First off I'll put in a little "editorial" and say the fan site reviews I've read are just so one-dimensional and fully fanboyish, I laughed reading through them. Not one negative about the game, but kudos to Brow3000 for daring to put a 4/5 in his review. But they ARE fan sites so that explains a lot.
ReviewTechnicalGraphics: 85% (B-)
Animations: 90% (Very fluid, life like, good as AoM)
Effects: 85% (The god powers all feature neat visuals, but they are 2D, meaning they can be duplicated in anything, but since they AREN'T seen any other games they're cool.
Models/Textures: 80% (There is no significant increase in graphical quality in the expansion. The models are all extremely low poly, textures are low res even at highest setting, an option to bump up quality even more for people with higher-end machines would be nice. Compared to the recent RTS' like Homeworld 2, graphics are mediocre.)Sound: 81% (C)
Realism: 85% (Sounds remain a weak point for the Mythology series, they lack any real punch)
Quality: 87% (Sound quality is mediocre at best, the lack of EAX3 or any effect that could make the sound more is disappointing)
Voice Acting: 70% (The wooden dialouge mixed with bad voice actors provides players with a very bad experience in the field of voice acting, an integral part of the singleplayer campaign.)
Music: 80% (The music doesn't come near the original Age series, orchestration remains poor as listeners continue to hear kindergarten music instruments playing while Titans are brought to life, there is nothing much new. The original theme has been tweaked a tad with choral additions, and a new Atlantean theme, nothing special.)Gameplay: 85% (B)
Balancing: 95% (Ensemble Studios hold the crown of excellent game balancing, and The Titans is no exception, the newest civilization is gracefully balanced and woven into the exsisting civilizations, of course, small nit picky balancing issues will soon pop-up, as they always have, but overall The Titans is well balanced, much better than most RTS games.
New Additions: 84% (Aside from the Atlanteans, all the old Age of Mythology civilizations get new technologies etc.Although the additions are not as hefty as The Conquerors, they are nifty in their own way, still, the Atlanteans remain a Greek #2's. Though the new god powers are new to the Age series, they are anything but new to the RTS genre, they're rehashed spells and magic from other games, now looking better and called god powers.
Campaign Gameplay: 90% (An EXTREMELY welcome change from the past Age games is the old and worn out build and destroy type of gameplay, replaced with break outs, escapes, destroying targets, etc.)
Multiplayer: 88% (Although the multiplayer promises to be fun, you can't help but notice the whopping 500 players online at any given time on Ensemble Studios Online. Good luck finding good games in under 20 seconds.)Overall Technical Score85% (B-)Creative OverviewThe Singleplayer Experience: 76% C-
The Story: 67% (Poseidon is no longer watching over Atlantis, the fallen world, and the imprisoned Titans are fleeing their prisons...and the Atlanteans make the decision to strike a deal with the devil, alliancing themselves with the Titans, a motion that does not set too well with the neighboring worlds. Though the synopsis hooks you, and sounds fascinating, the execution of summary to story is so poor, it makes the original Age of Mythology plot look like a gold mine, and that was barely worth an 80% score. If the player has knows the difference of good storytelling and bad, then he/she will be in for a major disappointment...the attempts at humor are the equivalent of a sadistic pessimists attempting to make a happy joke.)
The Characters: 65% (The main character, Kastor, the son of Arkantos, who we virtually never saw past the 2nd or 3rd scenario of the original campaign takes center stage in this game, and he is just about as flat and depthless as the latest Star Wars movie characters...and worse. If you thought the bad poem singing villians SPOILER: HIGHLIGHT (he's back!!! So are Odysseus and, Arkantos) of the original were badly written, one dimensional characters, you'll barf when you see the atrocious characters in the Titan. Good character interaction is one thing that was interesting in the original AoM, that is virtually absent in The Titans.)
Cinematics: 95% (So the story, the character, are rather dull, flat, one-dimensional, and plain simply bad. When the cinematics arrive, the cinematography is superb, from camera angles to zooms, they provide a nice ride, and a VERY movie like experience. The intro cinematic is just what the original AoM was, bluntly put: bad.)Originality/Innovation 83%
Innovation and originality are words that don't work in the same sentence with RTS. Basically AoM is a rehash of all other RTS', but it's a very GOOD rehash mind you. However revolution in RTS is quite possible. For example, wouldn't it be very cool if gameplay was non-linear? You would be presented with multiple mission objectives, you could pick one and work with numerous options to reach that goal, for example finding side roads, going in full force, or not even shooting one arrow or swinging your sword once. What if YOU had the choice of NOT allying with the Titans? This is catching on in the FPS genre, and it could really jumpstart the RTS genre which has been declining lately. It would also increase the replayability value manifolds...Overall Creative Score: 80% (C)
Overall Score: 84% B-
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[This message has been edited by BlumenKohl (edited 10-03-2003 @ 08:23 PM).]