Age of Empires, the classical RTS game that changed the whole genre. The series claimed the title of the best real-time strategy game based on historical events. This game was played long before Total War came out. A franchise that still holds a special place in my heart, even 25 years after the release of the original. It’s been a while since Age of Empires 3 has been released, and a good RTS- game has been long overdue. Let’s see if it’s time to jump back in!
Age of Empires 4 boots up and immediately you start to notice how beautiful everything looks and fluently feels. From the moving grass to the animated workers who are working their butt off to get the wood you need, is just sublime. Relic Entertainment definitely did a great job when it comes to the graphical aspect of the game. Even though Age of Empires 3 was already good-looking in the early days of 2005, it’s good to see that Age of Empires took a good step forward in the graphical area. The game feels like an updated version of the classical game and I’m totally up for it. Nostalgia all the way. The production value of the sound effects is also worth noticing. Every catapult firing or building collapsing makes up for a great sound effect. I tip my hat for the hours that the developers must have put into their sound design. Graphics and sound effects are top-notch!
“Overall, they did a great job and players will definitely like this kind of approach.”
Just like any other Age of Empires, the developers have chosen the simple path of 3 gameplay modes: Campaign, AI mode, and Online MP. The campaign puts you in the shoes of a commander of one of the historical civilizations. The available campaigns are The 100 years war, The Norman, The Rise of Moscow, and the Rise of the Mongol Empire. Campaigns are still about learning how to play the game and understand the different mechanics. It’s a great refreshment before you enter the fray of the online mode. It’s also a great way to get some info on these historical battles that have happened over the years. The developers knew that the franchise is known for its historical and correct representation of the most epic battles that have ever happened and the game truly feels like an interactive representative documentary of some of these battles. The game uses real images to reconstruct the event as best as it can and stimulate a feeling of immersion. Overall, they did a great job and players will definitely like this kind of approach. However, the die-hard fans might not find what they’re looking for as the campaign is fairly easy to complete. Even the hard mode could have been more difficult.
The MP-mode can be played in different settings. You choose one of the available civilizations, all with their own units and buildings. You can choose between The French, The Russ, The Roman Empire, The English, The Chinese, The Mongols, The Delhi Sultanate, and The Abbasid Dynasty. There’s the option to go classical and go head-to-head against one other player but there are also some challenging options like 4v4 and 1v3. Whatever you choose, think about your decisions and act accordingly. These decisions will be made, based on the Victory Condition you’re willing to work towards. Age of Empires 4 allows the player to choose its own faith by presenting 3 ways to achieve victory. The first option is to build your own landmarks so that your civilization can progress towards a new age. This upgrade will allow you to build stronger units and achieve better upgrades. These evolutionary events cost a big amount of resources and don’t forget that your opponent is probably doing exactly the same thing. So build your landmarks and destroy the landmarks that your opponent has built. Another option is to dominate over the available relic points by keeping all three of them for 10 minutes straight. The last remaining option is to annihilate your opponent the best you can. Your destructive force can even be too great to overcome which will eventually make your opponent fall down on their knees and give up. So plenty of options to get that win condition which makes the game a lot more interesting to play. It will also make up for the replayability.
“The online competitive mode can be challenging because of the rock-paper-scissors mentality during these battles.”
Like I’ve said before, these different civilizations offer different units and buildings. Just take it with a grain of salt because a lot of these units will feel similar to other ones. However, this cultural system is a great way to get into that competitive field, as players will discover that each culture will have its positive and negative traits among others. If each culture has its own negatives and positives, it will be easier to anticipate the movements of your opponent during an online battle. The online competitive mode can be challenging because of the rock-paper-scissors mentality during these battles. Each culture will definitely have an advantage over another kind of culture. It’s up to the player to choose a culture that may or may not have an advantage over the other one. It’s kind of like the same mindset LOL has. A certain hero may be the kryptonite of another hero. This doesn’t mean the other hero probably can’t win from the other one, but it can definitely heighten the level of challenge.
I do believe that the different civilizations will need some balancing. Some cultures are just easier to play and to figure out the best strategy than others. The Mongols are a forceful power to be reckoned with but they’re not that easy to get the hang of them. France is pretty straightforward and easier to gain control of. Relic Entertainment will have to do a power check with every culture and balance them out. Relic Entertainment did implement some great racial/ economic benefits per civilization. Each benefit definitely fits the culture’s playstyle and has been thought out very decently. No benefit feels too overpowered as some benefits might be more beneficial at the end game instead of the early game. These economic benefits will be more of a personal choice than a competitive one.
Conclusion:
Relic Entertainment did a great job of creating a modern nostalgic experience within the Age of Empire franchise. The game felt like coming home on different levels and it will probably keep a lot of fans busy. The fact that the game uses real historical battles, will definitely be a selling point for most of the players out there. However, I do feel like some of the veterans might not be that much into the new AOE experience as the different cultures don’t stand out of the crowd too much. Yes, there are different economical benefits and different units to produce, but it doesn’t feel that impactful. Some cultures do have some different strategies that might be better than the other one, but this is just a matter of time before Relic Entertainment has balanced everything out. If you like grand historical battle simulators, this will definitely be a game to check out. If you’re a more veteran player that needs that more deep experience when it comes to different playstyles, you might want to sit this one out and wait until some important updates have been made.
