Recent reviews by Argentavis

Age of Empires 3 (AOE3) will always be my favourite RTS of all time. I have played this game since 2008 and on my disc copy (actually 3 disc copies lol) I would say I have played around 1500 hours or so total.

The Campaign: The campaign is not a hugely different playstyle from skirmish or multiplayer but it allows you to feel more like you're involved with the people and characters than usual which definitely makes the campaign worth playing through. Each expansion has a separate campaign and I remember them being highly entertaining and interesting each to their own. The campaigns also allow you to use civs not playable in any other game mode.

Map Editor: Not something I played around with too much, but it was fun to just create giant battles, or create your own scenarios and historical events.

Civilizations: The civilizations are really interesting. So interesting, that my interest in European, Native American, and Asian history are based from this game. I play this game as an excuse for studying for my history tests but I can't say that it helped with much more than trivia-like questions. Anyways, This game makes every civilization slightly different from each other (The War Chiefs and Asians are much different respectifully though) and every one is recognizable by not only building styles but troops as well. Each nation is given at least one troop that is unique to their civ. In the original there is 8 European nations (Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Ottoman Empire) with War Chiefs, 3 Native American tribes were added (Iroquois, Sioux, Aztec) allowing 11 total playable nations, and finally with Asian Dynasties, 3 more were added (Japan, China, India), with a total of 14 playable civilizations . Apart from the 3 civs that are just a little bit better than the rest (You'll know soon enough), it is pretty balanced when playing online (IF playing with someone with similar experience).

Multiplayer: AOE3 was slowly getting weaker with age a few years back but with the game being more widely sold on steam, I feel the community has a chance to bounce back. Usually when I go on, there are anywehre from 600 - 1000 people on at a time. This doesn't count the community that play on places like GameRanger and other programs like it. Don't get discouraged by people baiting new players into their games when they are veteran players. Host a game and name it something welcoming new players, read the ranks of the people who join, to make sure the game will be fair and welcoming to you if you are new. Or join another low ranked players game or grab a buddy or two and practice between you all. I would recommend being able to beat Hard or Expert computers before playing online, but of course, it is your choice. Multiplayer is the best place to play, practice, and have a competitive and some-what stressful game of AOE3. :)

Graphics: Honestly, in my opinion, the graphics are spectacular for their time and do not look anywhere near "bad" even in today's time. Of course they aren't great for today's standards but they aren't awful enough to turn you away. I actually find them quite nice and I am more than satisfied watching the ships travel the oceans, or seeing the parrots flying through the rainforests. The loading screens are really nice too, all 3 games have different styles. For example in Asian Dynasties there is one loading screen with the Indian Emperor riding on an elephant with the troops behind them. Or the Japanese loading screen with the beautiful Torii Gates. In War Chiefs, one screen is the Aztec emperor on top of a temple with his arms up with the people looking up to him from the ground. This game sparks not only interest, but imagination, its amazing!

Soundtrack: The soundtrack is phenominal! I absolutely love the theme song of each game and I find myself testing my opera skills most times I play this game. The music is great, intense, and is fitting to the epic introduction to the game or the conclusion to the massive multiplayer game you just finished.

Opening: The opening to each expansion has a really cool video based on the game. The War Chiefs has the European explorers searching the forest and them being ambushed by the Native troops. It's epic, and amazing to watch from time to time before jumping into the game! I recommend watching all 3 intros so I'll let you watch to find out what they're like!

Extra Features: Unlike previous installments to the franchise (AOE1, AOE2, Age of Mythology), AOE3 introduces cards, card decks, city levels, city customization, explorer naming, and city naming. Cards can be purchased by leveling up. One level is one card unlock point. A deck can have I think 21 cards to start, and with every ten level ups, can have an extra card in the deck. Cities level up by playing with them, and EXP is given for every building or troop made, or enemy building or troop destroyed. Cities can be customized by upgrading the buildings, such as France's Notre Dam by changing colours, adding features, etc. A minor touch but still interesting enough to have your own sort of style with leading a nation in the game. Your explorer can be named so you can make yourself, a friend, or family member be the greatest European explorer, Native American War Chief, Japanese Shogun, Indian Brahmin, or Chinese Master that has ever existed. The same goes for cities, you can name them the small rural town you live in, or your country's capital city and make it the most advanced city in the world! All theses extra features expand upon the replayability and fun that you can have with AOE3.

Note, AOE3 - The Asian Dynasties expansion was the latest released and updated. All Civs can be played on this expansion and the majority of the people play on this one. I suggest only playing the original AOE3 and War Chiefs when playing with campaign, or really dislike playing with or against the Asian Civs as they cannot be played in the others.

Also, check out Age of Mythology Extended Edition (AOM) on steam if you like this game, or if you're into Greek, Egyptian, Norse mythology. I prefer AOE3 myself, but AOM is my second favourite in the series. Personally, I would wait until this game, and/or AOM, go on sale to buy them but I still feel they are worth the cost. Like I said at the top, I have 3 disc copies of AOE3 that all work (long story) and also disc copy of AOM. These games ARE worth it.

All in all, I want to see AOE3 bounce back strong. If you're new looking for help, a partner to play with, or want to join a clan who are mostly active, just message me on steam and I hope to see you on the battlefield soon!

