Age of Mythology: The Titans

Age of Mythology: The Titans
Age of Mythology: The Titans
Age of Mythology - The Titans Liner.jpg
Developer(s) Ensemble Studios
Publisher(s) Microsoft Game Studios
Version 1.03
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)
  • NA 30 September 2003
  • EU 29 October 2003
  • AUS 21 October 2003
Genre(s) Real-time strategy
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)
Media/distribution CD-ROM
System requirements

450 MHz Processor
128 MB RAM
16 MB Video card
450 MB Hard drive space

Age of Mythology: The Titans is a real-time strategy computer game expansion pack of Age of Mythology. It was developed by Ensemble Studios and released on October 21, 2003.[1]

The Titans adds a fourth culture to the game, the Atlanteans, and three new major gods, plus new units, buildings and god powers. It also includes many new features, such as auto-queueing (allows indefinite training of units as long as you have sufficient resources), and the ability to summon a Titan, a gargantuan, godlike being that forms the game's focal point. Critics gave Titans an average rating of 84% according to GameRankings.[2]

Contents

Gameplay

Atlanteans

One of the largest new additions to Titans is a new civilization, the Atlanteans. The Atlanteans have no specific hero units, but can convert any human unit into a hero. Citizens have no drop off point for resources, and town centers can be built at any time during the game.

Atlantean Citizens are much more effective in work than their Greek, Norse or Egyptian counterparts and do not require drop-off points for resources; they instead use pack donkeys. They are also slower to train, and much more expensive. Atlanteans gain favor through possessing town centers. The more they control, the faster the rate of favor generation.

A new unit, the Oracle, is introduced on the side of the Atlanteans. With a line of sight that expands when he stands still and a researchable ability to pick up relics, he can be very effective in the early game, but he only has an attack if upgraded to hero.

Most Atlantean human units can be transformed into heroes (including Citizens), which become a little bit better at everything they do. Myth Units, Naval Units, Siege Units, Titans, and Cheiroballistra are the exceptions. As well as being strong against Myth Units, Atlantean heroes retain their own strengths and weaknesses, so, for example, Murmillo heroes are still weak against archers and strong against cavalry.

New titan/god powers

Titan worshippers have special powers, such as Kronos' ability to move buildings from one location on the map to another, or Oranos' Sky Passages, which allow instant unit transportation across the map. This can significantly affect the gameplay of older maps designed for Age of Mythology pre-expansion, as areas of maps that were inaccessible become accessible. The titan Gaia has the ability to grow lush from buildings, preventing enemy players constructing buildings nearby as well as providing a small healing effect to buildings. Other, lesser god powers are available to the Atlanteans at any time during the game. Unlike the other civilizations, the Atlanteans can use certain god powers multiple times. Some, like Gaia's Forest, cause new forest to generate, which provides a far more effective wall that only villagers (or forest fires or colossi) can break through. These too may alter gameplay on older maps.

New myth units

Worshipping the Titans (Kronos, Oranos or Gaia) entitles the player to summon one of several new myth units: the Behemoth, essentially a living regenerating siege unit, the Automaton, a robot that repairs other Automatons during breaks in the fighting, and the Argus, a jellyfish floating in the air that kills units with acid. Naval myth units include the Servant, which heals naval and coastal units and has a moderate attack.

The Servant affects gameplay by adding the option of loading up a coastal region with Servants who are not easily attacked by ground troops - thus fighting there is a serious advantage to the player with Servants. Like the Fenris Wolf that grows in attack effectiveness with numbers, the Automaton grows also in effectiveness because a large army of them can self-repair in time to be at full fighting strength before the next skirmish. These features make the Servant and Automaton particularly effective defensive units.

Another flying healer, the Caladria, and flying attack unit, the Stymphalian bird, round out the aerial myth units while the Man O'War and Nereid are available for naval combat. The Satyr throws spears, the Lampades unleashes the chaos power on units at range, and the Heka Gigantes generates shockwaves. Prometheans split into smaller Prometheans when killed. Planting a Hesperides tree allows players to summon Dryads, and another reusable god power puts carnivorous plants in the way of enemies.

Overall, the game favors the more offensive player in the late game and the more defensive player early (who builds up to summon the Titan or earn these powers). The game has been criticized for having too much emphasis on the Titan, the construction of a Titan gate being now an all-or-nothing gambit to win the game - if the gate is destroyed, no new one can be built.

New map types

Titans introduces six new maps types, and seven new AI personalities. For the original civilizations, several upgrades and changes were added. The upgrade Beast Slayer causes the Greek gods' unique units to do bonus damage against Myth units. Hands of the Pharaoh lets Egyptian priests pick up Relics; a power formerly reserved for the Pharaoh unit only. Range of attack is also increased by two for Egyptian priests. The Norse gain the Axe of Muspell upgrade, which gives Throwing Axemen bonus damage against flying units.

