Inside and out, Age of Empires 4 is a classic-style real-time strategy game that revolves around base development, sword fighting, and village pillaging. Entering a match as the valiant English takes on the dashing French seems like you've traveled back in time, to a different period of strategy games as well as the game's original setting of the High and Late Middle Ages. And there are certain aspects of that that feel extremely good, kind of like comfort food for older players. However, this battlefield feels the most current and presents its brightest moments when Relic has taken a chance here or there. Apart from that, in a world where Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition already exists, it frequently just looks overly cautious and safe.
You can easily fit into the armored boots of the majority of Age 4's factions if, like me, you've spent decades sending peasants out to hunt animals, mine gold, and chop wood. Understanding the rock-paper-scissors interaction between spears, horses, and bows is essential to winning pitched battles with consistency. Strategically speaking, a swift raid to eliminate a few of your opponent's villagers and destroy their economy may be more advantageous than winning any head-to-head match. When defensive constructions like walls are built, the late game becomes a high-stakes chess match where map dominance is crucial, albeit eventually high-tech Cannons and other artillery will break the deadlock and provide the person using them the best chance of winning handily. When playing against an opponent of similar skill, the tempo is just ideal.
The semi-randomized skirmish maps also intrigued me; they allowed you to select a layout and a biome, which defined the colors, tree species, and general atmosphere of each region, ranging from European Temperate to Asian Steppe to Taiga. Each one offers a different set of tactical challenges: wide open layouts with masses of unit-concealing woodland in the middle that encourages a clever guerilla fight and tons of deception, or two opposing ridges overlooking a valley that feels a lot like a StarCraft 2 championship map. However, some of them can seem a little out of proportion; mountain passages will always provide the upper hand to civilizations who build castles.Mongols, for example, were nomads. But all in all, there's a wide range of skillfully constructed battlegrounds. And despite my concerns that naval warfare might seem like an afterthought given how little Relic discussed it before launch, it's really very well developed, making island maps an exciting possibility in and of themselves.
Because naval combat is quite well developed, island maps are an exciting idea.
However, I didn't think there was enough fresh content for six of the eight playable factions. They all do, after all, play somewhat differently; special technology, units, and landmarks are excellent for creating a distinct personality, bringing to mind their historical origin, and changing up how you make the most of your economy. The Imperial Officials who saunter around collecting taxes from all of your buildings are the main source of money for the Chinese in gold. The Abbasids acquire the Baghdad House of Wisdom, which establishes them as a technological leader and, ironically, (given its actual fate) gives neighboring structures fire resistance.Unless... AIM FOR IT THE MONGOLS ARE YOU
The Mongol faction defies precedent and convention with its entirely movable bases, lack of population buildings, and economy that is mostly centered on burning down other people's property to get money. This demonstrates what Relic is capable of when it makes a sincere effort to offer something novel. Almost immediately, the Mongols turned my rather neutral feelings of Age 4 into excitement in trying out new strategies, and ever since, I've spent most of my multiplayer time throat-singing and microing horse archers. Though not quite as avant-garde, the Rus are also refreshing; instead of having a big, well-defended urban center, they concentrate on controlling the wilds with tiny outposts.
I was kind much ambivalent about Age 4, but the Mongols got me excited to try out new strategies.
Sadly, I was helpless against the generally awful unit pathfinding and targeting, not even by Genghis Khan. Not as bad as StarCraft: Brood War, but still pretty bad, with archers stopping to plink away ineffectively at a tower when there's a pivotal battle happening just a short jog up, cavalry frequently getting stuck on rubble and dancing back and forth nonsensically, scouts trying to ride through a forest instead of around it, and knights trying to surround and gang up on one spearman instead of breaking off to hit the siege weapons behind him.the path. To get the most out of your troops, you will need to continuously micromanage them at a very fine tactical level. And even if you're not playing a side with a lot of micromanagement, like the Mongols, that still holds true.Screenshots from Age of Empires 4
Age 4's throwback tastes, however, delighted me in one particular area: the game offers an extensive 40 missions of excellent single-player campaign action. Because they center on the two most dull factions—the English and the French in the Norman Invasions and the French and the English in the Hundred Years War—the first two campaigns—which pitted one against the other almost perfectly at times—are a little plodding. However, there are many intriguing objectives in the Mongol Empire and Rise of Moscow campaigns that place you in the center of exciting historical flashpoints. For every situation, you'll be able to access live-action short videos about stuff like how can construct a composite bow or listen to traditional Mongol folk music, both of which are really cool; nevertheless, I would have like to have had simple playback controls like pause and rewind buttons.
It's important to note that the sound design and music are excellent throughout. As you go through the ages, the traditional instruments and songs capturing the essence of each group become increasingly complex and grandiose. Each unit's voice lines were recorded in the original tongue of their historical civilizations, some of which are no longer spoken in their original tongue. For instance, the English units speak primarily unintelligible Old English in the first age, which progressively changes into Middle English and finally reaches Shakespeare's Early Modern English. This was a pretty thoughtful addition, and nothing about it seems unduly clichéd or cartoonish.
However, the absence of a map editor is perhaps my biggest letdown to date. Among my favorite things to do when I was older I've always created my own scenarios for Empires games and shared them with my pals, but you can't do that right now. Thankfully, Relic reports that mod tools are in the works. Let's hope they arrive soon.
It's important to note that the sound design and music are excellent throughout. As you go through the ages, the traditional instruments and songs capturing the essence of each group become increasingly complex and grandiose. Each unit's voice lines were recorded in the original tongue of their historical civilizations, some of which are no longer spoken in their original tongue. For instance, the English units speak primarily unintelligible Old English in the first age, which progressively changes into Middle English and finally reaches Shakespeare's Early Modern English. This was a pretty thoughtful addition, and nothing about it seems unduly clichéd or cartoonish.
However, the absence of a map editor is perhaps my biggest letdown to date. Among my favorite things to do when I was older I've always created my own scenarios for Empires games and shared them with my pals, but you can't do that right now. Thankfully, Relic reports that mod tools are in the works. Let's hope they arrive soon.
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