Have you ever felt like taking over the New World while in the Colonial Time Period? This game, makes you feel like the World is in your hands, as you can play through this game with realistic environments, historically accurate troops and a town which you construct! This and much more awaits you in Age of Empires III, the last installment of the Age of Empires Trilogy. (The DLC/ Expansions don't count as separate games.) Join me as we discuss Microsoft's final Age of Empires game!

Graphics: As you should expect, the graphics in Age of Empires III (AoE III) is much better than AoE II HD and the previous games. The ground's texture is done with great detail, and great care for realism. Each unit also seems much more impressive than in any previous game. If I were to constrict the review to just Age of Empires III, I would say, "It's amazing!" They took great care for each detail, improving the environments in every map, creating a feel as though you are going into uncharted areas, settling them, and taking out the opposing settlers from other European countries. This makes the game fun, because you get to see everything happen with great clarity, because of the great graphics!
I give the game a 9/10 for graphics. 

Sound: The sounds are really good as well. The languages from each country are real. They make it sound as though the people are actually native speakers of each country. That makes the game feel more realistic, as you have authentic voice acting. The music, as with other AoE games, it also good. I didn't pay too much attention to the music, as I was really involved, but I can say this. The music is good, but in the background, where it belongs. In Real Time Strategy games, Music could distract and even make you lose, as you aren't paying attention. The guns, cannons, and any weapon also has good sound. This Age of Empires game, doesn't have the same technology as in previous games. There are now guns for every colony. Making it harder to distinguish between various countries. But, don't fret. You will be able to know if you are getting attacked, by the battle alarm that sounds when an enemy fires at your troops!
The sound is awesome! I give it a full 10/10. 

Addictiveness: This game never gets old. I played it for two years in a row. Every day (Almost.) without changing the game. How's that for addictive? You have good sound, amazing graphics and some things I'll discuss later, what more could make a game addictive? It has everything it needs to make the game have great Re-play value, which is really what addictiveness is.
I give the game a 9/10 for this category. 

Story: N/A There is a story, but to be honest, I didn't like the campaign mode. I never really like AoE campaigns, so I stuck to quick matches. I will not give a rating, as it's not my type, and I stayed away from their campaign mode.
N/A for this review. I didn't use the story mode. 

Gameplay/ Controls: The game handles better than any Age of Empires game before. It doesn't hick-up when there are cannons firing, buildings burning, and various attacking troops on multiple levels. That makes the game handle very smoothly. The controls are simple, as with other AoE games. You have the Right Click and Left Click as main controls. You can number your troops or villagers to quick call them. (Select them by hitting a number that you assigned to them.) That's really it. The controls are easy to learn, and they are easy to use. You can do everything with just your mouse. (If you want to assign a number to a group, you can, but you don't need to.)
I loved the controls for Age of Empires III, that's why it gets a full score. 10/10, 

Depth: This is also similar to replay value. There is just a singleplayer campaign, and a quick match. I saw no multiplayer, and nothing else. It doesn't seem to have much, but when you look at map selection, civilizations to choose, and other things like that, there is actually a lot packed into one game. I give it such a high score, because I appreciated the uniqueness of every level you could play. You could also create your own map, which gives even more variety to it. Get the point? It has a lot, but it seems like little.
The game really has much in it, and for that reason I give it a 9/10. 

Difficulty: The game can get hard, especially when you need to advance into a newer Age. You need to gather resources, which can get hard, especially if the AI attacks. This is the challenge you are faced with. Sounds like something that's actually not that hard, but without cheats, it's really hard to gather enough to do the research, and advancements, buy troops, more villagers, etc. The game is easy, if you set the AI as easy, but if they get aggressive, it's really hard to stand against them, without getting hurt.
The game has it's challenges, but nothing that's too hard. I give it an 8/10. 

Overall: This is one of the best AoE game out there. It has the best graphics, great sounds, astounding depth, and varying difficulty. Could you ask for more in a game? I couldn't. The game is awesome, and it's sad that I only gave it a 9.5/10 overall score. But, still that doesn't make the game less good than a 10. Age of Empires III, is one of the best RTS games ever. (Not the best though.)