PC Games Review

Age of Mythology (神話世紀)

Age of Mythology (AOM), which has been eagerly anticipated by game fans since it premiered at this year's E3, is set to be released in late autumn. Developed by Ensemble Studios after the award-winning Age of Empires (AOE, 世紀帝國) and Age of Kings (AOK, 帝王世紀), this real-time strategy game allows the player to beseech the favor of the gods to fight his enemies and to recruit heroes of ancient legends into battle. Through the role-playing game (RPG), the player is able to advance him or herself through four ages and to develop supernatural powers and strategies to protect his or her tribes from enemy attack or to conquer rivals' territories through strikes.

The legendary figures in AOM come from three ancient civilizations -- Greece, northern Europe and Egypt. When Bruce Shelly, one of the developers of the Age games, visited Taiwan in August to promote the new game series, he was asked if it was possible for his group to add some Asian legends, especially Chinese ones, to the game. He declined to give a definite answer but promised to take it into consideration.

The goal of the new game is similar to that of the AOE series. The player needs to collect food, stones, gold and wood. The player must choose an ancient civilization at the start of the game, then gather resources, build armies and advance through four different ages as quickly as possible. Each time the player advances an age, he or she is free to choose different gods to get the benefit of their supernatural powers which, in turn, will influence the player's fighting strategies.

"The initial concept behind AOM is the same as that of AOE and AOK, but the fighting strategies are quite different. AOM includes three military systems -- basic military units, armies of heroes and god. ... Heroes beat gods; gods destroy mankind; and human beings kill heroes," said Chiang Wen-chung (江文忠), manager of the Gamebase Web site.

AOM features 36 single-play game battles, multi-link functions, powerful editorial tools, etc. Moreover, driven by a robust 3D engine, graphics are even truer to life than those of the newly launched War Craft 3.

"Especially when gods appear, the whole world is changed by the stunning 3D effects: the moon eclipses the sun and the sky is turned to darkness; the funnel-shaped clouds start transforming into tornados, swirling buildings into the sky, and meteor showers rain down from the heavens to smite their enemies," Chiang said.

Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom (模擬中國)

If you are not interested in destruction and killing, why not try something more constructive. Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom will take you to China to enjoy the pride and power of dynasties and to change the history of the Middle Kingdom.

"Emperor is the first game that allows players to build a city together on the Net," said Hans Chuang (莊承翰), manager of Unalis, "Players have to work together to build some of the greatest Chinese structures in history, such as the Great Wall and the Grand Canal or to compete against each other to rule China."

The game is based on oriental theology and philosophy. The zodiac and feng shui (風水) play significant roles in the game. The player needs to choose one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac and then receives the various benefits and characteristics that animal bestows on them. While building their city, players need to keep feng shui in mind and fit objects harmoniously into their environment.