It’s tricky to review a compilation of a game that originally came out four years ago. Technology moves on so fast that something in 2005 that was brilliant, might feel distinctly mediocre and dull now. Unfortunately in the case of this collection of Age of Empires 3 and its two expansion packs, it has suffered badly with age, although there is a glimmer of hope in there still.

There’s no doubt that Age of Empires 3 was a great game at the time. Although it was arguably not quite as entertaining as its two predecessors, it was still an extremely competent RTS. Building upon the Age of Mythology engine, at the time it looked great and immensely detailed, of course this isn’t as apparent now in a world where even strategy titles stick to 3D graphics and still manage to be extremely intricate visually. Fortunately the campaign is still a solid single player affair. The story follows the fictional Black family over three generations, divided into separate acts. It covers a fair amount of ground between the late 17th century to the early 19th century. There are 24 missions in all with various sub-missions so there is plenty to do. The problem is it all feels a little too predictable and generic. So many missions simply require the same old solutions that we’ve all seen countless times before in strategy games. Some of the stories behind the scenarios are neatly written but it all feels like it’s been done a thousand times before, making Age of Empires 3 feel distinctly average. Maybe it’s down to the age of the title but I suspect much of it is simply because Age of Empires 3 lacks true imagination which is essential to any RTS that wants to be more than just satisfactory.

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