Game Review: Age of Mythology

Background:

Age of Mythology is an epistemic game aimed at introducing students to Greek and Roman culture, including the mythological creatures and gods of the classics. Students are introduced to civilizations: “each of the nine unique civilizations is split amongst three cultures: the Greeks, Egyptians, and Norse, with each providing their own special units, gods, powers, heroes, and more” (Microsoft.com). With a game interface similar to World of Warcraft in that it consists of a three dimensional plain where multiple players can converse and interact, Age of Mythology directs students to complete objectives or quests while conquering obstacles along the way.


My Personal Experience:

First, let me confess, I have very little interest in gaming. I am the female student that I worry about losing motivation and engagement when confronted with epistemic games in the classroom. That being said, I found Age of Mythology difficult to learn to navigate, though the tasks were elementarily easy. Also, the background information I obtained while navigating the trial version was minimal: basic character names, brief introductions to raking of peoples (i.e. soldiers, villagers, etc.), and snippets about gods (i.e. what he or she is the god of, strengths and weaknesses, etc.).

In my personal opinion, this particular game, though I was excited about playing it beforehand, yielded little educational information especially given the time frame of playing. Much more time is invested in following directions than applying skills.

I will say, however, in defense of this game, there was much background reading to understand the game which supports theories surrounding new literacies and authenticity. The reading I had to perform for this game was rich.