Age of Empires 3

I think I'm going to pick this game up today.. I need a new RTS to add to my rotation of play and I really like how this game looks visually and the effects.. like naval battles with Galleons that have masts and giant chunks of ships flying off.. really cool damage effects to units.. I've read plenty of game reviews on it making some compliants for the interface which I could see in the demo but for the less then serious RTS fan its still got some cool features.. at this point I want to have some gigantic naval battle.. It was either this or Civ 4 and after looking at Civ 4 which has some awesome ingame movies.. the look of the game though improved has that.. board-game feel to it.. didnt look like there was any sort of micromanage city view where you could get a visual feel for a city.. plus from the looks of the demo of Age.. the Terrain changes every map.. treelines are different.. cliffs.. subtle changes enough to change a layout.. I only wish this involved some of the more ancient cultures like Rome or the Huns..

I would go for CIV4 over AoE anytime. But that's just my opinion 😉 I played the original AoE and thought it was ok, but have played days and days and days of CIV, CIV II, and CIV III. I even played Civ: Call to Power.

I haven't seen much on CIV4 (mostly by choice) but the reviews I have seen are loving it.

The reviews on Civ IV are all positive for sure.. I like that sorta middle ground with the warcraft/starcraft kinda feel though.. if Civ IV had that I'd easily drop it but seems like Civ IV really lacks in the cool battle stuff.. the gameplay videos showed oversized groups of figures just going back n' forth on a maplike borderline.. Is there any sort of zoom feature that allows you to see units in more visual detail? along with the Cities? Like with Civ III did they?

I know they completely changed the combat system from CIVIII to IV but that is about all I know. I've kept myself purposely mostly ignorant about the game because I really want to buy it and the more I know about it, the more likely I am going to feel the need to purchase it. I just don't have the $ right now. I hear what you are saying about the middle-ground. I never really liked warcraft/starcraft myself, but enjoyed the variability of the CIV games.

The Apolyton site has a ton of info about the game and lots of people who have been playing CIV since its inception. Would be a good resource if you want to pursue it.

http://apolyton.net/