Age of Mythology
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| Age of Mythology | |
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| Developer(s) | Ensemble Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Microsoft Game Studios |
| Latest version | 1.10 |
| Release date(s) | November 1, 2002 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T) |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Mac OS X |
| Media | CD (2) |
| System requirements | 450MHz CPU, 128MB RAM, 1.5GB Hard disk space, 16MB GPU, 56k Modem for Multiplayer |
| Input | Keyboard and mouse |
Age of Mythology (also known as AoM) is a mythology-based real-time strategy (RTS) computer game by Ensemble Studios. It was first released in November 2002, by Microsoft Game Studios. Following both good reviews and sales, Age of Mythology: The Titans expansion pack was released in 2003. Although it is a continuation of the Age of Empires series, Age of Mythology has less of a focus on historical accuracy, and instead centers around the myths and legends of the Ancient Greeks, the Ancient Egyptians, and the Norse.
Age of Mythology is different from other Ensemble Studios games because it takes place in a Pantheistic solipsistic universe. Unlike previous Age of Empires games, which followed the historical progress of various nations or cultures, "Age of Mythology" follows the exploits of a band of heroes, in an adventure that takes them through all three civilizations.
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[edit] Gameplay
[edit] Civilizations
There are 3 playable civilizations in the game, which strongly differ from each other; also, each of them has got a different way of gaining heroes and of gaining favor. The 3 civiizations along with their way of gaining favor and their way of gaining heroes are the following:
| Civilization | Way of Gaining Favor | Way of Gaining Hero or Heroes |
|---|---|---|
| Greeks | Villagers praying in Temple. | Training and reviving them in Fort. |
| Egyptians | Building Monuments. | Recieving it automatically from the Town Center at the start of the game and recieving automatically, also from the Town Center, another one if the previose one were to have died. |
| Norse | Attacking enemies. | Training them in Barracks or Fort. |
[edit] Campaign
Unlike the campaign mode in Age of Empires II, which has five unrelated campaigns with six missions each, the Age of Mythology campaign mode offers one long campaign and one main story. The campaign story, titled Fall of the Trident, begins with the game's opening video. It shows a forty-one year old Atlantean admiral, hero, and commander of the Atlantean military, Arkantos, as he explores an abandoned temple. Within the temple, he has brief glimpses of the goddess Athena, that lead him to many engravings of warriors and several Olympian gods. As Arkantos touches each of the statues, he has strange visions of a fierce war between Kronos, the evil Titan Lord and its army of mythological creatures, and human warriors, aided by Zeus. On his final vision, Arkantos sees how Kronos is sealed behind the huge gates of Tartarus, as the temple he is in begins to crumble. Athena makes a sign to Arkantos to escape, and he barely manages to, as a huge trident from Poseidon's statue nearly falls upon him.
The game follows the adventures of Arkantos, and his encounters with the gods and creatures of myth. Arkantos travels throughout all of the mythical world, fighting to keep the enraged Kronos from emerging into the human world and wrecking havoc.
In the Titans Expansion Pack it shows Kastor (Arkantos' son) trying to rebuild a confused Atlantis. He is tricked by Krios to rebuild the Titan's temples. This brings the Titans enough power to escape and reek havoc on Atlantis, Greece, Egypt, and the Norselands. In the end Gaia kills Kronos and seals him in Tartarus.
A new campaign called The Golden Gift is now offered for download on the Microsoft Games website. This campaign follows Brokk, a dwarf, and perhaps the greatest blacksmith in all Midgard. Loki plays a trick on him and pits him against his brother Etri. They realize they have been tricked and work together to get their Battle Boar back.
[edit] Gods
Players can choose one of three initial gods of a civilization as they begin, and one of two more gods each time they advance in age. Each god has its own unique technologies, myth units, and god powers (special abilities which can only be used once per game). The gods are:
| Greek | Egyptian | Norse |
See List of Major Gods in Age of Mythology and The Titans for a full list of Gods, their God Powers, improvements and more. Also see List of Minor Gods in Age of Mythology and The Titans for a list of all the minor Gods and their God Powers.
[edit] Units
The bulk of each civilization’s forces are made of ordinary human soldiers. Most units can be upgraded through research (e.g. faster gathering for villagers, stronger armor for military units, better building structure etc.).
Villagers, laborers, gatherers, and dwarves primarily collect resources. Gold is acquired either through mining or trade, wood is procured from logging, and food is gathered though hunting, foraging, farming, and fishing. They are also capable of engaging in hand-to-hand combat, but are very poor fighters. Villagers and laborers can also construct and repair buildings. Additionally, donkeys, camels, and oxen can generate gold by traveling between two players, or sometimes between markets and town centers.
