|
Age of Empires: The Age of Kings
Publisher: Majesco
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy
Release Date: February 14, 2006
Platform: Nintendo DS
Reviewer: Eric
 How
can a RTS game be on a portable console? Not any portable
console this is the Nintendo DS. Is this even possible? Age of
Empires is a long running series on the computer. It has a great
story (history) and the controls are great but you can change
them to fit your needs. But really a Age of Empires game for the
DS?
Saying The Age of Kings is a bad game is a understatement.
The game does control well, you can either use the D Pad and the
few buttons the DS has or you can use your stylus. Two unique
choices, both make the game enjoyable. Whenever I play I tend to
use the D Pad and the buttons, for some reason the stylus is a
little too sensitive here. There were some times when I didn't
mean to click on a certain unit or building. Whenever you have a
group of soldiers together it can be a little nonsense, but just
stick with it or change the way you play.
Age of Empires: The Age of Kings has the typical story. You are
playing "insert famous person from the past here" and you need to win.
The game offers real aspects from history which may turn off people that
don't give a shit about history. I don't mind it but since I've played
too many games with Joan of Arc I yawned a few times when I went through
her five tutorial stages. What is the deal with Joan of Arc I think this
is the second or third game I've played where she is the tutorial. Somebody
needs to say something...
Surprisingly most of the units and buildings are in this
game. Things in The Age of Kings go a lot slower than the PC
version. When I was going through this game there were times
when I could only build one or two units yet I had enough
buildings to produce more. I'm not sure if the game cuts you off
at times but don't expect to have a huge army, only the computer
can. Even though the computer has a bigger army it really seems
the game plays in your favor, as long as you don't have peons
attacking swordsmen units.
The graphics in this game might be a little disappointing but
come on they just ported an RTS game to the DS. There are a few,
maybe two, RTS games on the PSP and they look a whole lot
better, but it isn't always about graphics. Some of your units
look the same, which can be a little confusing, but the top
portion of your DS lets you know which unit you picked and
whenever you attack it will show green and red arrows. I'll let
you figure out which arrow is better, it is a no brainier
really.
Final Verdict
Age of Empires: The Age of Kings delivers a good, quality RTS
game for the Nintendo DS. It might not have everything the PC
version does but it have the majority of units, buildings and it
even lets you do some upgrading. At times the game doesn't feel
right, you can't produce nearly as many units as the computer,
but you can easily defeat the enemy if you play with some sense
of strategy. By now this game should be fairly cheap, I've seen
it brand new as low as ten dollars. Hopefully we'll see a sequel
on the DS soon with an online feature.
Rating
6 out of 10
|
