Age of Empires III

***Age of Empires III*** (also known as **AoE III**) is a real-time strategy game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The PC Version was released on October 18, 2005 and is the third title of the *Age of Empires* series.

Two expansion packs were released; the first, *The WarChiefs*, was released on October 17, 2006, and introduced three Native American civilizations; the second, *The Asian Dynasties*, released on October 23, 2007, included three new Asian civilizations.

A remastered version was announced on August 21, 2017.

## Setting

The game is set where *Age of Empires II* left off with the discovery of the New World and the beginning of colonial times between the 1500s to the year 1850. *Age of Empires III* follows in the style of the previous games of the series, with the player taking a European colony from a small settlement into a powerful empire. The player also progresses through five 'Ages', a system of tiered advancement in which each tier offers increasingly powerful units and upgrades.

## New Features

* Experience Points (XP)
* Home Cities
* An Explorer (Hero unit)
* More Unique units than any other game of the franchise
* Collect treasures from the maps
* Forge alliance with natives
* Hire mercenaries and outlaws (expansions only)
* Build trade posts to get more resources and experience
* The use of the Havok Game engine, for more destruction and cleaner unit animations.

## Gameplay

The player starts the game with a Town Center, an Explorer, and several Settlers or merely a Covered Wagon and an Explorer depending on the type of game selected. Unlike the other *Age of Empires* games, this game includes much prominent gunpowder warfare, including artillery and rifle companies. When the game starts the exact terrain of the map which includes, the position of the enemy, native tribes, and trade post sites are blacked out. If you have teammates they and the land they visit are visible. Players must explore the map and begin gathering the natural resources, food, coin, or wood which are used to train more units, create more buildings, and upgrade your technology. The actions such as training units, constructing buildings, and killing enemy units can give the player experience points. When the experience points reach a certain threshold the players earn shipment cards that can be shipped from the Home City to the player. Then as your economy and military improves you can destroy their colonies or the enemy may offer to resign (if allowed).

### Ages

As with most RTS games, the player can advance through technological phases, which provide access to greater improvements, units, or buildings. In *Age of Empires III*, these phases are called "Ages", and represent historical time periods. Before advancing, the player must choose a politician and each can provide free units or crates of resources. They are five: the Discovery Age, which represents the discovery and exploration of the Americas by Europeans and allows the player to explore and develop their economy; the Colonial Age, which represents the European Expansion into the "New World" and unlocks early military units; the Fortress Age, which represents the fortification of the European colonies, unlocks forts, and allows the player to have a more complete military; the Industrial Age, which triggers a strong economy, due in part to factories—advanced buildings that produce resources or artillery—and unlocks all units and cards; and the Imperial Age, which unlocks all buildings and upgrades.

Similar to the *Age of Mythology's* minor gods, *Age of Empires III* utilizes a *Politician System* as a method of granting bonuses on a successful advancement to another age. When a player chooses to advance to the next age, they are given the choice of two or more politicians. When the player selects a politician, they are granted a bonus along with the age advancement. The politician is given a generalized title from the period that reflects the bonus that it gives (for example, "The Naturalist" gives a reward of four cows). As the player's Home City increases in level, more politicians are unlocked at a rate of one every ten levels.