Empire: Total War’s newest entry is a polished, well-designed take on the formula that has been making waves in RTS games for years. If you like the genre and want to try something new but familiar, Empire: Total War is worth your time.
Age of Empires IV is a game that doesn’t break an already great RTS formula. It has a lot to offer, but it does come with some drawbacks. The game offers a lot of replayability and the community is still very active after all these years.
The visuals of Age of Empires IV aren’t spectacular, and there aren’t any remarkable mechanics that could never have been included in the original games from the mid-2000s. One of Age of Empires IV’s main flaws is that it seems like it might have been released a few years after the third installment.
But that’s one of the game’s finest features: the formula doesn’t need to be changed or morphed into something new. Age of Empires IV is fantastic as is. It’s a nostalgic excursion that reintroduces everything that made the original games wonderful in a completely new packaging.
Typical configuration
Relic Entertainment provided this image.
Returning gamers and those who have never played a top-down real-time strategy game will find Age of Empires IV to be a breeze. The tutorial wraps up neatly to explain the fundamentals before launching players into the single-player campaign mode, which has four scenarios involving the English, French, Mongols, and Russians. It’s a fantastic method to get into the game without having to fight a complex AI right away. You can ultimately face off against other players, but their past experience with Age of Empire games provides them a significant advantage.
After you’ve completed them, you may try your hand at skirmish mode against the AI in any of the prepared encounters or design your own using any of the eight civilizations. While many of the troops are shared by all civilizations, the slight variances and unique advantages of each empire encourage you to think about your alternatives while playing them.
When playing as the French, for example, you’ll want to rely on the civilization’s cavalry. The hardy English, on the other hand, excel at defending against sieges, whether employing their distinctive Longbowman unit to defend from afar or depending on the Network of Castles passives to boost unit attack speed when near specified buildings.
According to the book
Relic Entertainment provided this image.
While the civilization bonuses and unique troops are exciting additions to Age of Empires IV, they are also a disappointment. With a little refinement, the bulk of the civilizations might have been picked from earlier games. Except for the inclusion of the Mongols, it may easily seem like an expansion for Age of Empires III for returning gamers.
Relic was clearly attempting to handle the Mongols differently than the other seven civilizations when they created them. They’re a lot of work, but they’re a lot of fun to use. The Mongols have a mobile playstyle in which they may pack and transfer their structures across the map. You’ll want to explore a lot more of the area and discover places where you can collect as many resources as possible before moving on, maybe dodging the opponent and using more hit-and-run tactics.
It’s regrettable that many other civilizations don’t have the same degree of sophistication as the Mongols. However, this does not detract from the overall enjoyment of building an empire from the ground up, protecting it, and besieging a formidable foe.
Graphics that are simple yet effective
Relic Entertainment provided this image.
Not only are the civilizations all the same, but the visuals aren’t that interesting. Age of Empires IV is a game that can be played on a variety of hardware and not put too much pressure on it, even if the settings are maxed up. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it seems like a wasted chance to adopt a more distinctive graphic style to make the game feel more like a current take on a brand that dominated the mid-2000s.
None of the graphics are damaged or seem to be out of date. Still, the evergreens that my people were chopping down and the water splashing down the sides of my ships as they shot at opponents could have used a little more realism. While keeping the gameplay the same seems like a decent idea, the graphic design might have benefited from some improvements.
The final decision
Relic Entertainment provided this image.
Age of Empires IV never totally won me over. Nonetheless, I had a lot of fun playing it, and everything came together well without being overdone. It’s a tremendous achievement that an Age of Empires game could be released in 2021 without seeming like it’s trying too hard to emulate the nostalgia of the original games.
The game seems like a solid addition to the series, and the inventiveness with which the Mongol civilisation is implemented gives me optimistic that Relic will continue to push the boundaries and try out more ambitious features in the future. If Relic wants to genuinely push outside the box with the next Age of Empires, I believe greater chances with the civilizations, as well as the aesthetic style, would be a welcome decision.
| + | As a single-player and multiplayer experience, the game is dependable. |
| + | With their civilizations, the Mongols hint at Relic Entertainment’s ingenuity. |
| – | The graphics seemed bland, despite the fact that they had the capacity to accomplish so much more. |
| – | Civilizations that seem to have been stolen from prior entries |
I was given a game code in exchange for an honest review.
The “age of empires 4 console” is a great game, and it doesn’t break the already great RTS formula. The only downside is that it’s not available on PC yet.
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