The HUD is informative, straightforward, and accessible with hotkeys that are displayed in a discrete manner next to the buttons they represent. At least the arrows release from the bow instead of the soldier's feet now. In the heat of battle it's not noticeable, but a single archer's timing can be a bit off. While size has been addressed - arrows and bolts are more distinguishable from one another and don't look like spears being tossed - though, the animation is still a bit wonky when zoomed in. It looks odd, and betrays the attention to detail in other areas of the game.Īrrow animations (and sizing) were another sticking point for many people who saw an early build of the game.
If I tasked more units than could fit along the foundation's edge, the rest would spin restlessly until the building was completed. Instead of swapping spears or swords for hammers, units would just sort of crowd around a battering ram foundation and point their weapons at it until it was built. One thing that stood out to me immediately was infantry units building siege. While the vast majority of animations I've seen are fluid, there are still some areas for improvement. A bit more variety there could go a long way. One thing that stood out to me was how similar the keep looks across civilizations. This is where the architecture really gets unique. Unique landmarks are fun to watch as they're built, with scaffolding and virtual workers rising out of the ground. I love the appearance of common buildings across civilizations they're easy to identify but fit in with the rest of the civ. Want to play nothing but Dry Arabia but don't want to see the pale palette anymore? Switch to a different biome for a few matches.Īrchitectural art design is also a strong point. The game ships with 17 different skirmish maps, each with eight different biomes that change the look of the map. A lighted grid that appears when you want to build helps identify what space is open, so you're never really having to guess where to place your next building.
These extras don't affect the game and can be built over if you're pressed for space. Roads also appear automatically between well-traveled areas, though they don't provide a movement bonus. There are also plenty of accoutrements that pop up when you build certain buildings.įor example, building a house in an open area will have a small garden and fence appear next to it, adding to the sense that your city is a living organism. Forests vary in color and type, trees and grass sway lightly in the breeze, sea water color grades naturally toward shore, and unseen clouds passing in front of the sun drape shadows across the plains. Map landscapes - the backdrop for your matches and campaign missions - are gorgeous. Nearly everything is clearly identifiable at a glance, with units defined well even in the ruckus of battle.
The game is not going for a hyper-realistic look, and that's OK when it attempts to run on such a wide range of hardware. Keeps and fortresses tower above towns, villagers look small next to armor-clad military units, and weapons are at an appropriate size to be noticeable but not overbearing. I've no doubt not yet seen every unit and building in the game, but these issues seem to have been handled. Has it been worth the wait? The answer is very much yes. Nostalgia aside, Age 4 is a new title created by a new team of people, with 16 years between now and the release of Age of Empires 3. This is definitively a fan's review, examined in-depth across all of the game's systems and mechanics. I've done my best to leave my Age love at the door despite Age of Empires 2 being one of my favorite games of all time.
From the moment I sat down to play through the four-part historic campaign with 35 missions, all the way through to testing out skirmishes and multiplayer matches, the game has been a treat. I would be lying if I said it's been a difficult task. I'm one of the lucky few who received early access to Age 4, and as I'm sitting down to write this review I've been playing almost non-stop for just more than a week. Age of Empires 4 was announced on August 21, 2017, and ever since then, real-time strategy (RTS) fans have been eager to see where Microsoft, Xbox, and a talented cadre of developers would take the renowned series.
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