Infantry units, such as hoplites, militia, and huskarls, use melee combat to attack at hand-to-hand range (although the throwing axeman can attack at a short range). Norse infantry are capable of constructing and repairing buildings. Mounted units are melee units which are mounted on horses, camels, or war elephants. Archers are either on foot or mounted, and attack at range. Siege weapons are of four types: catapults, battering rams, ballistas, and siege towers. All siege weapons do crush damage. Catapults hurl stones which generate splash damage, affecting all units in a small area, and are especially effective against buildings. Battering rams knock buildings down with large moving beams. Ballistas are less damaging against buildings, but are much faster than catapults, and are the most effective siege weapons against units. Siege towers can transport units, and they are moderately effective against buildings and units.
Seagoing units play a secondary role, and are not as prominent as in other Age of Empires games. Fishing boats are similar to villagers, in that they can gather food from fish. Transport ships carry land units from one area of land to another. Aside from attacking enemy ships, warships can be very effective in attacking land-based units close to the shoreline (because the land-based units cannot fight back). Warships are classified as arrow ships, ramming ships, and siege ships.
Mythological units are representations of non-human creatures in mythology. For example, there was only one hydra in mythology (slain by Heracles), but multiple hydra may be summoned in Age of Mythology. Myth units generally have special abilities that human soldiers do not possess (such as flight or petrification). In addition to normal resources, myth units require an amount of the Favor resource to be summoned. Myth units are deadly against human soldiers, but are weak against Heroes, who are normally unaffected by their special abilities. Examples of myth units are minotaurs, colossi, centaurs, phoenixes, valkyries and mummies.
Heroes are representations of the epic characters within mythology. Heroes in Age of Mythology are very effective against myth units, but are weak against human soldiers. They can also pick up relics. There are four types of heroes in a normal game: the Greek, which are determined characters in Mythology and can be re-summoned if killed, the ones that you can recruit as much as you want, like the Egyptian Priests and the Norse Hersirs, Pharaohs, which will re-spawn and the Atlantean, that can be any human unit you want (you can turn them into Heroes in the command bar. Heroes can be killed like other units, but those important to a scenario (such as Arkantos) merely fall down, until enemy units are eliminated and friendly units are nearby (a concept replicated with Explorers in Age of Empires III).
[edit] Buildings
Buildings are used for a variety of purposes in Age of Mythology. Town Centers are the main buildings in the empire. They serve as drop off points for resources, and can shoot arrows, garrison units inside them, train villagers, and, depending on the civilization, can train ulfsarks, priests, mercenaries, and mercenary cavalry. Building upgrades and age advancements are also researched here. Town Centers can be built on free Settlements. A single town center provides 15 population points. In order to gain more population points, either more town centers or houses must be built. The population limit is 300.
Military units are created at specific buildings, corresponding with their combat type (e.g. archers are created at an archery range). Myth units and heroes are created at temples. All sea units are created at the docks. Walls and towers are defensive fortifications, and a fortress is a fortified building which can train special units. Farms are used to produce food. Granaries, storage pits, and the Town Center are used to store resources (deposited by the villagers).
A Wonder is a large building that represents an architectural achievement of the civilization. Wonders have many hitpoints, and take a long time to build. In certain game modes, once a player builds a wonder, a fifteen minute countdown begins. If the wonder is still standing after the countdown ends, the player who built the wonder wins. Also, all computer controlled, allied military units are programmed to guard wonders, while enemies are programmed to destroy them. The wonder only works in supremacy and Lightning game modes. It does not work on Deathmatch, conquest, or any other scenarios. It also slowly produces favor when built by Greek or Atlantean civilizations.
[edit] Relics
Many game maps in Age of Mythology have relics, which are scattered throughout the land. Relics can be picked up by heroes and brought back to their temples. All relics have a special bonus that is awarded to the civilization who places that relic in one of their temples. A temple can hold a maximum of 5 relics.
[edit] Scenario Editor
The scenario editor is contained in AoM extras. It is more advanced than that of Age of Empires II. It allows a map to be created from placing buildings and units, to raising the land into steep mountains and even place cinematics or special effects.
[edit] Reception
Age of Mythology was well-received by the public, reaching the one millionth sale mark within five months of its release. The game was nominated for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' Interactive Achievement Awards for PC Game of the Year, as well as PC Strategy Game of the Year.
[edit] Trivia
- On the (main) campaign "Fall of the Trident", the island of Atlantis is modeled after the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.
[edit] External links
| Age of Empires series | |
|---|---|
| Age of Empires | Age of Empires | Rise of Rome | Age of Empires II | The Conquerors | Age of Empires III | The War Chiefs | Age of Kings (Nintendo DS) |
| Age of Mythology | Age of Mythology | The Titans |
