which is good for beginners but a little disappointing for more expert players. The balancing is also worse. There are some strategies to break the game. A pack of at least 20 osman heavy bombards, for example, is almost invincible. No AI-player ever was able to beat me if I got that far.

With the complete Collection, you will also get the two Add-Ons: The War Chiefs and Asian Dynasties.

The War Chiefs adds playable Native American Tribes (Without this Add-On they are only available as some sort of mercenaries if you build trading posts near their villages witch appear randomly on random maps). Although playing a native american culture is a very wellcome change and a challenge, it is clearly unbalanced. Those cultures are given many new and unique techniques like sending settlers to a totem and dance to do rites which give you advantages like faster ressources or stronger soldiers, they still desperatly lack heavy siege weaponary. Native american soldiers are only strong in large nummers and will have to attack early to not get overwhelmed by superior firepower of other nations.
The Add-On also adds two campaigns which complete the storyline of the original game campaign by filling gaps and finishing the somehow open story. The focus, of course, is more on the war of the native americans against the europeans and so it is no true surprise that you will have to face general Custer at wounded Knee. Still the two new campaigns are much more shallow...

The Asian Dynasties finally adds some civilizations from Asia like the Indians and the Chinese. The storyline of the new campaigns has nothing to do with the story of the original campaign. The Indian campaign for example takes place around the fight for independence in India and the chinese campaign describes the discovery of the american continent by a chinese admiral which might have taken place (or maybe not) long before Columbus was born.

Overall AoE III: Complete Collection is a decent RTS game with some unique features, but if you were a big fan of AoE I & II you might be disappointed because it is a really different game then what you are used to. Still it is worth a try.
If you have never played AoE I or II, but you like RTS games, you should definitly try this one.

I wanted this game for years, finally I own it and it has been worth the wait, it's easily the best in the franchise (In my opinon.)

This time you play as the power hungry european empires from the colonial era, like The British Empire (Salutes to Union flag) The French, Spainish, Russians and more, addtionally since this the Complete collection, you get the bonus DLC which includes some tribes and Asain powers like Japan.

A lot of features have been added like trading posts, and you can upgrade them from transported by horse into trains, however they removed some features I enjoyed like Captapults and cannons attacking areas you want them to, for an example if theres a forest in the way, I could send a small army of cannons to destory the forest so I can build a wall or something, sadly this feature has been removed possibly due to a glitch where you can attack ally buildings with no penalties.

Overall if your a fan of RTS games, there is no reason to say no to this amazing game.

*Note* Everytime I hear "The New World" I keep thinking of these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtgGjZk5sTc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj_9HwLlkpE

The one above is easily my favorite.

Even after almost 10 years of its release looks still a recent game. Not a complex gameplay nor simple, however a extraordinary multiplayer system capable to please people whom play it...

Beautiful game! If you are one of those guys that hate easy strategy games, and want something that relies more on your capacity of situation analysis, like war strategies, economic strategies, and psychological pressure, this game is perfect for you. You have different kinds of troops, like light infantry, heavy infantry, cavalry, artillery, and your settlers. And each one counters the other. So it's all about team work and planned strategies. You can either create a strong economy, or make a fast attack. Of course it's not as simple as that. That's why this game is so awesome! Each game is full of posibilities.

Beautiful graphic and great game system.

I really love AoE franchises.

Long time AOE fan. This is my favorite of the series, because they took out so much of the tedious micro managing out of the game. The cards "shipments" is a fun aspect too. Awesome multiplayer. My fav. strategy game ever.

Age of Empires III: Complete Collection is a real-time strategy game from Ensemble Studios and published by to what now Microsoft Studios. It is a sequel to the Age of Empires franchise. Age of Empires III: Complete Collection also contains both expansion packs from Age of Empire III.

Age of Empires III saw many improvements and feature upgrades in term of gameplay while retaining the unique play of Age of Empires series. Many new features included are the new home city and card deck. Card deck allows you to call many abilities such as reinforcements of units, resources delivery, unique upgrades delivery and many more from home city to your new colony. Age of Empires III takes place in the new world of America. You will be seeing units such as the Musketeer, Dragoon, Minuteman and many cannons. Another new features added here is a trade post. Trade post can be built on trade routes or local tribes such as the Aztec to gain their allegiance and lets you train their unique units.

Graphics in Age of Empires III is definitely far better improved and upgraded than the previous Age of Empires, far better effects, models and textures, shaders, everything is beautiful and fully detailed in this game. Performance is also great, no issues that can ruin your play.

Seeing that many Microsoft games such as the Age of Empires II or Age of Mythology has been upgraded with Steamworks feature, Age of Empire III should see that support too, since this is the latest Age of Empire series.

Age of Empire III: Complete Collection is a great game to play, I recommend this.

Rating 9/10

Its different from the AOE 1 & 2 style , with more choices , rpg like , enhanced better graphics etc.

-Story is awesome if you will choose to play campaign , 3 stories , each one is better than another.
-The difficulty with this one is reasonable , i mean unlike AOE 1 & 2 campaigns , you have to be so pro to finish them without cheats , this one will let you finish the campaign with no cheats.
-The purchasing unit in this game is intersting , saves alot of time than previous AOE's , for example you could build 5 units in 1 queue instead of 1 by 1 , theres also town supplies that you can get them every 4 mins ~ ( you get to choose ur cargo and set up before starting game ).
-This type of games aint about graphics i know , but this game's graphics are fairly nice and pleaseing to see.
-When you're done with the main story , you could still play customized battles , as you will gain experince that will allow you to level up ur own town , with way more more cards/choices/upgrades than you had in story mode.


Either you're going to play it alone or with friends , its so much fun. i'd recommend buying this game in full/sale prices , worth it anyway. 9.5/10.

Would recommend this game and the entire series to anyone! Great stuff, from the first game to the last.

Very good game and for me one of the last of this kind that were released, can't think of any similar game that came after AoE 3. Not as good as it's predecessorts though. Biggest issue for me: What the heck are walls for, if guns can shoot straight through them?

I have owned the Collectors Edition of AoE III since it was released in September 2005. It is my most played game by far, probably above 3,000 hours. One thing I can say with complete certainty is, if you get into the online multiplayer, like really get into it. You will always come back to this game and enjoy every moment.

If you're a new player, and are willing to get into this game : go ahead and message me, i'll try to help you out!

Age of empires...... you amazing game you.... must buy, infact don't just buy this one, buy ALL of them! these games are just wayyyy too much fun, one of the best ever games! must buy! 10/10.

I've probably put more hours into this game than any other (pre-Steam), and it was worth every minute of it. Everything, I find, has been greatly improved from AOEII - the graphics, gameplay (units are much more equal - no more trebuchets and cannons outranging everything), introduction of shipments, allowing for different tactics.
I can't understand for the life of me how AOEII remains more popular, but for me, this is the highlight of the series.