Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasties Review, Continued
The good news is, even when you start with a home city at low levels online, it is certainly possible to make the best with what you have and dish out a serious helping of "pwnage." Each side has the advantage of having blanket bonuses as they advance in age. Instead of simply "teching" to the next age from your home city without any significant gain, you must construct one of several wonders available to each new side to advance. This feature is a very unique bonus given to the Asian-based sides, with benefits ranging from free resources to military boosters. Once one of these wonders is constructed, they will continue to offer their benefits for as long as they stand. It is thus usually a good idea to defend them as best as possible, since they will typically be a big target for your enemy.
Asian Dynasties' "explorers" have received a fair number of changes as well. In the original game, explorers between all sides were about the same with some very minor bonuses differentiating them. In the Asian Dynasties, each explorer has the ability to really make an impact in battle, from the beginning of the game to the very end. For example, the Chinese Monk has a whole slew of upgrades available, which can literally turn him into a miniature ass-kicking army with roundhouse kicks and damage boosters to nearby disciples.
Disciples can literally be spawned from where the Monk stands, and both the Monk and the disciples have the ability to convert enemy units directly into disciples as they are defeated. The Japanese have two elite bowmen with the ability to teleport back to their home base, and to randomly unleash a divine strike from afar, which can kill a unit instantly. Just like the Chinese Monk, the Japanese bowmen can be upgraded with a number of upgrades, which ultimately make them quite useful in the late game. Finally, the Indians have access to two Elephant riders, who are potentially the weakest of the new explorers, but are also more useful than those of the original game.
Going beyond wonders and explorers, there are a large number of new units that are certainly memorable and unique. The Monk and the disciples play a big part in a Chinese army, but the Chinese also have the unique ability to build mixtures of armies - crossbowmen and spearmen or Chinese muskets and cavalry - from their unit producing building. The Chinese top-tier artillery unit also makes those seen in the euro civilizations look boring, with a giant rocket unleashing a firework-worthy explosion upon detonation on its target. The Japanese receive similar treatment, albeit without the ability to build mixtures of units at a time. Units like the ever powerful samurai, which unleash damage to multiple units at a time, are available. The legendary Shoguns of various types act as mobile barracks, home city drop-offs and even as emitters of area bonuses, which affect units around them. Finally, the Indians are the masters of elephant warfare, and it is typically a great challenge for any opponent to counter a well-mixed Indian force. Their trample ability and elephant-mounted artillery truly make them a force to be reckoned with.
The Asian Dynasties features new units and different time periods to explore.
Finally, a new resource type only available to the sides featured in the Asian Dynasties is available - even when playing online. Each Asian race generates a new resource called export, which is generated automatically when collecting resources and can be used at will from a consulate building. Depending on the foreign ally that you choose, which differs between each of the three sides, you can gain a variety of benefits ranging from free military units to economic benefits or even buildings.
For example, the Dutch offer a bank building, which may be purchased for so much export, while also offering a variety of military reinforcements as well. The Russians, however, will provide the Asian sides with more defense-related structures and units. How you choose to spend your export oftentimes can significantly impact how the game plays out. Players do have the option to determine if they choose to add an export tax on their resource income rates, which will generate even more export depending on the amount chosen. The options for all sides range from 0% to 10%.
When all of these changes are considered, it's obvious that there really are a whole lot of advantages available - even at low home-city levels, which certainly helps when going against guys online who have already maxed out their card decks and home cities. If you'd rather not risk getting stomped by the experts (even with the advantages considered), you can bypass the "pro players" and still level up your home cities by playing against computer AI online, even if it's a team game versus the AI. Ensemble certainly does their best to make the concept of home city leveling as friendly as possible to all players, as in-game experience even rewards those who lose.
