Zombies: 2, Janissaries: 0.

[Flood]

Just wanted to recap my experiences so far with AOE3.  Contrary to how my previous post sounded I did indeed want to buy F.E.A.R as well as AOE3, but AOE3 won out based on spending constraints.  I might pick up F.E.A.R. after the weekend depending on the input I get here.  Anyway.


The Good:

- Nice shiney.  My comp can handle most anything - so the game does look pretty on my 23" flat screen.
- Assload of historical info.  A lot of little things that speak to the attention to detail in historical elements etc.  Very nice if you are a history buff. (I am so hey.)
- SP is fairly engrossing.  On "moderate" difficulty the AI isn't stupid, but it's not exactly Delta Force either.  The voice-overs are mildly amusing too. (at this point anyway)
- Some of the effects, and here I am mainly referring to cannon fire versus structures, are very very cool.  The gestalt of the sounds, particle effects and pieces of building flying off into space as they are shot up is quite gratifying.



The Bad:

- At higher settings the game may kick your comp in the nuts.
- Shockingly, the ES online servers are laggy.  More precisely the GUI for the "lobby" and game search functions is recockulously lagged and inaccurate.  This game is full!  This game is full!  This game is full!
- Again in MP you're playing against people with various letters in front of their names that have been dissecting the demo since its release on how to own your non-letter-havin' ass.
- One strat pony at this stage.  Boom to gunpowder units.     


So far it's a fun, well executed game.  Attention to detail and passable content make it worth the 50 bones, IMO. 



P.S. - the CGI recover of Shirow Masamune's "Appleseed" was worth the 15$ at BB.  The visuals are spectacular. The music is pretty good (Paul Oakenfold does some of it) and the voice overs aren't distractingly bad.  If you like anime and liked the original version, go pick this up. 
And as for my zombie fetish - Land of the Dead Unrated does indeed kick ass.  I loved it in the movies and I love it at home.  I know the plot and acting blow, but there is some of the damn finest zombie eatery footage I have ever seen in this flick.  I am going to run a Zombie Night Film Fest at my apartment near Halloween for some friends I have at work.  Return of the Living Dead, the redone Dawn of the Dead followed by Land of the Dead.  Now put on this blindfold, turn off the lights and stick your hand in this bowl of peeled grapes.

[Sky]

Screw peeled grapes. see if your butcher can get you some cow brains. Seriously, I used to do that at halloween parties when I was in the band, it goes over well. Well...it goes over well for those in on the joke, no so much for people with their hands in cow brains. But people are so formatted to expect peeled grapes or spaghetti or whatever...

AoE3's shiny is attractive to me with my hdtv monitor...but it would cripple my old 9800 pro, I'd imagine.

- Again in MP you're playing against people with various letters in front of their names that have been dissecting the demo since its release on how to own your non-letter-havin' ass.
- One strat pony at this stage.  Boom to gunpowder units.   

Oh hell, I never play rts online (I'm not a big rts fan anyway). Those people are nuts and it's not fun imo.

It's partly why I prefer TBS, I like to relax and take my time and enjoy the game, not rush to get it over as soon as possible. Hell, in HoMaM3, sometimes I just block off the enemy's base and take my time finishing the map, especially in campaign games where you can carry heroes forward. Kids today and their hurry to finish games. Goddamned 10 hour games, my crusty wrinkled buttocks.

Oh yeah - my standard RTS quesshun: Can you pause and issue orders? That makes most RTS somewhat palatable to me, Freedom Force, for example. I play games like that in almost turn-based fashion, pause and issue orders, unpause for a couple seconds, pause and tweak orders, etc.

[Flood]

No you can't pause the game to give orders.  And, for some odd reason there's no "stand ground" option for your units.  Most glaringly for missle units. 

I think the reason I'm not rating the game more harshly is that I'm a history buff and the game has a lot of historical fluff in it.  But based on what your post said Sky I'd say Civ4 might be more to your liking.  I'm going to buy that too, so. 

[Daeven]

No you can't pause the game to give orders.  And, for some odd reason there's no "stand ground" option for your units.  Most glaringly for missle units. 

Ah. thanks for this tip. I now have zero need to buy this game. Especially since...

I think the reason I'm not rating the game more harshly is that I'm a history buff and the game has a lot of historical fluff in it.  But based on what your post said Sky I'd say Civ4 might be more to your liking.  I'm going to buy that too, so. 

...comes out next tuesday. 8)

[Sky]

No you can't pause the game to give orders.  And, for some odd reason there's no "stand ground" option for your units.  Most glaringly for missle units. 

Ah. thanks for this tip. I now have zero need to buy this game. Especially since...

I think the reason I'm not rating the game more harshly is that I'm a history buff and the game has a lot of historical fluff in it.  But based on what your post said Sky I'd say Civ4 might be more to your liking.  I'm going to buy that too, so. 

...comes out next tuesday. 8)

Yep and yup. It was so shiny...but I just can't live without pause + issue orders. Well, without resorting to meth or something.