I found the single-player campaigns to be worth at least one playthrough. The story was interesting and there's quite a twist at the end of it.
The game tried to experiment with some stuff and this didn't quite work out, which is probably why it still remains in AoE2's shadow to this day.
The home city and card system sounded like a really cool idea in theory but distanced it from a typical RTS experience and instead made it so that players with a higher level can wreck those who haven't played as long as they have.
The time period of early colonialism just isn't as interesting as the medieval period. The time period also created a big issue in the gameplay loop itself. Tactics switched towards being either heavily ranged or cavalry-focused, killing a lot of the diversity in army compositions.
The game tried to experiment with some stuff and this didn't quite work out, which is probably why it still remains in AoE2's shadow to this day.
The home city and card system sounded like a really cool idea in theory but distanced it from a typical RTS experience and instead made it so that players with a higher level can wreck those who haven't played as long as they have.
The time period of early colonialism just isn't as interesting as the medieval period. The time period also created a big issue in the gameplay loop itself. Tactics switched towards being either heavily ranged or cavalry-focused, killing a lot of the diversity in army compositions.