AoM has a lot of variety within those three though, DA. First reports from people on MP suggest that the gameplay is fun, smooth and varied, with good support for MP scenarios too (scoring over EE in this respect, doing EE MP scenarios takes some messing about).
Sara - I agree that bigger/flashier etc is not better. For games that provide new features it's all about how good they are, how well they work and what they add to gameplay and how much fun can be had using them. As far as design goes, well, any designer scores on what they can do with what they have, their innovation with what they are given.
The AoM editor, I can tell you, has already been criticised for lack of features that people felt it should have had. It seems they opted for stability and performance over features, which only you can decide is the right choice. Here's a quote from someone about missing features in the AoM editor that they were expecting;
"No unit editor in AoM, that's right(can't change any stats or size for any unit). But when I heard that there was no unit count feature(no way to count units killed, units in area..ect), I really got mad"
It's a fair point - since there are many great scenarios for AoE and other older games that don't have these features either, they are not necessary to turn out good work, however, all those features are in EE and for some people AoM is a step backwards.
I think AoM is significantly different from AoE and AoK to have lasting interest for some people. The community, however, has become more fickle. A lot of people deserted AoK when EE came out, a lot of people are leaving EE now because AoM is out and no doubt will desert it when the next game comes along.
I'm with DA in any event, wait a bit for the price to drop and see what support it gets from the community.
[This message has been edited by Phill Phree (edited 11-17-2002 @ 07:19 PM).]