Did you spend your childhood in the loving embrace of Command and Conquer, Civilization, or Age of Empires? The slow, methodical burn. The utter satisfaction of progressing to the next age, or coordinating a stealthy attack. For some of us, strategy runs in our blood.
I’ll never forget the moment I first played Age of Empires. My fascination with its tiny villagers that communicated in unintelligible grunts, hunted animals, and mined gold began at the turn of the new millennium. After memorising all the cheat codes, it was only natural that I purchased Age of Empires II with its expansion packs, and indulged in all the new campaigns and maps I could. I think I speak on behalf of every AoE fan when I say that the E3 announcement of Age of Empires: Definitive Edition was a welcome surprise. But nothing could have prepared us for Relic Entertainment’s (Dawn of War) recent reveal of Age of Empires: IV.
The hype is real, folks. Although the now defunct Ensemble Studios (AoE, AoE II & AoE III) will not be returning for the fourth installment, AoE: IV is guaranteed to receive some decent quality control since it’s owned by Microsoft. At the same time, it’s been over a decade since AoE III released. Will the RTS magic still hold up today? Here’s what we think.
