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Author |
File Description |
Stephen Dumas |
Posted on 05/02/02 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Number of Scenarios: |
4 |
Difficulty: |
Mod-Hard |
Review : ; The Egyptians to the end of their empire remembered Thutmose III and his conquests with awe. Thutmose III possessed all the qualities of a great ruler. A brilliant general that never lost, he also excelled as an administrator and statesman. He was an accomplished horseman, archer, athlete and discriminating patron of the arts. Thutmose had no time for pompous, self-indulgent bombast and his records show him to be a sincere and fair-minded man. He was the Alexander the Great of Egypt; he extended the boundaries of the Egyptian Empire to the greatest extents in Egyptian history. This campaign covers his rise to power over Hatshepsut (the woman Pharaoh who usurped his throne) and three major battles of his conquests. In this campaign, you will become a god-king, seek out traitors, pillage and destroy great cities, find archaeological treasures older than Egypt herself, hunt mighty elephants, use innovative naval tactics, and expand Egypt's power farther than it has ever been. |
Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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FireLegion_56 |
Posted on 03/27/05 @ 05:49 AM
Here are to original reviews from the
"Through the Eyes of the Pharoah - AoEH Campaign Contest Results"
Please note that the score goes but the highest review.
Review #1:
I was very pleased to read a series of engaging introductions in the instructions. This was the only campaign that really did the job in that regard. Some folks might grumble or raise an eyebrow at the use of AoE scenario bitmaps - but they were customized by the author, not dropped in as-is, and obviously some time was spent with them. My only problem with the instructions was that they sometimes include things you don't need to do. For example, scenario 1 has an objective of building a "Temple of Karnak." Of course, you can build no such thing in that scenario & it's not a VC anyway. Confusing.
Scenario 1 got a bit tedious after a while, what with zillions of conversions to complete. Scenario 2 claims you can bribe Meggido with gold, but it's not possible to get that much gold in the time allowed without using cheats. Scenario 3 would have been a touch better without having to kill every elephant on the planet. Lions are everywhere in the scenarios, the little pests.
But, having said all that (as the author thinks, "Did he like anything?"), this campaign had excellent maps, with fine attention to detail and very good use of terrain features and eye candy. The VCs were varied and multiple. The gameplay was challenging and enjoyable. Overall a very nice campaign. It has the potential to make a good AoK campaign; for example, in scenario 1 triggers could be used to complete the conversion of the military after certain key units are converted.
Instructions - 5 Overall- 4.4
Creativity - 4
Map - 5
Balance - 4
Playability- 4
Review #2:
Have you ever played a campaign and thought "Well, this would be an instant classic, if it weren t for those few little bugs..."? This is one of those campaigns.
Don t get me wrong, "Thutmose III" is by all means a very good campaign, as is revealed as it handily wins the contest. It is evident that a lot of tender loving care went into the making of this campaign, and it s style is somewhat reminiscent of that of the great Imhotep.
The driving force behind "Thutmose III" is its storyline. Even if you absolutely despise AoE, I would recommend that you play the campaign for the simple reason of immersing yourself in the story yes, it is that good. Coupled with some nice-looking bitmaps and varied objectives, and you have the driving force behind this campaign.
My favorite scenario of the campaign is the first one starting off with your lone hero, you must make some quick tactical moves to escape the hostile city, make your way across the river, persuade the local Military to join your side, and return to defeat the enemy. It s AoE gaming at its best, and fortunately the other scenarios follow the first in similar fashion.
Now, I come to the only black mark on an otherwise spotless entry: bugs. Yes, the bane of all designers, there are several problems that pop up regarding this campaign. The first issue is with pathfinding. In the 2 final scenarios, you will find your larger units getting stuck at many narrow passages through the cliffs, making parts of the two final scenarios difficult and tedious, and in some places maybe even impossible.
There are other issues that come into play as well, such as the issue with tribute in the second scenario but I will let you discover that for yourself!
In spite of these flaws, "Thutmose III" is still a very solid and immersive (not to mention difficult) campaign, sure to give you hours of great Age of Empires fun! The author seems to have taken a page out of the books of Age designing greats such as Ingo van Thiel and Imhotep. Great job!
Instructions - 5 Overall- 4.2
Creativity - 5
Map - 4
Balance - 4
Playability- 3 |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.4 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.0 | Balance | 4.0 | Creativity | 4.0 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 5.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 1,695 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 0.98 KB |
Added: | 05/02/02 |
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