it was very sterile and boring compared to that rich feel in AOE2. They took the success of AOE1 and won over almost all critics who claimed the first to be a Warcraft 2 clone with AOE2.
Annnd then they tried to copy WC3 all the way down to the in game cinematics for the story. It is really obvious if you play WC3 and then AOM2 in succession.
Of course, stacked against AOE3, AOM doesn't look that bad