Age of Mythology is being developed by the same team that brought us the Age of Empires series of RTS games, Ensemble Studios. Not wanting to lose their throne to Blizzard without a fight, Ensemble Studios has taken the “Age of” franchise to new heights with a whole new approach. They’re using a brand new 3D engine capable of rendering everything you see in glorious 3D, as well as completely reinventing how the “Age of” series handles the always difficult task of balancing great RTS game play with a wonderful and progressive storyline.

Age of Mythology brings the Greek, Egyptian and Norse mythologies together, woven into a story that you won’t soon forget. From what I’ve seen thus far in the latest beta build, the story is amazingly well thought out and is told in such a way that all three civilizations seem to have actually co-existed with one another at one time.

All three empires are very unique in several aspects of game play. Each has their own deities and minor deities that must be worshiped, each features units that are indigenous to their respective civilization, and each boasts suited and incredibly beautiful architecture.

The ability to gather “stone” as a resource has been replaced with “Faith.” This is used to measure just how much “respect” you’re paying your deity of choice. To gain faith, the Greeks pray at temples, the Norse kill things, and the Egyptians build obelisks. All three civilizations have unique heroes, creatures of myth and mystical powers that accompany their deities. The more “Faith” points you accumulate, the more goodies you’ll be able to afford.

The new 3D engine Ensemble Studios employs brings a much needed facelift to the game world. Everything from that little box of apples to the gargantuan “Wonder” structures are all created and textured for your 360-degree enjoyment. You will have to toggle the option “on”, since some prefer a stationary view, but you’ll be able to rotate your camera around and look at everything from any and all angles.

Along with this wonderful new engine, all sorts of other nifty geographical possibilities have taken shape. Terrain is much more fluid when it changes elevations. Anywhere from the even planes to the mountainous regions to below sea level, you won’t see any jaggy areas where textures and polygons come together.

The water effects are simply amazing. I lost many a unit and structure in the beginning just from watching the tide ebb and flow, the reefs and fish below, and the Krakens grabbing my soldiers and tossing them around like rag dolls… sigh.

There are cut scenes that help move the story along and they’re quite pleasant to watch. They’re rendered using the in-game engine and flow seamlessly together when moving to and from game play. The voice acting is also top notch.

Not only will single player fans be thrilled, multiplayer junkies are surely not forgotten; quite the opposite actually. Age of Mythology offers a whole slew of multiplayer possibilities: The ability to connect directly together using IP to IP technology and playing over a LAN; the ability to choose from four different game play types; the option of playing co-op; setting handicaps; changing visibility; restricting the number of resources; and for those who would enjoy an instant replay of themselves pounding their friend into submission, you can record your games and play them back for amusement or gloating at a later date.