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The NintendoDS has paved the way for many new ways to play. The
Touch Screen allows a variety of interface options, rivalled only
by the humble computer Mouse.
Trauma Center:
Under The Knife allowed easy control of a
range of medical instruments, Metroid Prime: Hunters showed
how a Stylus was a fine tool for head shots and
Phoenix Wright:
Ace Attorney breathed new life into the Point-And-Click genre.
Given the flexibility of the interface and it’s similarity to a
Mouse, many have pondered if the Point-And-Click Adventure is not
the only trademark PC genre that could make an appearance. The PC
has long been the definitive platform for Strategy games, going
back as far as the likes of Dune II: Battle for Arrakis, and
features wealth of titles in it’s back catalogue, many of these
native to PC’s not much more advanced than the hardware of the
NintendoDS. In fact, it’s almost surprising that EA haven’t taken
advantage of their acquisition of the Command & Conquer
franchise and ported the Nintendo64 edition. However, EA isn’t the
software behemoth to bring PC gaming to the system; it is the top
dog of PC software and potential rival to Nintendo, Microsoft, with
a re-envisioning of it’s trademark Real-Time Strategy series;
Age Of Empires.
First and foremost, as a Turn-Based Strategy game, Age of
Empires: Age of Kings bares little resemblance to its PC
forefathers, owing more to the likes of the excellent Advance
Wars series. In fact, despite developers Ensemble Studios being
a Microsoft owned company, there are no references to Microsoft
Game Studios whatsoever. However, the heritage of the series is
clear from the setting, the units and the use of a Tech Tree. The
game features five Campaigns of increasing difficultly, as well as
a fully realised Skirmish Mode - known as Empire Map - and
Multi-Cart Multi-Player. Players must guide the likes of Joan of
Arc, Saladin, Minamoto Yoshitsune, Genghis Khan and Richard the
Lionheart through Missions based on their exploits.
The game is based utilises a Grid System, with Units having a
limited movement to a number of spaces. Through the use of a
Builder Unit known as Villagers, some Missions allow towns to be
built, whilst others feature a set number of Units with which the
player must complete Objectives. All Units fall in to one of the
following categories; Infantry, Cavalry,
 Siege, Ranged and Hero and
follow the Paper/Scissors/Stone-esque philosophy virtually
necessary for a modern Strategy game. For instance, Cavalry incurs
a penalty of 50% to its attack versus Buildings, while gaining a
33% bonus against Infantry and Ranged Units. Several Units also
feature unique Skills, such as Anti-Cavalry or Frenzy, which give
bonuses against certain enemies or in certain situations. There is
a good variety of units available and knowing which to use at the
right time is necessary in the later Missions in which the game’s
difficulty becomes quite formidable. In addition to this, each
civilisation has a unique Unit and a Hero. Hero’s are significantly
harder than standard Units and have access to a variety of
specialist Powers, such as healing nearby allies or boosting their
defences, and are also key to beating the games later Levels.
The games two main differences from the Advance Wars series
are the inclusion of a Tech Tree and the ability to construct your
own buildings. First and foremost, as with many Strategy games,
Resources must be harvested in order to fund the many buildings and
Units required to win; in this case Food and Gold, and collected
via Mills, Farms and Mines. In order to start researching and to
build the structures required to train Units, the player must build
a Town Centre. This building allows the Builder Unit, Villagers, to
be trained and also provides spaces adjacent for other structures
to be built. Each Town Centre gives the player four spaces to build
unit and research structures and four spaces for defensive
structures known as Towers. Whilst Empire Map allows players easily
enough Town Centres, some Missions restrict the number, forcing the
player into making decisions as to which structures to build. The
game also features two other free-standing structures, Wonders and
Castles. Wonders are occasionally used as a victory condition, but
if not, work as an investment, producing a decent amount of Food
and Gold each day. The other is the Castle, which functions as a
defensive structure and produces your countries unique Units. In
addition to building structures
 and Units, the player must research
various Upgrades. These include increasing the attack and defence
of your Units, increasing your Resource Income and allowing new
Units to be built. Whilst building Units for defence is essential
for victory, players will need to research to remain competitive
and to move through the Ages. When you have researched the
designated number of technologies, you are given the option to
advance. As you go through the Ages you are given the option to
build not only new Units, but all of your current Units are
upgraded as well, giving you the edge against your opponent. This
virtual arms race forces the player to carefully assess how to
spend their resources and adds a huge strategic edge to the
proceeding.
Age of Empires: Age of Kings displays the terrain, units
etc. in an isometric perspective similar to that used by many
classic turn-based games such as the X-Com series. The units
selected on the Touch Screen have their statistics and skills
displayed on the top screen, just as
Advance Wars: Dual Strike
does. Also Age of Empires: Age of Kings displays battles
in a similar manner, with the two opponents charging in from either
side. However, Age of Empires: Age of Kings has one-up on
the competition in that the battles are played out with 3D Models.
Hardly a defining feature, but a nice addition nonetheless. However
one of the biggest problems in Age of Empires: Age of Kings
is of a graphical nature. When lots of Units are on screen, the
isometric perspective makes Units very difficult to select
accurately with the Touch Screen, forcing players to resort to the
D-Pad, a method that also can be unwieldy considering the games
isometric nature. It is definitely frustrating, but the core game
mechanics do make up for it.
Although repetitive after a while, the music in Age of Empires:
Age of Kings seems culturally relevant, and of a decent
quality. The game also features Speech Samples for Units which,
although accented to sound like the countries people, do not really
make any sense. But then, neither do the folk in Animal
Crossing: Wild World.
As a game, Age of Empires: Age of Kings has translated from
PC to NintendoDS very well. The Single-Player Campaign is easily in
excess of twenty hours long and the Empire Map Mode only adds to
the longevity. The game’s core mechanics are rock solid, and if you
are a fan of Turn-Based Strategies, you will want to complete the
Campaign and are likely to find a lot of enjoyment in the Empire
Map Mode. Age of Empires: Age of Kings does have a few minor
glitches however and can occasionally crash, which can be very
frustrating. Thankfully Majesco have looked into the matter and
state that having a Profile Name longer than four characters will
solve the issue. For those who enjoyed Advance Wars: Dual
Strike, the purchase of Age of Empires: Age of Kings is
almost mandatory. Players of the PC incarnations of Age of
Empires will find a new take on the franchise but one that uses
the ideas of its forefathers well. Unfortunately, Age of
Empires: Age of Kings is not likely to find fans in younger or
female gamers, although the wealth of accurate historical
information may attract older players. Nevertheless, despite its
flaws, Age of Empires: Age of Kings is a great game and
proof that core PC franchises can find a home on Nintendo’s
multi-million selling handheld, more of the same please.
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