In terms of bonuses for every civilization, the upgrade Heroic Fleet gives ships bonus damage against myth units. The non-Atlanteans can build town centers in the Classical Age in Titans, as opposed to Heroic in the original. Finally, the Titan unit is introduced to the game. Titans are huge units possessing large amounts of hitpoints and armor while having high attack.

Plot

Characters

  • Kastor: Fictional son of Arkantos and a soldier of Atlantis who helps defend the remaining, godless Atlanteans
  • Krios: Fictional Theocrat of Atlantis, he is killed by a Servant of Kronos at the start of the campaign, and has his place taken by the servant ("Kronny" in the game editor) who then possesses his body to trick the Atlanteans.
  • Ajax: A mythic Greek hero of the Trojan war, in the game a former companion of Arkantos who helps Kastor deal with the consequences of the Titans' release
  • Amanra: Fictional Queen of Nubia and former companion of Arkantos who assists Kastor in the aftermath of the Titans' release
  • King Folstag: Mythic Norse Frost Giant King who is thought to be evil in Age of Mythology, but in the Titans version, he summons the dragon, Nidhogg, to defeat Norse titan Ymir.

Campaign: The New Atlantis

For other campaigns, see Age of Mythology campaigns

The campaign is a third of the length of the one in Age of Mythology, and this time focuses mostly on the Atlantean civilization and its leader, Arkantos' son, Kastor. Arkantos, who is now a minor God of Titan fighting (as mentioned in the game), also makes a few minor appearances here. The story is set ten years after the events of the Age of Mythology storyline.

The story begins with Kronos, who was still trapped in Tartarus, watching the Atlanteans. He sends his unnamed servant (nicknamed "Kronny" by fans of the game as this is seen as his name in the game's editor) to possess the body of the Theocrat Krios, the Atlantean leader.

It then cuts to the Norselands, where the suffering Atlanteans, led by Kastor and Krios, are trying to rebuild their civilization after it was destroyed ten years ago. Then Theocrat says he saw a temple in his dream. The Atlanteans leave the Norselands by using the forseen temple called a Sky Passage, and they come to a place called New Atlantis. Krios says it was the imprisoned Titans who helped them, and convinces his people, including Kastor, to worship them.

An Atlantean titan marches towards an Atlantean fortified city.

The Greeks are angered with the Atlanteans' new choice of gods, and attack them. The Atlanteans retaliate by destroying the entire Greek colony from which some of the attacks came. However, some of the Greek ships escape and go to General Melagius, ruler of that colony and other lands. He is angered by the destruction of his colony and prepares for an attack. The Atlanteans, however, still manage to invade Melagius's city, called Sikyos, and slay him. Just as the Atlanteans kill Melagius, Egyptian and Norse allies of Melagius come to aid the city. Kastor decides they are too powerful and flees. However, he does not go back to New Atlantis but instead heads up to the Norselands. His plan is that the Norse will not be expecting an attack. He destroys Norse temples and replaces them with Atlantean temples, to show his superiority. He also destroys the Tower of Odin, Odin's only stronghold on Earth, by using a god power from Kronos. Some Atlantean forces then sail to Egypt. The scene cuts to Egypt where Amanra, a comrade of Arkantos when he was still a human, is conversing with her troops. Arkantos suddenly appears before Amanra and tells her that the Atlanteans are coming to steal relics from the Egyptans. Amanra fortifies the protections around the relics, but the Atlanteans still manage to steal them. Just as the Atlantean army closes around Amanra and her few troops, lightning bolts kill all the Atlantean soldiers. Arkantos appears and tells Amanra that the Atlanteans are being led by Kastor. Amanra questions this, and Arkantos tells Amanra that Kastor is being tricked. He tells her to find Kastor and to help him. It then cuts to a new scene, where Krios congratulates Kastor on his work and shows him a Sky Passage that he has found. Krios tells Kastor that the Sky Passage will take him behind Greek lines. Kastor enters it with his troop and finds himself not in the Greek territories, but on Mount Olympus. Kastor believes that Krios made a mistake about where the Sky Passage went. He and his troops discover they cannot go back the same way they came, so they decide their only choice is to attack Mount Olympus. Using special temples that change his men into different myth units, Kastor sets foot on the peak of Mount Olympus. However, once he does this, the daylight turns a strange color. Kastor senses there is something wrong, and he leaves with his army. He heads to the Greek territories. When he gets there he sees the Titan Prometheus and his army of Prometheans from Tartarus destroying Sikyos. He wonders what the beast is, and Krios tells him that it is a Titan. Krios tells Kastor that he allowed him and some lesser Titans to be free. Kastor realizes he has been tricked by Krios, who takes the form of Kronny and escapes. Kastor is then attacked by other Atlanteans who are under Krios's control. Meanwhile, Amanra meets Ajax, another companion of Arkantos. Apparently, Ajax was also looking for Kastor. Amanra tells Ajax that Kastor has been tricked, and that they must find him. All this time Kastor is being repeatedly attacked by Atlanteans. Amanra and Ajax rescue him with Rocs. Arkantos appears, and Kastor tells his father that he did not realize he was being tricked. Arkantos forgives him, and tells the heroes that two other Titans have been freed in the Norselands and in Egypt. Amanra decides that they will go to Egypt first, as that is her homeland. After the heroes leave, Prometheus advances and continues to destroy any surrounding cities/villages/etc.

