To start out, Age of Empires 3 starts off where Age of Empires 2 left. The end of Age of Empires 2 left in the Rennaisance age, Age of Empires 3 is the Discovery/Colonial age - when America was found, and the European nations flocked to it for expansion and power.

Let's start with the good news - At first when I heard Age of Empires 3 taking place in the Colonial Age I was very skeptical. That age was perhaps the most boring of history in my opinion, but despite however much we hate American history and however much many of us find the Colonial age incredibly boring, this works INCREDIBLY well in it. It's quite a hop trading archers for musketeers, but it all in all fits perfectly. The game does a great job of showing that some of the old archaic influence is still upon some of the nations (We still have pikemen, archers, Spanish swordsmen [Rodelero]), but that it is ultimately moving. And it's really amazing seeing the battle scenes in the game, when you have musketeers firing, hussars charging, artillery blowing infantry to bits, so much happening at one moment. The home city is a great new addition and gives more to the Discovery/Colonial age feel. Your out in the New World to gain power and expanse for your country, so you can request shipments in cards once you earn shipments (Dont EVER forget to get new cards...EVER!). These shipments will definitely be imperative. A way to earn shipments faster, is by constructing Trading Posts on a Trade Route, but thats not the only thing you can do with a Trading Post. You can also construct them near Native American villages, giving you different technologies, and even units.

Once you warm up a bit, after destroying Queen Elizabeth a hundred times on the Easy difficulty you may possibly be ready to take the fight online! This is where the real action begins. Multiplayer will make you feel insecure, unsure about whether your opponent is getting the upper or the lower hand. Your always on your toes. The people there are from the entire world - and they dont seem as crude as the people on Halo 2.

The bad news - The game does chop down at times (If you run on a minimum standard computer, your computer WILL bog down SEVERELY on any naval scenes), even sometimes it bogs while on the ground fight scenes. The other bad news is that there just isnt enough diversity in the game. In the game we have Spanish, British, French, Portugese, Dutch, Russian, German, and Ottomen. Except for Ottoman, these are all European Christian races. While each does have their own gamestyle, I say they could've fit in something with a bit more flare - Japanese, for example. I guess in a way the Ottoman is an escape.

Other bad news, I personally didnt enjoy the campaign as much as I did with Age 2. I dont really know why, it's probably because there was never any historical records of the Black family. I enjoyed much more playing as William Wallace or Joan of Arc instead of playing a fictional character in a historic setting.

All in all, this game tops off it's predecessor, Age of Empires 2, and I personally believe that it's all-in-all historically accurate, the home city adds a new depth to the setting, and the game itself is just great. In my opinion, it even tops off WarCraft 3. If you like real-time strategy games, I wouldnt miss out on this.