Originally posted by: mooncancook
I've only player COH and AOE3 in the list. I like both. Though my favorites are some of the older turn-base ones because turn-base games are more addicting imo.
My main problems with AOE3 are basically centered around the interface.
1. You can't zoom out enough to see anything beyond the immediate 100 yards or so. Generally speaking I should be able to see at least half of my base without moving the camera.
2. The console takes up 1/3 of the screen, mostly due to unnecessary borders and frames. Rise of Nations provides arguably superior functionality with about half the console space.
3. If you order a formation to attack, they don't charge, they continue to march in slow formation until they make contact, and there is no "charge" command that I've been able to find. Instead I have to use attack move to get them moving and then select the target I want. Stupid.
4. You have no control over formations. None whatsoever.
5. No easy way of selecting heroes, and heroes are hard to distinguish at times. A little blue star tends to get mixed with little blue borders during the actual combat.
7. When you drag a box around military and civilian units, it selects all of them, not just the military units. In games like starcraft where your military is naturally separated from your resource gathering this is acceptable, but here, where shipments arrive at your town center smack in the middle of resource gathering, things can get annoying.
8. It is hard to tell exactly what you selected. There are
tiny pictures with numbers of them above the primary unit portrait when a group is selected, and I have to actually look at them instead of a quick glance. There is also no easy way to select a specific unit type within the group from these pictures.
To end on a positive note, I do like the mechanics. Being able to to buy units in groups (albeit as a slower rate) adds an interesting twist, and it's nice to have artillery that doesn't need to be packed up to move 3 feet. The campaigns are meh, but entertaining, and the 3D design is alright. A little cartoonish, but it works. Despite my criticisms it's a solid games.