Veni, Vidi, Vici

Being a technician for a living, I am surrounded by PCs and PC-based telephone systems every day, whether they run MS-DOS 6.22 or an OS as advanced as Windows 2000 Server. So, having a vast collection of Microsoft OS disks in my office is a must. One day in particular, I had a Windows 98 based voice mail PC die....requiring a new hard drive and a fresh install. After the DOA PC was brought back to life, I explored the Win98 disk out of boredom. In the "demo" folder, a file exists that started the addiction: It is the Age of Empires demo. So, upon playing the demo, and loving it, I had to purchase the full version.

Age of Empires starts out (normally) with a limited civilization" in the Stone Age. With little more than crude and basic tools, your villagers must feed, shelter, and protect themselves...all while advancing through the ages and attempting to prosper. Sounds easy? Maybe.

Playing in Single or Multiplayer modes, the player is offered the choices of several play levels: Death Match, which gives the player almost unlimited resources; Random, which is just that...it could take place on an inland map, or on a coastal front, with limited or unlimited resources; Scenario play, which lets you live out a real life event ( such as the Roman conquest of Carthage); and Custom built scenario...which lets the player build the map, the rules and the characters. Admittedly, I like the latter, since it lets you use characters that aren't available in the regular play mode (such as Hero Caesar...in the Rise of Rome expansion).

Also a great feature of Age of Empires is the ability to play multiplayer via a network, modem (and what's cool is that you can call another player's PC directly. I did this with another technician from my office. We were on transfer, and my laptop called his laptop from one hotel room to another), serial ports (via Direct Cable Connection), and finally through Microsoft's Game Zone. There are so many ways to play, and so many ways to meet other gamers...it's truly an excellent program.

Further, the multiplayer part also includes CHAT ability. So, you get the chance to play heads-up versus a friend, and taunt him at the same time.

The characters in the game are also quite varied as well. Starting with simple villagers, military barracks, grainaries, watch-towers, and weapons workshops can be built. Also, important to the survival of most civilizations is the ability to utilize an effective naval force. Age of Empires is no different, giving the player the chance to start with a fishing boat, and resulting with the chance to have a floatilla of Flying Dutchmen...capable of beating an opponent's coastline into submission.

Age's AI (artificial intelligence) gives the game the ability to interpret input from the human gamer, and make appropriate responses. For example, it can analyze an attack, and respond accordingly. Almost humanly, I might add.

Age of Empires, although older, is still as fun today as it was in 1997. And much like the Stone Age people advance, so did the "Age" games...with the advent of the Rise of Rome add on, the Age II series, and the Age of Empires II: The Conquerors. Like any product, they only get better with time and development.