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The facts that asian dynasties is an expansion pack is so inconspicuous that one does not easily notice this. Once you have purchased this game, you realize that it is a way to make additional money. Apparently, a lot of people had the same issues. Microsoft should reimburse people or convert this into a stand-alone game.
The scenario editor is still "iffy", but the elephants are completely awesome. As for the addition of new game types (regicide, King of the Hill, Treaty), the game is finally complete.
The addition of more units and maps adds infinitely more possibilities. Game play is just as better, if not better, than Age of Empires III.
The addition of the consulate and export increases the possibilities and outcomes. Unfortunately, the cavalry are just as useless as ever.
This expansion adds more artillery--and more powerful artillery--which reduces the necessity of strategy. The campaign is slightly shorter than I would have hoped, but it is still well done and fun to play.
Two thumbs up.
What I got was adequate, but not particularly great.The core game has always relied on giving each nation a gimmick, but the nations in this game are pretty much nothing but gimmicks. Similarly, the Chinese army building mechanic is infuriating, and the strength of the unique infantry for each nation means that I pretty much never build cavalry. I'd had Age of Empires III and the Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs Expansion Pack for some time, and I enjoyed them quite a bit, so I decided to give this one a shot. None of these nations share units, and most of the units they have are useless. So, yeah. In War Chiefs each of the tribes had a theme which gave them certain strengths and weaknesses, but they all had the same core gameplay, which was little different from the European powers. I spent five minutes figuring out how their economy worked before I even tried to really get going, and when I did I discovered that elephants are effectively a separate, extremely expensive unit type, and I couldn't figure out a way to integrate them into my army.
I did. I figured that, if nothing else, it would at least give me some variety in skirmish and multiplayer. Also, it must be stated that the Japanese are horrendously overpowered: I've never even been threatened with defeat in any game playing them.Given that, if you liked the core game, you'll probably have some fun with this. With this expansion, the developers seem to have focused on shoveling in as much "unique" content for each nation as they can, which becomes monumentally distracting, as all this additional content is, indeed, additional to core gameplay. For example: I thought to play as the Indians because, hey, elephant cavalry. You have to treat it as being somewhat silly to have it be really enjoyable, as some of the mechanics are hilariously ahistorical or unrealistic but still deeply rooted in the common culture. Don't buy the core game on the strength of this expansion, but if you like the game, this is probably worth a shot.
This series (age of empires) is a favorite of ours, and this installation is no exception.
If you likes estrategy game, this is a must have. Great resolution, nice balance between story line and objectives. Good choice.
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