Animal Crossing vs Age of Mythology: Chicken Fight

[Mike Cathcart]

That's right: you can kill and eat the chickens. Age of Mythology is full of clever little surprises like this.

In Animal Crossing, my chickens send me mail. With furniture attached to it!

The way I see it, on the one hand you have chickens that line up for the slaughter vs. chickens that have managed to send lunar landars through the mail at the same price as a regular letter. Therefore, I propose the following:

Animal Crossing > Age of Mythology

[Bub, Andrew]

Does Animal Crossing have Gods? Does it have edible walrusi? Does it have Harryhausen-esque Cyclopses that toss their enemies across the screen?

Advantage = Age of Mythology

[Mike Cathcart]

Does Animal Crossing have Gods? Does it have edible walrusi? Does it have Harryhausen-esque Cyclopses that toss their enemies across the screen?

Advantage = Age of Mythology

Last night a frog painted my roof red.

Zing!

[SpoofyChop]

The walrus in Animal Crossing (Wendell), far from being eaten, is searching for the perfect meal. He's a starving artist.

AoM = walruses are eaten
AC = Walruses are starving artists

Point AC.

[Murph]

Age of Mythology has a hot Aphrodite.

We have a winner!

[Jim Preston]

AoM = Lots o' smiting
AC = Not so exciting

Winner: AoM

[Rob O'Boston]

Can someone wax poetic again about AOM because the other topics on the games forum have been pretty boring this week (no offense to the soundblaster, what makes losing fun people). I was just starting to get excited about this game, and then we stopped discussing it.

Which is more fun, AOM or WC3?

[Rob O'Boston]

Oh God, I said fun. I actually meant which is more, um, enrichochallenginnovative?

[Joe O'Malley]

I'm with Rob. Is AOM going to fix my AOK jones, or just be a different kind of game?

[Bub, Andrew]

Joe,
AOM will do both! It will fix your jones and be a new game. (It plays like AOK only with new stuff that change the way the game is played!) It IS a floor wax and a dessert topping. Plus it has the edible walrus you've been craving.

[Murph]

The game plays amazingly similar to AoK, but incorporates the mythological units nicely to put a little spin on them (you'll want a hero with your army to fight mythological units), as well as the god powers, which can really spice up the game. I also really dig how different armies turn out to be, a.) between the races, and b.) by following different gods.

But, to answer Rob's question, I'm not sure I'd pick either Warcraft III or AoM over the other every time. They somehow "feel" different, in spite of being in the same genre, and, in a lot of ways, being pretty similar. I would say that if you're really into RTS games, they're both must-have games, and they will both get played, depending on which itch you have to scratch.

Tom -- who I'm pretty sure would disagree, and call AoM better than Warcraft III any day -- has a good preview up at Gamespy, and I'll have one being posted over at Gamersclick later this week, or early next week, if you want to find out a little bit more about it.

[Murph]

Bub hadn't posted when I started that last one, and said it so much more elegantly, with so fewer words.

I hate you, Andrew Bub. :)

[TomChick]

I'll pass on the old SNL references and just reiterate what I said earlier:

It's Age of Empires meets Sacrifice.

The really surprising thing is that Ensemble, of all folks, the masters of the bland historical tweaks, have managed to infuse so much personality into a conventional RTS. I keep finding new things in this game, such as how Perseus has an actual Medusa head in his hand, so *that's* why those Anubis were turning to stone!

Just last night I was trying the Egyptians again (I *still* don't get the Norse) and I amassed about a half dozen of those crocodiles with laser beams strapped to their heads. There's apparently something in Egyptian mythology about crocodiles that fire beams of light, but they still look like Dr. Evil contraptions to me.

The guy I was playing had been cranking out War Elephants. He was kind of new to the whole unit balance, so he didn't understand that my crocodiles, being myth units, were especially effective against his War Elephants, which were mortal units.

So I had this great movie moment when he had a huge cluster of War Elephants trundling towards me, drawing closer and closer, slowly but surely being cut down by the beams of light from my crocodiles, while tiny men swarmed around between the groups of giant creatures squaring off over the battlefield. It reminded me of what one of the guys from Toys for Bob said, explaining their philosophy behind Archon, Star Control, and Unholy War: wierd things beating up on each other.

I'm totally digging Age of Mythology. So far it's the biggest surprise of the year for me.

