Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition Review (BigSmoke)
Fantastic, great game worth both your money and your time!
The unusual timeframe where the game takes place make this unique among all RTS.
Most "definitive edition" of current videogames are nothing but a re-skinned hd version of their previous counterpart but not this one. It's a much improved game than his old 2005 self with more balanced civilizations, maps, general fixes and quality of life improvements. The game has been constantly update almost monthly, adding events, challenges and/or other fixes.
There are over 100 maps, 20+ civilizations, each one with their strengths and weaknesses, different gamemodes with different goals and playstyles like deathmatch, treaty, and tycoon, that are designed to satisfy all types of players.
While this game is more oriented towards multiplayer it does not forget about who likes to play mostly singleplayer. Aside the classic skirmish there are several historical maps (special maps with unique objectives and mechanics) and 3 campaign to complete. You may also like the co-op if you want to play with friends and you're not into competition. The game is also mod friendly.
You do not need to buy any of the DLCs to enjoy the game, and unlike most modern videogames, it's not "create a problem, sell the solution" type of monetization. DLC simply add more content and no, the added civilizations are not "pay-to-win".
Most of the negative reviews are rather outdated as they refer mostly at the launch state which was mediocre as the game was clearly published in an unfinished state and sufferring of lag spikes and random crashes. After almost 2 years of fixing bugs, improving performance, adding content, most of these problems are solved and I can't think of something significantly bad to say about the game.
Whatever you are an RTS enthusiast, a chad typing GG after a loss, a virgin complaining after one, a kid at his first RTS, a history nerd, a long time AoE fan, a no-life-gamer looking to grind the ladder, a casual just wanting to have fun with his friends, this game have something for you.