Ensemble Studios was nice enough to give us a demo of Age of Empires III at the end of E3 2005 day two. This time around, the game focuses on a period of time from the 1600's until the late 1800's. The timeframe seemed odd to me at first until it was pointed out that was the approximate time that gunpowder was widely introduced into warfare. The series has taken a much more grounded approach this time around, forgoing the Gods and mythologies from the second game. In AOE III, you'll lead settlers from one of old world countries as they try to carve out a living in the new world.

You'd never say, but this is the city brothel. It used to be a flower shop, so this explains the looks.

This is me and my friends going camping. These camping wigwams cost like hell.

While gameplay remains much the same as in AOE II, the graphics have been given a couple of coats of pretty paint with lots of attention to detail. Ships plow through the ocean and waves crest on their bows. Wild buffalo graze on the wind swept plains. Buildings show much greater detail than ever before and thanks to the physics implemented in game, those same buildings look even better as they explode and shower the surrounding area with debris following an attack. The game does look good, but not as good as I expected.

On the actual gameplay side, not too much has changed. You still move your civilization from one age to another to gain access to new structures and units. This time around you also gain experience for every second you remain in the game or when you defeat enemy units. Once you have gained enough experience, you gain points that can be spent in your home city screen. Your home city resides in the old country and initially footed the bill for your colony in the new world. By trading in the experience points you earned, you can get extra resources like food, gold or wood, more troops to fortify your army or more peasants to help build your infrastructure. You can also earn 'cards' (the name may change later) that are used to upgrade units.

The priest from AOE II is replaced by an explorer who serves as your main unit with the ability to perform special attacks. Also gone are the artifacts. They have been replaced by perks that are scatted around the map that only your explorer can retrieve. These perks can be simple, like extra wood retrieved from a broken wagon. The rewards can also come in the form of troops or peons that first must be rescued. I witnessed some wolves which had an Indian brave trapped in a tree. Once my explorer and a few troops came along and killed the wolves, the brave climbed down and joined my group. It was kind of cool.

From this point on, the game was very familiar. The game still has another 6 months or so before it's done so we will have to wait and see if they have anymore changes in store.

Right now, if you liked the gameplay in Age of Empires II, you should be well pleased with Age of Empires III. However, if you are looking for something new in the game, the new experience/reward system may or may not satisfy you. As more details become available on other new features, we'll let you know.

-Vince 'Moesha' Massa