-Tom

[Bub, Andrew]

In AOM I just came across what might be my favorite game animation ever... The Kraken unit pulling a ship under. Yes, that beats Anubites leaping, Cyclopses tossing, Minotaurs charging, 10 ladies dancing, and the teeth of the Hydra upon you... you're dirty sweet and you're my girl. I wouldn't call it the biggest surprise or anything, I'd give BF1942 that nod, but Ensemble really went above and beyond expectations here. Take that Invictus, you peice of garbage you.

[MrAngryFace]

MY god, why did you have to remind me of Invictus. So bad.

[Sparky]

My god, why did you have to remind me of The Power Station's 1985 version of "Bang A Gong? So bad.

[Bub, Andrew]

Sparky,
I was actually referencing the mildly more bearable T. Rex song. I apologize for where your imagination led you, but I simply cannot be held responsible for cover tunes. If it helps, imagine Robert Palmer in a 3 peice suit wearing a hub-cap diamond star halo, being pulled under water by a Kraken.

[Sparky]

imagine Robert Palmer in a 3 peice suit wearing a hub-cap diamond star halo, being pulled under water by a Kraken.

And on shore, loping back and forth -- those robotic women in black minidresses and red lipstick, aimlessly groping guitars (items they could no more actually use than a nuclear particle accelerator, or an unassembled IKEA coffee table without the little proprietary hex wrench). Simply irresistable!

[Rob O'Boston]

I'm sorry Sparky, I believe that was Robert Palmer solo.

Hey Tom, nice preview. I am once again drooling over this game. But it would be nice to hear you elaborate a little on the Sacrifice connection. I'm a Sac Doctor in my love of that game, but when I think of the gameplay I think of continuous motion, casting spells, coordinating creatures and picking up souls at an alarming pace. Is it the pace of Sacrifice that you tie to AOM, or is it the variety of interesting creatures and spell tech tree?

[Sparky]

I'm sorry Sparky, I believe that was Robert Palmer solo.

Yes, I know, but does he only deserve to be devoured by a Kraken for his work with Power Station? His solo work is entirely krakenworthy. In fact, I would throw him under a minotaur just for having a song on the "Pretty Woman" soundtrack.

[TomChick]

I'm a Sac Doctor in my love of that game, but when I think of the gameplay I think of continuous motion, casting spells, coordinating creatures and picking up souls at an alarming pace. Is it the pace of Sacrifice that you tie to AOM, or is it the variety of interesting creatures and spell tech tree?

Definitely not the pace. AoM plays at a standard RTS clip and the tactical AI is good enough (along with those AoK formations that I love) that I don't get the feeling it's running away from me.

The Sacrifice connection is its wacky creatures, divine tech tree, spectacular spells, and just the whimsical godly tone it takes. And I have one thing to say to you Rob O':

"All of your mana hoars have been slaughtered..."

-Tom

[Rob O'Boston]

Well, I guess I know what I'll be playing until AOM comes out.

"Firefists smash!!!!!!"

[Joe O'Malley]

"All of your mana hoars have been slaughtered..."

-Tom

Yeah, that was my most frequently-heard quote playing Sacrifice. I really liked the game, but it really frustrated me after the first few levels. It always seemed that unless I went defensive and linked my creatures to manaliths that I always got creamed. It was like some kind of Timothy Leary meets Pacific War island hopping/crawling experience, with me inching forward manalith-by manalith across the field. Different, but pretty cool.

I keep thinking I want to give it another go. Maybe before AOM comes out.

[TomChick]

It always seemed that unless I went defensive and linked my creatures to manaliths that I always got creamed.

Personally, I always thought linking to manaliths was the kiss of death. When you do that, you're essentially taking some of your souls out of circulation by allowing the other player(s) to opt out of fighting them. To me, mobility was one of the key elements of playing Sacrifice well. You have to be able to bring as many souls as possible to bear in as advantageous a situation as you can muster, and you can't do that when you link some of them to a manalith. Sacrifice was a sort of pure combat doctrine in a funky world with a psychedelic paper/rock/scissors motif laid over it.

Fuck, that was a great game. Fuck.

Also, if you haven't seen it yet under the last few years' GeForce cards, it's worth revisiting. It looks amazing on the latest computers.

-Tom

[Dave Long]

Sacrifice was clearly built to scale with PC power. It's really incredible looking on current hardware. It looks as good as just about anything on a console. It's also so... alien!

--Dave

[Rob O'Boston]

Any chance at all for Sacrifice 2?

[Mike Cathcart]

I love Sacrifice as much as the next guy, and I probably wouldn't have played it at all if it wasn't for Tom's praise, so I'm grateful and all...but shit, my thread's been raped :evil:

Screw you guys, Animal Crossing rules :P

[Erik]

Any chance at all for Sacrifice 2?