Probably one of the greatest free to play games I have played. It has an extremely entertaining, interesting, and addicting playstyle with it's stunning graphics, well-made coop, and it's genuinely fun storyline!

- Everything is obtainable with enough playing, so it's not a "pay to win"
- Playing with friends can make the game a lot more fun and hilarious!
- Interesting warframes (characters) to use and unlock (Extremely satisfying when finished building your first warframe)

Counter Strike is a lot of things. Including one of my favourite games I have ever played. Although being ranked high on my list it has had it's ups and downs for me and I'll explain why.

It is the frustration that builds inside you while you work your way around learning the game which can take an awfully long time, or finding players that end up just giving up or trash talking their team mid game...

But, with patience, comes rewards.

It is the rewards such as, earning your first ace, ranking up, saving up for your favourite skin, getting money through random drops, watching your favourite pro team win the tournament, and playing the game whether you win or lose, but most importantly, the reward of successfully working as a team. Whether that team is 5 solo queuer's that are all working towards the top to be one the best players, or you have your friends from school, work, neighbourhood, or from the internet all working towards becoming one of the best teams in a skillful, tactical, strategic, 5v5 FPS that takes you on a rollercoaster ride of frustration and joy.

That is CS:GO...at least Competitive...Casual is awful... :P :)

Edit 2020: Still a great game to come back to. Lots of updates and players still.

Although, I haven't played this through Steam yet, this game is the greatest Medieval RTS game that there is. Besides the out dated graphics - if you're a veteran RTS player, you have probably played worse - this game is fantastic.

This game was the first video game I really got into on the PC. I played countless hours, and if I had to make a guess, I'd say well over 2000+. Since September 2004, this game has stayed within my top 5 because it is simply just that good.

I always find myself coming back to this game, year after year, never being dissapointed in the challenge that the computer opponents offer. When I played this game day in day out and finally mastered it, I could beat all 7 wolves on a team on my own. Now I don't play this game as much, but I still find myself going back to it, whenever a friend wants to play.

. Stronghold Crusader, many will say is the best in the entire series, and I'd have to agree. This game, is way cheaper, and rich with content, than it's sequel, Stronghold Crusader 2. Stronghold Crusader includes many different medieval units that you'd probably expect: Swordsman, Archers, Crossbowman, Knights on Horseback, Spearman, etc. But it includes many more like engineers, pikeman, macemen, horse archers, slaves, fire throwers... There are two types of troops: Arabic, or Crusader troops. Both similiar, yet both with their strengths and weaknesses. Some AI lords will use only Crusader troops, or only Arabic troops, while some will use a mixture of them both,

Like I said before the AI can be pretty challenging. Of course, there are very, very stupid AI as well that you could beat no problem if you knew the very basics. But the Wolf, and Saladin are very challenging opponents that can take you hours to beat depending on the style of game you play. The campaign(s) are very challenging to beat and they offer you as little as possible to win...but you do get 3 chickens (passes) and once you beat a level you have already passed on, you get a chicken back.

This game can be played with up to 8 players/AI lords. It can be free for all, 1v1, 4v4, 2v2v2v2, 5v3 or any combination of teams you want. Online or offline. Play with friends and players around the world easily on a program called GameRanger. It works well for me and my sister.

The gameplay is a lot of fun, and not too complicated to understand. You have peasants that stay idle and are useless unless you provide jobs for them. Once you create say a woodcutters hut using the resources from your stockpile a peasant will walk his way to the hut and become a woodcutter. He will chop down the closest trees and deliver wood to your stockpile. You also need other resources like stone, iron, weapons, and most importantly, food. Without food, your peasants and workers will not want to stay at your castle, so they will leave. Make sure to keep the happiness/popularity above 50. Food, negative taxes, Ale/Inn, and large troop count will all be bonuses to popularity. If your king dies you lose. If all enemy kings are dead, you win :)

To train troops, you need to use your resources to build buildings to produce troops. You can go 3 routes: Crusader troops, Arabic troops, or both. Barracks will be required to produce crusader troops. But crusader troops require weapons to be made so you need to make weapon workshops. Arabic troops need a mercenary post and hence the name cost more gold, but they do not require the time, money and resources for workshops to create weapons. Engineers, a more advanced unit, needs an Engineers guild to produce them. They can be helpful by taking castle walls down using catapults.

There is also a free build mode, map editor, and custom scenario mode which offer even more fun with tha already addicting campaign, sandbox, and multiplayer modes.

I highly recommend this game, and definitely if it is on sale. If you're debating over any other Stronghold game go for this one!

10/10

Amazing. I have been looking for a game like this for years!

I highly recommend this game to any Medieval game lover. It is not expensive and goes on sale all the time. It is a fantastic game, with or without mods, and has a lot of replay value since it has multiplayer and so many in game options with the storymode.

I have now played over 100 hours and majority of my time was spent on one game save and I still haven't fully beaten it yet.

Fantastic open world, fantastic combat controls, play in either 1st person or 3rd person (whichever you prefer). Command armies in battle with different formations. Really cool troop tree, interesting factions that you can either join or destroy them. Get your own vassals and start a kingdom or be a vassal to an already existing kingdom and take over the world of Caladria. There are so many options and it is such a great game, that I keep coming back to it all the time.

You can "cross map tomahawk" and get an achievement for it. 10/10