I always didn't used to like strategy games like
Age of Empires and
Rise of Nations. I have played
Black and White, and even though the replayability factor is much more than usual third person shooter games, the latter had much better graphics (and you know, I am a fan of 3D graphics and not that lazy, right:?). Black and White had quite good graphics for this kind of a game and am really looking forward to the next generation strategy games -
Black and White 2 and
Age of Empires 3.
Also, while you are it have a look at the next generation Unreal technology
here.
And while I am at it, I should also mention that I am currently into playing
Half Life 2 (for the PC) and
Doom 3 (for the XBOX). Half Life 2 beats the hell out of any other game that I have played - the best in graphics (I always seem to get in love with the rendition of water in the game) and the best in AI too.