Title: Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Platform: PC
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Big Huge Games
ESRB Rating: T for Teen
Big Huge Games is probably best known for their original Rise of Nations product, which was designed around the concept of turning a game like Civilization into a real-time strategy title. With Rise of Nations being overall widely successful and popular, BHG continued to build on their unique twist to 4X and strategy. However, it ended up with a dud in the form of the odd science fiction RTS title Rise of Legends. In a surprising arrangement, Ensemble Studios, the developer of the Age of Empires series, chose to work with a direct competitor by allowing them to fully develop the next expansion for Age of Empires III, The Asian Dynasties. The decision to trust a competitor with the next big expansion to the finely tuned Age of Empires III product actually turned out to be a good move.
The Asian Dynasties is a solid product. While it encases itself clearly within the rules and style of the original game - and even of the previous expansion The War Chiefs - it also goes beyond what is to be expected. It not only adds a whole slew of new content, but maintains balance as well. When I say balance, I mean that you can literally fire up the Asian Dynasties with all of the new content, play against the computer or other players online against the original races and still play a fair and balanced game. This in itself is an achievement that many developers would struggle to reach.
So what are the new sides? Well, at first the selection may sound somewhat limited compared to the vast number of races included with the original game. You have three new and very original sides to play as: the Indians, Chinese and Japanese. Unlike The War Chiefs expansion, however, each of the new sides play much differently from the other, to the point of feeling like they each could have come from a separate expansion of their own. This is a good thing because it really extends the amout of playtime you're going to get out of the expansion itself. Instead of the "master one, master all" type feeling that the original Age of Empires III product gave, you'll have a learning curve when choosing new sides featured in the Asian Dynasties.
When you fire up the Asian Dynasties for the first time, you have the option of playing through the first of three single-player campaigns or the option to simply jump into multiplayer through "ES Online." The single-player campaign this time around is a bit more realistic in terms of the stories featured, thanks to Big Huge Games' involvement. Each side features different stories that are based on historical events. The Japanese are featured in the first campaign, which involves a valiant effort by a great leader to bring together the people of Japan.
The Asian Dynasties, Age of Empires III's second expansion pack, explores the Asian civilizations of China, India and Japan.
The Chinese campaign is next, which features naval warfare as the Chinese's great treasure fleet attempts to make its way to the New World itself. Finally, India's campaign introduces players to the independence of India from Britain. While overall an enjoyable campaign, I felt that it was perhaps slightly rushed and less rounded than it could have been, which is most likely due to the sheer balancing act that had to occur with the races themselves.
Multiplayer is truly a beast of its own, with thousands of active players abound to face off against within seconds of jumping online. As stated earlier, the Asian Dynasties expansion is fully compatible with the original game and The War Chiefs expansion as well. This means that there really is not any sort of segregation of the online player base. If someone who does not own the Asian Dynasties expansion chooses, they are fully capable of playing against you as you play as the Chinese while they play as their own euro-based civilization and "home cities."
Very few changes were made with the home cities themselves. You still must gain experience to advance your home cities however, and if you wish to be a successful competitor, you still must use the experience from your home cities to gain access to better cards and a better card deck.
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