Age of Mythology: The Titans Preview

When talking about 3D RTS design there should be one general rule that applies to all games in the genre, regardless of their setting. Since these huge units add grandness and a certain intangible quality to the epic battle, it's much better to have them in there! (Ed. - Thank you Captain Obvious!) Shut it you! Anyway, they simply make epic clashes appear more epic. It's not so much the shear size of the colossal units and the amount of space they occupy on the screen; it's their scale, the way they dwarf other regular units on the map. Nothing gives a fantasy lord more satisfaction than seeing your behemoths stomp on the heads of the screaming human foes. On the other hand, nothing rallies the enemy troops better than seeing one of these mighty giants fall. If you want to have a cool epic battle in a 3D RTS you got to have some giants in there ... or Titans. Titans are good, too. (Ed. - Wow. We could NEVER have figured that one out.) Uh, right...

Surely, that's not the basic premise of the latest Age of Mythology expansion pack, but it's close ... very close. Age of Mythology: The Titans is an expansion to the already huge game. This expansion adds a fourth mythology, the Atlanteans, to the existing Greek, Egyptian and Norse mythologies. The Atlanteans were in a way related to Greeks, but their cavalier attitude toward the Greek gods made them look for favor from the new bad boys on the block - the Titans. Atlantean players will be able to call upon the might of the Titan gods multiple times throughout the game. If I'm not much mistaken, the Titans have been badly mistreated by the Greek gods (at least according to the Greek mythology), and are obviously looking for some payback themselves. Granted, they don't feel any friendlier towards the Egyptians and their gods, or the Vikings. (Ed. - Did anyone like the Vikings, ever?) Okay... In other words, Atlas, Cronus and the rest of the Titans will be unleashed upon the world to banish hostile religions, along with the peoples that perpetuate them. The expansion pack will introduce 12 new god powers, 15 new human units and 10 myth units to the game. Sadly, we'll only get to play 12 missions of the Atlantean campaign, but after going through most of the missions I have concluded that's not such a bad deal. Granted, "Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne" offered more content in terms of quantity, but I'd venture so far as to say that some of the Titans missions offer more in terms of quality.

Besides adding new units, god powers and a new mythical chapter to the franchise, the expansion also introduces plenty of tweaks in terms of unit and difficulty balance, as well as certain AI improvements that make Titans a lot more challenging than the original game. If you've read my review of Age of Mythology you'll know that is definitely a good thing. The original game seemed to lack a decent challenge at times, even on the hard level of difficulty. That is certainly not the case with Titans. No sir, there's plenty of challenge to be found when playing against the AI on "hard." (Ed. - Hence the reason they call it HARD.) Petro, dude, you are really in a pissy mood today. (Ed. - Yeah I know.) Right. Anyway, the computer is a lot more aggressive now; it produces units more effectively and employs some very nice routines. For instance, units that are more effective against a certain type of units will try to target them in battle. The AI will level up quite effectively, and if you don't know what you're doing, and are just getting to grips with this game, you might find yourself in a world of trouble. The unit path finding has also been improved over the original - I've only had to baby sit my units once or twice in the game. Generally speaking, they behave convincingly during heavy battles. Finally, when speaking about gameplay additions, one of the most important trimmings to the game has to be the ability to turn human units into heroes. This is quite a bold move by Ensemble as it radically shifts the unit balance in favor of the human units. The myth units are still effective, but this new balance of power makes room for new strategies, literally forcing the player to adapt. In my review of the original I complained about the myth units being too powerful against the human troops. Obviously, that's not the case anymore in Titans. (Ed. - Duh!) Suck it. Unit production will take a whole new course now that you can turn every human unit (even the workers) into a hero, but let's save this discussion for our full review.

What impressed me the most about the expansion pack is the design of some of the missions; I'll give you a little example. In the fourth mission of the Atlantean campaign, the Atlanteans are trying to break the resolve of the Norsemen by destroying three temples dedicated to their supreme god, Odin. Odin has put a storm spell on the Viking castle located on an inaccessible hill that strikes down all attackers with mighty bolts of lightings. Only by replacing the Norse temples; from which Odin's spell is drawing its power; with your own will you be able to break the spell ... but there is a catch you see. The temples aren't accessible by land; they stand atop of three cliffs and to get to each of them you'll have to fight on three different parts of the map, each of them separated by rock formations and dominated by a different Viking tribe. So, essentially, you get three missions for the price of one! (Ed. - You know, at least 50% of our readers can count, I'm fairly certain.) That's it Petro, you're fired. (Ed. - You can't fire me, slaves have to be sold.) One pissed off editor, slightly used, cheap! (Ed. - I hate you.) Moving on, Titans have also given you the power to space shift (teleport) your armies and buildings, so when you're done conquering one segment of the map you can teleport units and structures to another. I found the idea rather refreshing, and the map was certainly sufficiently challenging even on the normal level of difficulty. In addition, once I was done with it I came up with several more effective strategies for finishing this particular campaign quicker and without as much loss of life and resource gathering. Essentially, this is a good example of the type of single-player gameplay you can expect to experience in Age of Mythology. Although you'll only be playing as an Atlantean, you'll go up against every other civilization from the original - the Greeks, Egyptian and of course the Norsemen.

Also, don't forget that later on in the game you'll get a chance to employ the Titans and unleash their devastating powers on the puny infidels that dare cross their path. Titans aren't exactly like gods; they're more a cross between gods and huge monsters that wreak havoc and rain destruction on enemy civilizations - a very cool combination for a 3D RTS unit! The Titans are certainly the main motif of this expansion pack. They are the units that strike a feeling of hopelessness and awe in their opponents - just the type of mythical creatures you want to have by your side.

Age of Mythology: The Titans is slated to appear in stores across the US at the end of this month. Till then we've provided you with some brand-new shots from the game to tide you over before our full review goes live. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go throttle Petrodon.