Right for those of you who have played the first two age of empire games, Be Warned! this is totally different! Aside from the much improved graphics and ragdoll physics(people go flying when hit by cannonfire and trees fall when hit by stray fire) this game completley removes the need for villagers to travel between trees and a storage building, now while they gather your resources constantly go up so you dont need to protect them when they go between lets say the gold mine and the town center, if you were expecting something similar to the first two games, youll will be surprised, this game is like marmite, i know people who love it and who hate it, it dosent feel like its the sequel to the previous two games, infact with a different name youd never have known.. The game play is now much faster, its not similar to the first two where you can loose and gain allies mid game, now you pick them at the start and keep them till the end, the combat is now much more strategy based but its still basically whoever has the most cannons will win (gotta love unfair gameplay) The detail in the game is now verging on realistic, the buildings are detailed down to the finest points, and the water with all of the settings on full does look real, the game employs a whole range of new strategies to keep you amused for hours and the new storyline for single player id say is vastly improved, although its not as long lasting as the second game, this game is well worth buying, but i warn you that you either love it or you hate it, fans of age of empires should get this just for the new experience, but as people said if you have vista, the voices may not work. Check out my reviews on both of the expansions if you have this game