[Sabastian]

I have been playing the demo and it looks great but there are plenty of the game features not available. I was wondering if the game play is as good in the full version as it is in the demo in terms of frame rates.(I know it looks at least as well.) Also in the demo you have no unit formations available and I am hoping that the full version allows for these particular features. I am really impressed with the demo and it looks like this will be the next purchase in terms of games.

[Sabastian]

Come on guys... does no one have the game or at least tried the demo? I know RTS games are not the most popular but gesh.

[Gollum]

I just finished the campaign mode and I must say its absolutely worth its money. I liked it better than Warcraft 3, the Egyptian, Greek and Norse Mythologies were connected really well to form one big storyline and most missions were great. The framerate was completely stable except for one mission towards the end (had like 300+ units fighting on screen at once there), I'm playing it at 1280x960 with 2xAA and 2xAF on a lowly Ti4200, so the engine has excellent performance!

[Sabastian]

Excellent.... and what of the formations and stances? (Also what CPU are you running?) Thanks in advance. I am pretty sure now that the game will be installed on my system in the near future just got to scratch the money up...

[McElvis]

I got it yesterday.

It's a VERY good game (but then I like all the 'Age' games, I still play Age 2! Though probably not now ).

The three 'races' are completely different, and there are so many Gods to follow that it's unlikely you will be fighting exactly the same force in a game.

It's running super-smooth on my 'low spec' system -
PIII 866
512 MB
GF2-Ti
@ 1280x1024x32 (no AA or AF)

The 3D graphics are a little 'rough', but it's the game play that counts...and its got stacks of that!

Well worth the £30.

EDIT : Not sure about formations yet..have not seen any. I will have a good look tonight.

[Gollum]

I didn't fiddle too much with formations, but there are a few battle commands available (you have to click an extra icon to bring up the commands). I mostly used them to change stance from agressive to defensive (otherwise stationed units rush out and attack any enemy that comes within their sight, which I don't like), stand ground is also available. The attack formations are basic and the default works well for most situations so I rarely changed it, you can choose between lines (default), box, mixed and spread formations though if you wish. the tougher melee units take the front (lines) or edges (box), while weeker and melee units stay back or in the middle, works well...

[Sabastian]

One more question.... what about the "find idle worker" feature?

[Gollum]

There's a "flag" on the top right of the screen that shows up if there are idle workers, just klick it to cycle all idle workers...

[McElvis]

Also tell's you how many idle workers you have.

[Sabastian]

Thanks a ton guys. McElvis I too am a fan of AOE2... but this is looking like the replacment.. I love the multiplayer aspect of these games particularly. Have played AOE2 for a couple of years now and still get addicted to the multiplayer games. Thanks again

Sabastian.

[McElvis]

No probs.

Was playing it last night, and it gets better each time I play it!
One thing to note though, the computer is a lot harder and smarter than in AOE2