The Titan in Egypt is Cerberus, and he is destoying an Egyptian city . The heroes decide to awaken the Guardian statue, an immensely powerful living statue that also helped the heroes in Age of Mythology. The heroes manage to hold off the Tartarian beasts that had escaped during the destruction, and The Guardian is finally awakened. The Guardian sends Cerberus back to Tartarus. They then travel to the Norse lands, and they meet King Folstag, a powerful Frost Giant whose lands are being destroyed by the Titan, Ymir. With the help of Folstag and the Niddhog Dragon, the heroes defeat the Titan (who suffers the same fate as Cerberus into Tartarus) and restore peace in the Norse lands.

The heroes then travel to Greece to find the peaceful green countryside destroyed and in flames—evidence of Prometheus's attacks. Amanra is the first to notice plants growing in a particular spot that surrounds a Temple to Gaia. Arkantos appears before the heroes and explains to them that ALL titans, including Gaia, were strengthed, and that they could use her power to heal the land. They spread the green lush of the benevolent earth Titan Gaia across the burnt land, both healing it and weakening Prometheus. They manage to overcome him in his weakened state. After the defeat of Prometheus, Arkantos praises Kastor and the others on their victory, but he explains that there is still more to do. Kastor reveals Kronny's location: The Atlantean colony, and they set off.

The heroes then venture back to New Atlantis, where they rescue citizens from Automatons. After battling all of the Automatons, Kastor and his army retake New Atlantis. Kronny again retreats to a Sky Passage from the battered battlefield. Kastor, Ajax, and Amanra enter the Sky Passage which takes them to Old Atlantis. Kastor reveals to the mystified Ajax (he didn't know where they were) that they were at Old Atlantis. Kronny appears above them and announces the future arrival of Cronus , Lord of Time and King of the Titans. the only way to defeat the Titan Lord is to summon the mother of the Titans, Gaia. While holding off the constant attacks from Kronos's followers, the heroes plant the four magical seeds of Gaia in in four mystical pools located in the four corners of Old Atlantis. these seeds bring forth four giant trees that begin to summon Gaia. Kastor's forses are at a stand by as they wait for Gaia to arrive, but their hopes are suddenly drained as Kronos breaks free from his prison.

The Heroes avoid Kronos as he destroyes their base and the Gaia trees. Before Kronos could destroy the last tree, Gaia rises from the earth, and attacks Kronos. The fight is very one-sided, for Gaia is indestuctable. She sends Kronos back to Tartarus. The War was over. Gaia returned back to the earth and peace is ALMOST restored. Kronny was still alive. Kastor intecepts Kronny and kills him. Then Arkantos appears before Kastor and appoints him as the new leader of Atlantis by giving him the staff of Atlantis. Now the rebuiling begins.

Reception

Titans was well received by critics, with an average score of 84 on Metacritic and GameRankings.[2][3] GameSpot gave Titans an 8.3 out of 10, and commented "There's plenty more depth to be found here since having a brand-new civilization with three new primary gods creates many more...new strategies. On the other hand, it would have been nice to see the original civilizations get fleshed out some more...because experienced Age of Mythology players will want more than just one big reason to keep playing as their favorite factions."[4] About.com declares that the "most significant unit to come form [sic] Age of Mythology The Titans Expansion is the Titan unit itself. If you are fortunate enough to have the resources, these extremely expensive war machines can literally decide the outcome of the game, by destroying virtually everything in their path."[5] IGN gave the game an 8.9 out of 10 and mentioned "But as we suspected, it's an expansion well worth the wait."[6]

Game Revolution gave the game a B+ and said "While not innovative in any way, AOM: The Titans is everything you should expect from a quality expansion."[7] GameSpy gave Titans a 4.5 out of 5 and best summed it up with "Great new units and tons of gameplay enhancements make Age of Mythology: The Titans a model for how expansion packs should be done."[8]

References

External links


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  • Age of mythology: the titans — Éditeur Microsoft Développeur Ensemble Studios …   Wikipédia en Français

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