Introduction:

Ever wanted to rule as the industrial English or the Conquering Spanish? Welcome to the sequel of what most RTS gamers say is one of the best RTS games ever made, Age of Empires III! In this trial version you get to play as the Americans in campaign mode and
the English and Spanish in the skirmish mode and to top things off the trial version comes with two skirmish maps which are Texas and New England.

Now lets get to the campaign mode, You play as the Americans starting off in Texas as Amelia Black who needs to setup trading posts along the trading routes to help out the government and her business. You meet a general called Cooper who wants Amelia's men to build train tracks for the much needed supplies to reach his men.

The first campaign is called "", you have to build four trading posts along the trade routes and prevent your enemies from taking them, pretty simple at first but you will see that your enemy has built houses, barracks and a trading post on one of the trading sites, you will have to defeat the hidden army that is ready to defend the trading post.

The second campaign is called "Beaumont the Prospector", you come to an allied fort that needs trading posts built so that resources can be transported to you, soon after your reach the fort the Mexicans come out and start attacking the fort and general Cooper starts getting all his men to defensive positions and in the fort. You meet up with a man who goes by the name of Pierre Beaumont who has been chased by the Mexicans and helps you fight against the Mexicans. You have to build four trading posts and upgrade them from horse and carriage to locomotive trains and then defeat the three Mexican settlements that exist around your fort. Soon after you defeat the Mexicans, Pierre Beaumont asks Amelia Black wether or not she wants to go up to his goldmine claim up in the mountains, she thinks and then agrees that only if she gets 70% of what her men dig up, Pierre agrees and that's how the second and last campaign ends.

The Game:

The Age of Empires III demo was a wonder to play with higher ages than in Age of Empires II and a better building system that just makes you want to play this game over and over again.
The first time you play you first get a special character as your city protector and a city of your own in which you then play through the game with and collect XP (Experience Points) to level up your city, you also get a card deck and for an example a wood card giving you 300 wood in-game is available every time you get a shipment point which is obtainable through collecting XP while playing. Once your 300 wood has been shipped you can then get one of your settlers to collect it and give you 300 wood to your current amount but of course there
are many more cards with much more than just wood ;). There are sometimes even American Indian settlements which you can then build a trading post on to be able to build Indian soldiers and upgrade them. There is also treasure that you will find but it will be protected by outlaws that you will have to kill to get the treasure but it's well worth
it. All the resources that where in the demo where silver, gold which are used
for "coin" which is the alternative to AOE II's gold. Wood and food are also there as well to help you carry on with life in the AOE III world. There are many new buildings, units and upgrades that will shape the way you defeat your opponent and defend your city's, excellent.
Hopefully there will be more ages than what I saw in the demo.

The Graphics:

The jaw dropping visuals in this game are something that we have never seen before in an RTS, with detailed tree's, scrub and even flying birds, this game has a beautiful environments. The water is something you will never forget, the water is reflective with
waves and detailed wave breaking at the shoreline. The units have more polygons than any other RTS and have layers of clothing; the buildings are very detailed with smoke coming from the chimneys. But in battle is where this game will make your jaw hit the ground with a
loud thumb as all the cannons and primitive rockets fire at the buildings blowing off parts of the building with every shot and then to conclude by totally collapsing, this game is truly an amazing game in the graphics department. This game is still a demo and it could possibly look even better when the full version is released, let's wait and see.

The Sound:

The very well done sound in AOE III is great with accurate sounds for the cannons and musketeers guns and the clanging of swords is something you will love as you hear your men fighting and your enemies falling to the sound of your men's fire. There is accompanying music that also fits the scene from orchestral victory music to the gripping battle music; it's all very well done. Your units and buildings also have sounds and voices that tell you what you have just clicked on. Hopefully we will see more excellent music in the full version of the game!

The Final Verdict:

This demo of Age of Empires III was nothing short of amazing with brilliant graphics, sound and game play that made my jaw drop as I built up my city and it's defences. This game is going to be BIG and I just can't wait to play the full version of this game! All I have to say here is that when this game gets released on October 25th 2005, you must buy it!

See you next time...