Age of Mythology: The Titans Expansion Review - PC

Gameplay

The campaign mode in The Titans features twelve levels, in which you take control of the Atlanteans. Your settlement is usually built for you at the start of a mission, leaving you to simply build units and complete your objective - these involve small tasks such as defending your settlement or destroying an enemy's. The story is told through cut-scenes at the start of each mission, giving the characters more personality and providing background information on your objectives. Unfortunately, not being able to build your base from scratch is a major oversight on the part of the developers and that option is sorely missed.

The Titans also includes the standard scenario mode, in which you can customise a battle before building your settlement from scratch and completing the objective that you set (such as destroying the enemy's settlement). There are a large number of maps to choose from, each being vastly different to the last, offering endless amounts of gameplay. A multiplayer mode is also included in the game, allowing you and up to three other players to compete against each other - great for practice or to learn tips from more experienced players.

The Titans is heavily based on the mythological gods, such as Zeus and Poseidon, and their attributes are blended into the gameplay very well. You can play as different races such as the Greeks, Egyptians or, of course, the Atlanteans, and each race has their own respective gods to choose from. The gods offer your army useful powers and can be worshipped in various ways to earn favour points, subsequently allowing you to build powerful mythological units that you can add to your army. Through your town centre you're able to advance through the ages by building certain structures, therefore gaining the ability to build more advanced buildings and units, such as melee soldiers and archers.

Your settlement consists of various different units and buildings, each constructed using the game's three main resources: food, wood and gold. Peasants are able to harvest these three resources and deliver them back to the town centre for processing. Food can be collected through hunting the various animals found around the map, such as pigs and chickens, or by constructing farms, while wood and gold are collected by cutting down trees and mining gold mines respectively. These peasants are also the builders of your settlement; they can be commanded to build any available building provided you have enough resources. In order to provide room for the people in your settlement (continued next page)