Age of Mythology

Age of Mythology is a real-time strategy game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It is based on Greek, Egyptian and Norse mythology. It was published on October 30 (North America) and November 11 (Europe/Australia) 2002. A spin-off of the Age of Empires series, it has its own expansion (The Titans).

Fall of the Trident
The campaign, called Fall of the Trident, follows the fictional Atlantian admiral Arkantos, who defends the city from attacks by pirates, led by the one-handed Minotaur Kamos. Though successful, the trident from a large statue of Poseidon guarding the harbour, is stolen. Arkantos is commissioned to recover the trident by a theocrat, leaving his son Kastor behind.

After recovering the trident, Arkantos returns only to be told he must regain Poseidon's favour. He is then sent to aid Atlantis' Greek allies, besieging Troy. At Troy, he is greeted by old friends; Agamemnon, Odysseus and Ajax. Their initial attempts at breaching the walls are unsuccessful and they are repeatedly driven back by Trojan counter-attacks until Arkantos devises a solution. Claiming in Atlantis, a defeated general would leave behind his horse (an animal sacred to Poseidon - Atlantis' patron god), giving Odysseus his famous Trojan Horse plan. After participating in the Sack of Troy, Ajax and Arkantos sail to Greece, where they intend to repair their ships, only to find the city of Iolcus has been attacked by bandits.

Arkantos and Ajax free most of the citizens, including Chiron the centaur, who tells them a mysterious cyclops drove the remaining prisoners north. The trio follow a trail to the north of the city, leading them to a concealed fortress where it is revealed the cyclops, named Gargarensis, is forcing the prisoners to tunnel to the Underworld. After entering the underworld, the heroes foil Gargarensis' plan to open an Adamantine door. However, Gargarensis attempt to trap them in the Underworld by trigerring a landslide before escaping. The heroes then seek help from the shades of the dead, who lead them to three temples; dedicated to Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Arkantos prays to Poseidon, his patron, for help, but receives no response. Chiron then suggests Zeus, who sends a staircase to lead them out.

The heroes resurface in Egypt, where they are immediately forced to help Queen Amanra defend a giant sword from Kemsyt, and the servants of Set. During this period, Athena visits Arkantos in a dream, revealing Poseidon and his servant Gargarensis, plan to free Cronus from Tartaros, adding that Zeus cannot directly interfere or he will spark a war amongst the gods. Amanra and the heroes then seek to reunite the body of (and thus resurrect) Osiris. Chiron extracts his piece from a large tree, with the help of some Norsemen, sent to track down Gargarensis, while Ajax and Arkantos take their piece from Kamos' island stronghold. Kamos himself is impaled on Arkantos' spear during a struggle. With the help of Setna, one of the few remaining priests of Osiris, the pieces are reunited at Abydos and Osiris helps the heroes drive out Gargarensis and Kemsyt.

The heroes then travel north. On the way, Arkantos and Ajax recognise Odysseus' ship and stop of at Aeaea, where they are turned into pigs briefly. They help Odysseus defeat Circe and he promises to return the favour one day. Finally arriving in the Norselands, they help the dwarf brothers Brokk and Eitri reenter their forge. They are then greeted by an old man named Skuld, who gives them a banner to unite the Norse clans. Unfortunately, the banner belongs to the violent Jotunn Folstag, igniting the anger of the Norsemen. It is then revealed Skuld is actually Loki in disguise, who transforms into a flock of ravens and flies away. Arkantos and his allies are then greeted by Reginleif, a valkyrie who helps them ally with Clan Forkbeard and locate the Well of Urd (the Norse entrance to the Underworld) and close it, with the help of Brokk and Eitri, who have been reforging Thor's hammer Mjollnir. Chiron sacrifices himself so the others have to time escape the fire giants. The hammer, now complete, triggers a large explosion upon closing the gate. The dwarves lead the others to an abandoned village, which they fortify in time to repel the attacks of Gargarensis. They later fight back, capturing and killing Gargarensis (avenging Chiron) with the aid of Odysseus, who arrives with a large army. Amanra, Ajax and Arkantos sail back to Atlantis triumphant.

However, it is soon clear something dreadful has befallen Atlantis. When approaching the island, Arkantos orders the head of Gargarensis to be brough out and lashed to the bow. Upon opening the box, ravens fly out and, instead o Gargarensis' head, that of Kemsyt falls out.

Amanra and Ajax evacuate the people, including Kastor and the theocrat, who tells Arkantos of Gargarensis' arrival. Arkantos realises the last gate is on Atlantis and resolves to end his fight with Gargarensis. Meanwhile, Gargarensis has taken control of the acropolis of Atlantis and Poseidon himself has animated a giant statue which smashes the Great Temple to the ground, revealing the gate beneath. Arkantos, with forces from Clan Forkbeard and Egypt, gains the blessing of Zeus, transforming him into a demigod, who defeats the statue of Poseidon, which falls on Gargarensis, killing him.

Arkantos collapses on a beach as the entire island heaves and rumbles. Whilst the city descends into the sea, the people escape and, in the last cutscene, Athena makes Arkantos a god, to watch over and protect his people.

Gameplay
In Age of Mythology, the player takes control of one of three civilisation; Greek (balanced), Norse (aggressive) or Egyptian (defensive). The player must also choose one of three culture-specific "Major Gods". The player begins in the "Archaic age", with limited technology, and must "age up". "Ageing up" costs resources (food, wood, gold and favour) and, each time, the player can choose a minor god for their pantheon, such as Bast, Artemis or Baldr. The four ages are Archaic, Classical, Heroic and Mythic. Each major and minor god comes with a god power, invoked only once, enabling divine intervention in the affairs of the game. For example, Apollo's power creates a portal between two areas of the map, enabling transport of land units instantaneously, Horus' power creates a tornado to devestate allies and enemes alike, Týr's power creates wintery conditions, spawning wolves to attack enemy towns. Each god comes with one (or two) "myth unit/s", such as Ares' cyclops, Freyja's valkyrie or Osiris' mummy.

Aim
The aim of Age of Mythology is to build up a city destroy all enemies, through use civilian and military units.

Titans
In The Titans expansion pack, a new civilisation is introduced; the Atlanteans. Their pantheon consists of Titans; their major gods being Oranos, Gaia and Kronos.