Playability: 1.5
Well, trying out this campaign, you'll find four scenarios. First you have to kill the X-Makkurans which is an easy task due to a forest which seperates you from them. It's just rushing through the ages, building some units and then conquering your enemy.
The other scenarios are always the same. There's simply no challange in this capaign.
Balance: 1.5
Your victory can only be prevented by yourself. As long as you are patient enough to wait for iron age and some units to be built you canot lose. All right, not knowing this makes you play cautiously, so it's not the worst balance. (But very close to it)
There other scenarios are just as well much too easy. No challange. No points.
Creativity: 1.5
If there wasn't the story, creativity would be just as low as balance. Neither victory condition, nor map design nor anything else holds any creativity. You're just two players on a medium map. You're seprated by a forest drawn with the biggest forest brush and there's really nothing to do.
Every scenario turned out to be seek & destroy. For some strange reason, in scenario two you even have to kill the rebels.
Map Design: 1
This map is worse than random maps! Not only that it kills all the challange but it also looks awful. I bet that the designer didn't put in more than 10 minutes in map design.
Maps in scenarios 2,3 and 4 are not better. I really donÄt understand how someone could put such little efforts into map design.
Story/Instructions: 2.0
Well, the story is definately the best point about this camapign. Although I do not like these alien stories, I have to admit that some efforts were made to create a nice background for your mission. Still, instruction map and hints are missing while the story itself is full of grammatical errors.
With the campaign moving onwards the story gets worse. In scenario 3 there is no story at all.
Additional Comments:
download recommendation: No.
The designer could still be a good one because of nice stories if he/she knew a bit about scenario designing in AoE. Downloading one or the other good campaign could help the designer develop his own capability to create a scenario which fits to his/her good story.
edit: Using the campaign manager I just found out that there are indeed 4 scenarios. Something sees to be corrupted. I'll check out again.
edit2: I updated my review. Now story has become even worse.