Ancient Empires Lux PC Game Review

Let me start off by saying that my opinions, preferences, and actual playing time with this game are all going to interfere with reviewing this game impartially. Such factors are as follows:

1. I am not a PC gamer. I have never played a MMORPG (except Phantasy Star on Dreamcast), I had an RTS phase with Dune 2, Starcraft and Total Annihilation, but I believe Starcraft was the last "commercial" CD-ROM I purchased for the PC.
2. Strategy Games are not my thing in general- love Advance Wars, FF tactics, Fire Emblem, and the best of all: Dragon Force (if you know that title you get a gold star)- but I can't stand games like Civilization etc.
3. I am a gameplay snob. I don't like games that have simple/casual controls. I like games that require gaming skill and timing (SFII, MKII, Halo, MGS, Megaman, GOW, etc.). Deep gameplay is a must for me.
4. I simply didn't want to play this game any longer than I needed to in order to check everything out because of my preferences above. Obviously, this affects my ability to review things like "Lasting Appeal" impartially.

So please keep all of the above in mind as you read my comments below.

Gameplay: 2/10
Pros: Game is very easy to play and has a streamlined interface where you simply click on the territory you want to attack, click on an army to buff it up, etc. Gameplay is very similar to the classic game of Risk...VERY Similar though I think LUX Deluxe is a better choice, so if that's your thing this is definitely for you. It's cool playing through history.
Cons: There is a lot of clicking!! There is no excuse that after I capture a territory I have to click to move each army to the new territory. I had no idea if I was losing or winning a battle...I just amassed a large army and clicked on the other army repeatedly until I destroyed them and captured the territory...then I clicked the territory repeatedly to beef up my army...are you seeing why maybe this game is just not for me? The gameplay was literally a chore for me.

Graphics: 6/10
Pros: When I first booted up the game, I was immediately taken aback by the menus and presentation...very impressive. The gameplay maps are clean and easy to understand.
Cons: When I booted up the map and clicked on another army I expected to load up a sort of battle whether real time strategy/action or whatever...while this is a testament to the presentation and menus...it is also a huge disappointment when you realize that's it as far as graphics go.

Sound/Music: 4/10
Pros: The battlesounds fit the theme
Cons: You'll get really tired of the clanging of swords and other sounds that occur when you attack a territory over and over. I don't remember any music whatsoever.

Lasting Appeal: 3/10
Pros: The game has a total of 58 ancient nations for you to control including: Ancient Egypt, India, China, Greece, Rome, and more. Several unique maps.
Cons: After playing 2 campaigns, I was just done with the game...that can't be positive, but perhaps as mentioned above it was a result of my preferences. I am clearly not in this niche market.

Average: 37.5%
Tilt: +/- 0.00%

So to wrap up my most biased review ever...this game is not for me for many reasons. It's just not my cup of tea, but I'm sure there is some niche of strategists out there that this game is better suited for. I'm just not one of them. If you love Risk and other Strategy games you can download the demo , or purchase the game, or simply check out Sillysoft.net and their other strategy games.

Verdict: 37.5%