G10-00028 | Microsoft Age of Empires III - (Rated PG)

In this action adventure tale of historical fiction, players take on the role of Morgan Black and his family, struggling against the hostile wilderness and a mysterious cult that's crept in from Europe.

In a series of 24 scenarios divided into three acts, Morgan Black and his descendants help the Aztecs resist conquest by Spanish conquistadors, pit the French against the British in the French and Indian War and help Simon Bolivar lead revolutions in South America.

Whether you're searching for a quick game or hoping to talk strategy with friends online, Age of Empires III's Multiplayer site is your community destination.

Here, you can play with persistent Home Cities that gain power and strategic options the more games you play, compete for a spot on dozens of ladders, help organize your clan or chat after a game - all without leaving the multiplayer portal.

Fans of Age of Mythology's Quick Search can still look for games swiftly, while players looking for something specific can browse game lists to find the set of options that matches their tastes.

This revolutionary new feature to the RTS landscape is incorporated into all aspects of Age of Empires III -- from Campaign to Multiplayer -- and is unlike anything you've experienced before.

Much like the persistent character from a role-playing game that encourages you to keep playing, your Home City is an important support system to your efforts in the New World. During a game, your Home City can regularly send you supplies or military reinforcements.

You are the leader of your colony, but your success brings glory back to Mother Europe. The more games you play, and the better you do, the more powerful your Home City will become. Every few games, you gain the ability to both upgrade and customize your Home City:

Upgrade your city by unlocking new types of soldiers or buildings, or improving those you already have.

Broaden your tech tree in whatever direction most fits your play style - invest in warships, native alliances, cavalry, artillery or economy.

Customize your Home City by changing the appearance of buildings, the weather or even the types of people who walk, work and perform in its streets.

Throughout a game, as well as in between games, you can visit your Home City to watch its citizens go about their lives, get an opinion on how you're doing, plot your next move or just marvel at the beautiful sunset.

We first set out to reproduce the rich detail of Age of Empires II: Age of Kings. As we strove to make the fascinating Age of Empires III time period come alive, that goal quickly evolved: We at Ensemble Studios wanted to create the best-looking game ever. From the stunning water effects to the hundreds of units battling on-screen, you'll feel like you're a part of the action in the New World.

Tone mapping - This photo imaging technique balances the colors in a scene on the fly. The end result is a rich, warm game where bright colors are vibrantly rendered alongside darker counterparts, such as shadows.

Lighting and shadows - The sun is always shining in Age of Empires, so it's important that lighting and shadows be an awe-inspiring experience. Units and buildings cast shadows according to a real sun position, and even cast shadows on each other. High Dynamic Range rendering allows us to represent the shiny glints of sunlight that bounce off highly reflective surfaces.

Bump and specular mapping - Water glistens like water. Metal shines like metal. These advanced techniques serve to provide an extra level of rendering detail heretofore unseen in real-time strategy (RTS) gaming.

Water - We felt that portraying stunning, realistic water effects in the game was so important that we devoted a programmer to it full-time. You'll find the water rich with details like foam near the shore, accurately modeled water motion, flotsam in rivers and realistic water colors. Plus, reflections change with the viewing angle, the angle of sunlight and the motion of the water. The overall effect is breathtaking.

Cliffs & Riverbeds - Instead of just stretching terrain, we built a system to attach geometry to the terrain map to allow for realistic overhangs and steep cliffs, from areas like the American Southwest. This effect is supported on random maps too.

Age of Empires III gives players an amazing amount of control over their side of the battlefield.

More to command - Not only are you in command of large and diverse armies of infantry, cavalry and artillery, but also Native American warriors, mercenaries and tall ships.

Multiple formations - You can have different units use their default formations, or command them to change formation and stance. For example, Defend can allow an army to protect a fragile unit and also has them stand their ground and not get lured into a nearby fight.

Volley - Ranged units fire their weapons at range, but use bayonets or blades when fighting close in.

Melee - The default formation for hand units, but you can also command Musketeers to fix bayonets and only fight hand-to-hand.

Stagger - Spreads your troops out so they are less vulnerable to artillery fire.

Cover - Hand units have increased resistance, but move and attack slower. Useful for approaching an enemy colony or cannon battery.

Trample - Grants splash damage to hand cavalry in order to quickly defeat hordes of weaker units. But your cavalry will move slower and take more damage.

Defend - Keeps your troops in one place so you can defend a mountain pass or a fragile Mortar.

Limber - A mode for cannon to pack up and move quickly across the map, but prevents them from attacking.

Bombard - Your cannon can fire at will, but move slowly.

Real-time physics - Infantry struck by cannon fire will be thrown like rag dolls, perhaps even over a cliff and into the water. Cannonballs bounce and ricochet.

Detailed destructions - Shingles, shutters and whole towers may fly off a building and interact with the terrain, such as crashing into nearby water. This next generation effect is done on the fly so that each building always has a unique destruction, no matter how many times you see it.

Unique animations - With hundreds of unique combat animations, you'll never see the same battle twice.