The designers put a bit of effort into thinking through the moves, and probably had a discussion about how the rules of chess differed in the medieval period, but they were also beholden to the Age of Empires-specific story beats that they needed to convey. The original cinematic was three minutes and nineteen seconds long. The title Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings appears, and then fades away. He finally drops the piece, which spins into a dark void before fading away completely. He looks down at his tremoring hands, slowly opens them, and shows White's king piece, revealing that he was the one playing as Black.

It fades again closer to the survivor, who is wounded and silently crying. The camera fades to a lone survivor standing in the ruined Castle's courtyard. Dozens of corpses are rotting on the ground in front of the now smoking Castle. The scene fades out and cuts to the next day. Three Knights kill three Archers, the camera cuts to some cavalry about to storm the Castle, and they engage with enemy Knights before the Castle gate. Several swordsmen pass through the Gate, but the Archers managed to take out one swordsman and a Knight. The Trebuchets hit part of a Castle and burn somebody, then the camera cuts to several soldiers applying a Battering Ram to a Gate. White moves a piece, Black slams a rook in White's territory, and then White responds by taking it out with his king, symbolizing an army with three Trebuchets. White reacts with horror, while Black looks confident, and the music is growing increasingly tense. Black then uses his knight to take out the pawn, symbolizing the four Knights seen earlier cutting the strings on the Trebuchet. White responds by moving a pawn, symbolizing three Villagers setting up a Trebuchet for the Tower in the distance. White moves his pawn again, and the camera cuts back to the first Knight, this time in the afternoon, who stops to lift the visor on his helmet and take a look at his surroundings.īlack then moves a rook forward, symbolizing five Villagers building a Tower. Black looks worried, then he moves a knight forward, symbolizing four actual Knights galloping on a path. The camera returns to White, who smiles contently at his opponent. This immediately reveals the game's symbolism: the camera subsequently cuts to a Knight trotting forward. White makes the first move that the camera sees: a pawn going one space forward. The music at this point is slow-paced and consists solely of a harp.

The first scene is a room of two kings in the middle of a chess match, illuminated by a fireplace. Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties Review

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