One thing that stood out to me was how similar the keep looks across civilizations. This is where the architecture really gets unique. Unique landmarks are fun to watch as they're built, with scaffolding and virtual workers rising out of the ground. I love the appearance of common buildings across civilizations they're easy to identify but fit in with the rest of the civ.

Want to play nothing but Dry Arabia but don't want to see the pale palette anymore? Switch to a different biome for a few matches.Īrchitectural art design is also a strong point. The game ships with 17 different skirmish maps, each with eight different biomes that change the look of the map. Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central) A lighted grid that appears when you want to build helps identify what space is open, so you're never really having to guess where to place your next building. These extras don't affect the game and can be built over if you're pressed for space. Roads also appear automatically between well-traveled areas, though they don't provide a movement bonus. There are also plenty of accoutrements that pop up when you build certain buildings.įor example, building a house in an open area will have a small garden and fence appear next to it, adding to the sense that your city is a living organism. Forests vary in color and type, trees and grass sway lightly in the breeze, sea water color grades naturally toward shore, and unseen clouds passing in front of the sun drape shadows across the plains.

Map landscapes - the backdrop for your matches and campaign missions - are gorgeous. Nearly everything is clearly identifiable at a glance, with units defined well even in the ruckus of battle. The game is not going for a hyper-realistic look, and that's OK when it attempts to run on such a wide range of hardware. Keeps and fortresses tower above towns, villagers look small next to armor-clad military units, and weapons are at an appropriate size to be noticeable but not overbearing. I've no doubt not yet seen every unit and building in the game, but these issues seem to have been handled.

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