Age of Empires 3: Complete Collection

As a huge fan of the series, thanks to my dad, Age of Empires 3 - Complete Collection is one of the best packages that you can buy. I have spent tons of hours with this franchise over the years and recently I was able to pick up a physical copy of this which I did not even know existed. While I am pretty sure you do not need me to tell you exactly what the deal is with the base game, I thought it would be fun to look at some of the new and key features this complete edition is offering you.

Three Epic Adventures For The Price of One!

You may be wondering what exactly makes Age of Empires 3 - Complete Collection the complete collection of this game. Well, Microsoft actually supported this game very well when it was initially released with two epic expansion packs. First was Warchiefs and then later came, Asian Dynasties which might be my favorite expansion pack of any Age of Empires game. You are getting those along with the original Age of Empires 3 in one package and that is pretty damn awesome. You have hundreds and hundreds of hours of gameplay in front of you with this set.

Leading A Nation To Glory

As is the case with the other games in this franchise, Age of Empires 3 - Complete Collection is all about leading your chosen empire to glory. You can play as a European, Native American, or Asian dynasty in this game, and how they progress through history is ultimately all down to you and the various decisions you make. I have to say the inclusion of Asian characters, lore, and so on with the Asian Dynasties is something truly epic. While two of the parts of this set are expansions, I have always felt that they were substantial enough to offer a ton of addictive and deep gameplay. However, the most fun playthrough I had of this was when I was leading the French and we had a pact going with the Native Americans. This is the kind of game where it is impossible not to get completely sucked in by the story and what is going on.

A Step Into The Next Generation

Ok, so as I write this Age of Empires 3 - Complete Collection edition review, we do already have Age of Empires IV. However, I do have to say that the leap from the second Age of Empires game to this is pretty damn massive. You see, the game went full 3D here and it makes things much more cinematic. I also feel that the step up in the presentation adds a great deal to the gameplay as well as the storytelling.

It is much easier to see what is going on in battle and I feel that the visual upgrade in general is just incredibly well done. I do also want to say that the Warchiefs and Asian Dynasties expansion packs have their own style about them too which I really like.

Pros:

• With this, you get the complete experience of this game
• The Asian Dynasties expansion is one of my favorite AOE games ever!
• The story is very well told and quite cinematic
• It boasts some fun, deep, and engaging strategy gameplay

Cons:

• You could argue that Age of Empires IV makes this irrelevant
• Like most games of this style, there is a steep learning curve