Age of Mythology

Age of Mythology takes many of the aspects of other successful real-time strategy titles and places them inside a unique setting. The game takes place during a mythical era where there are fantastical creatures and buildings. A lengthy single-player campaign spans a detailed storyline involving many different maps and cultures. An in-game tutorial makes it easy to start playing without having to read a large manual or learn technology trees. Age of Mythology uses 3D graphics although the game is mostly played from a top-down isometric view.

Players start in Age of Mythology by following the exploits of an admiral named Arkantos who is from Atlantis. The mythology and architecture of the civilization is Greek. Players can also control Norse and Egyptian units over the course of the campaign. Each civilization has unique units and buildings. They also have different deities available. The deities can be upgraded as more resources and buildings come into play. The deities provide special abilities to the player that can change the direction of a battle.

Much of Age of Mythology will be familiar to anyone who has played Age of Empires. The central theme of gameplay is resource and time management. Players need to set civilians to gather resources that are then used to construct buildings or military units. The player needs to build an army, fortify defenses and eventually strike out against opponents to achieve the campaign goals. Some missions can take a very long time to complete. The gameplay is generally solid and missions are never too overwhelming or impossible to defeat.

Age of Mythology also has an online multiplayer mode where several people can compete on any map across the Internet. There are several modes available from lightning and nomad to the traditional king of the hill. The game also comes with a campaign editor that can be used to create custom maps for friends or for online play.