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As a huge fan of the Age of Empires franchise since I was a kid, a franchise which I got to know thanks to Age II, I must say it took me until the release of the Definitive Edition to actually get into Age of Empires III. What's more, I didn't even really get into the game until two months ago (that'd be, February 2022). The reason for that is quite simple: AoE III changed a lot of things from the "original" experience I liked from the first two games, and thus, it was kinda hard getting used to it. However, after putting a little over a hundred hours, I must say I enjoyed the game.
So, what is Age of Empires III? Well, while I said it changes things from the previous games, at its core, it's still an Age of Empires game, that is, a RTS set during a specific historical period, which allows you to play as several different civilizations from the era. In this case, the game followed the historical progression of the franchise: the first game focused on Ancient History, the second game was centered on the Middle Ages and early colonialism, and this game covers a timeframe going from early colonialism to the industrial revolution; I'd say it's just shy of falling into World War I territory. Honestly, I'd say it's kinda a shame that for Age of Empires IV they decided to go back to the Medieval period of history; while it's certainly one of my favourite historical periods, I'd have loved to see and Age IV focusing on the World Wars. Anyway, I digress, back to the review!
The core gameplay in this game is shaken up quite a bit. While you still gather resources, advance in age gaining access to more powerful buildings and units and such, a brand new mechanic is the shipment system. Since you play as a colonial power, you get access to shipments from your home country; these work as cards you can activate during the game, which provide different bonuses, give you a couple of units upon their arrival, or other benefits. Before playing a game, you can build "decks" from the different shipment cards you have available. Once in game, you earn experience for stuff like constructing certain buildings or killing enemy units, and this, in turn, grants you shipments. A really interesting mechanic, as the shipments can help you turn the tide of battle if you send them at the right time.
Another big change is that, in this game, there's five different ages instead of four, with the first age, the aptly named Exploration Age, being focused in exploration. Whenever you start a game, you get an explorer unit alongside your starting villagers. What differentiates this explorer from the starting scout you'd get in a game like Age of Empires II, is that it's more of a "hero" unit, with regenerating health (while idle) and special abilities. This explorer is a really important unit, as, scattered around the map, there are several treasures that can provide you extra resources or other bonuses. The explorer himself cannot die, if his health ever reaches zero, they fall to the ground and slowly start regenerating their HP; you can send an unit to revive them, or pay a ransom to recover them.
Other gameplay changes include the fact that different regions get different mechanics, and even civs from the same region might have their differences. What I mean with this is that, for example, European powers would be the ones that most closely resemble classic AoE games in their gameplay: villagers gather resources, you age up through the town center when getting enough resources, and so on. Meanwhile, Native American civs, while playing somewhat similar to the European powers, get a special "Community Plaza" building that, when being worked on by villagers, provides different bonuses to training time, combat strenght, and so on. Finally, we have the Asian powers, which don't age up in the "traditional" way, rather, you have to build wonders in order to age up (in a sense, this is similar to how aging up works in Age of Empires IV, at least during the beta). As for the DLC civs, I'll talk about them in their respective reviews.
Damn, I've written a lot, and I've only talked about gameplay! Haven't even mentioned stuff like graphics and such. Well, I did say it had plenty of changes in regards to gameplay. So, when it comes to graphics, I must say I haven't played the original, so I can't really say how they compare, but personally, I liked the way the game looks. However, I will recognize that, at times, the amount of details makes it hard to see the units in the map.
Something I was forgetting to mention was the singleplayer content, which is what interests me the most (I barely touched MP). In this regard, I must say I was slightly disappointed to learn that the campaigns were fictional stories set during the period represented in the game. The very first campaign has many fantastical elements, and while it's a fun campaign, something you'd expect from a swashbuckler film, having more historical stuff would've been nice. Of course, it seems that during the game's "original run", so to speak, the devs must've realized this. While the second campaign, from the Warchiefs expansion, seemed to tone down the fantasy elements, the final campaign, The Asian Dynasties, took a more historical approach (though with some big creative liberties in some parts). Luckily enough, by the time they made the Definitive Edition, the devs were nice enough to add a couple of Historical Battles, and they're a nice way to learn a few things from the period. Also, while they're described as "Co-Op Historical Battles", they can still be played solo. And once you're done with the campaign, you can go to Skirmish mode, or even play MP if that's what you like.
Phew, honestly, I'm surprised this review has gone on to be so long. I honestly didn't know what to write when I started it, and now I feel there's a lot of stuff that I'm forgetting. Like mentioning the soundtrack, for example, which is great. Or the customization options, as the Home City of whichever civ you last used in Skirmish mode gets displayed on the main menu. Anyway, I must say that, after my 100+ hours in this game, I enjoyed it, so I can recommend it for any RTS fan out there.