Rebun

Fantastic and enjoyable MMO/RTS. I've been waiting for an MMORTS game like to come out for a very long time and it doesnt dissapoint. The game sticks true to the series and it very much feels like an age of empires game. Building up your capital city is also very enjoyable and definitely has an effect on questing (the traditional RTS side). My only gripe with the game is that its dependant on Games for Windows Live and has caused alot of confusion and network errors when trying to connect to my PC that took a while to fix. Otherwise, an excellent game.

When i bought this game so many years ago, i was suprised that i could barely find anything about the game over the internet, it was like a ghost game, which must have had some credibility since it was no/3 of the series. Nevertheless, i learned how to play the game myself and grew to love the dynamics, the expanse of the galaxy and the general feel of being a dictator in a galaxy. It was the first TBS Space 4x game i ever played, and for me personally - nothing can ever come close. I realised the hatred, frustration and pure denial of this games existence by MoO fans (1 & 2), and after playing those two myself i can see why it was so terrible compared to the originals. But for me, MoO3 has always been a constant. Im just glad i never played the first two before i played the 3rd, otherwise i would have probably sided with the general consensus of this game.

At first i didnt really seem to enjoy this game, it took me a little while to get into it. When i did it was pretty fun, combat is improved from previous iterations, social policies are pretty awesome. diplomacy is a huge let down, it was obviously programmed to make them seem like players rather than nation leaders. moreover theres not much encouragement to make strong allies in the game because you know that eventually they'll just backstab you anyway because there not national leaders they are players trying to win (often very poorly too). My biggest gripe in this game is that you don't feel like you are running a civilization, you feel like your playing just another game. So if your a fan of the civ franchise for the builder aspect of the game, i'd recommend sticking with civ 4.

Huge learning curve to get over, but once you've mastered the basics the game becomes much better. I understand that its not everyones cup of tea, but pushing through the learning curve is well worth it. All choice is left to the player on how they want to build themselves up. From merchant to pirate, warrior or builder, there is an infinite amount of things to do in the game. Even though its free play, you have to play the game with some kind of endgame goal in mind, otherwise it can be extremely boring. I myself built up a massive trading empire, declared myself independent to the other empires and began to annihilate one of those empires. It is quite a long haul and a lot of work to get there (~2 weeks or so) but its well worth it. Its got a neat polish to it as well, which i dont often see from german simulation games

once you get over the bugs/glitches, language problems, corny npc romancing discussion this games would be one of the most unique, interesting and engrossing games ive played. As the player you start a family with 1 member, choosing a career path and depending on that you choose how you want set up businesses, who to employ etc, there is also politics to get into and rival 'dynasties' that need to be taken care of. There is an element of charm all over it and nothing beats in the game bribing political supporters or jurys for a court trial to gain leverage, or perhaps leading an assassination against a rival dynasty member. I give it a 7/10 based on all factors of the game, but if i were to rate the gameplay ideas and the world environment, it would easily be a 10