I hope so, but I doubt it. I think Sacrifice was a ginormous commercial disaster. Maybe one of the developers that reads this board can forget about whatever massively multiplayer tactical WW2 turn based space game he's making and write Sacrifice 2. I'd buy it - assuming I couldn't get a free review copy.

[Joe O'Malley]

I hope so, but I doubt it. I think Sacrifice was a ginormous commercial disaster.

Or, as they said in Shoot Club (via Trevor, talking to the narrator about Sacrifice):

"You're the only one who played that game."

[Thierry Nguyen]

Screw you guys, Animal Crossing rules :P

I made 300 grand from the stalk market last nite!

Too bad my loan is for 400 grand, :cry:

[Mike Cathcart]

I made 300 grand from the stalk market last nite!

Too bad my loan is for 400 grand, :cry:

Lucky bastard. I keep forgetting about the stalks, I really have to buy some on Sunday. I have been pretty good at finding the lucky rock of the day, though, and I've made a decent amount on the island. I think I get most of my money from selling fossils that I already had.

I'm up to 13 or 14 animals at this point, and it's starting to get out of hand. I did get a penguin who wears a Gamecube shirt, so maybe I'll just try to get rid of the rest of them...

[Anonymous]

Just an aside: I just got a note for Microsoft reporting that AoM has gone gold.

Peter

[Lee Johnson]

"stalk market"? :-)

[Mike Cathcart]

Just an aside: I just got a note for Microsoft reporting that AoM has gone gold.
Peter

Sounds right, ebgames has it shipping on the 31st. I'm pretty excited about it, but I doubt it's going to be better than Animal Crossing ;)

"stalk market"?

They love their puns in this game. Every Sunday you can buy turnip stalks from this travelling merchant animal. At any point in the week you can stop by the town store and see what the going rate is, and sell your stalks if you'd like. However, they go bad after a week so you have to sell them before the next Sunday.

[Brian Koontz]

At any point in the week you can stop by the town store and see what the going rate is, and sell your stalks if you'd like. However, they go bad after a week so you have to sell them before the next Sunday.

Wow... these guys are *good*. Just like the current stock market.

[Anonymous]

Yep, we handed the discs off to duplication last week. I'd guess the EBs of the world that send highly trained commandos directly to the mfg plant so that they can drop them Market Garden style into their stores may see them showing up as early as late next week.

But really, I have no clue -- it's all voodoo to me once it leaves our hands... :-)

Now time to pick up that copy of Animal Crossing! That, and sleep some more.

Oh, and there WERE indeed sunlight-beam firing crocodiles in Egyptian mythology (or so I'm told by our designers, who are actually "educated"). They lived in a city called, I kid you not, Crocodopolis (which clearly is now required to be the name of my AC town). Their original description is more like Mr. T-style alligators wearing tons of jewelry with gems in their foreheads, and a little less like our Dr. Evil versions, I must admit.

-- Rob "Xemu" Fermier
Ensemble Studios

[wumpus]

I doubt it's going to be better than Animal Crossing
True. What could possibly be better than a game with no actual gameplay where you collect meaningless items and run meaningless fedex errands? It's like Hello Kitty for adults. Some adults, anyway.

[Tyjenks]

I doubt it's going to be better than Animal Crossing
True. What could possibly be better than a game with no actual gameplay where you collect meaningless items and run meaningless fedex errands? It's like Hello Kitty for adults. Some adults, anyway.

I am not sure if I am laughing at this because the game just sounds so stupid and wumpus is dead on target or nervously laughing because I am envious as I do not have a Gamecube and cannot rent and try AC.

[Dave Long]

Be envious. Wumpus is just shooting testosterone around like always. He plays manly games on manly machines like the PC. "If there ain't no gore, it's just a big fat bore."

--Dave

[Mike Cathcart]

True. What could possibly be better than a game with no actual gameplay where you collect meaningless items and run meaningless fedex errands? It's like Hello Kitty for adults. Some adults, anyway.

So, what, are you trying out for the IGN boards? Looking good, but don't forget these:

"Nintendo is for kids!"
"My friend's big brother thinks the XBox sux!"
"Consoles = teh lame, PCs r0x0rz j00!"
"Poll: What will be game of the year, [Game A that I've never played] or [Game B that's still in early design]?"

[wumpus]

I was going to reply, but point, set, and match to Mike Cathcart.