I was hoping the graphics would really blow me away in Age of Empires 4, but theyвЂ™re not as impressive as IвЂ™d anticipated. ThatвЂ™s not the case, though you still end up fighting with an army made up of a handful of horses, 10 archers, a few dudes with swords, and thatвЂ™s it.

WeвЂ™re stuck leading the same size armies we were two decades ago, and it seems like they could have at least made each unit consist of several soldiers to up the feeling of scale a bit. So, IвЂ™m wondering why what seemed like a technological limitation back in the day is still the standard for this game. Age of Empires 2 could handle 200 units in 1999, and that was increased to 500 in The Forgotten expansion. The choice to keep the max population limited to 200 is also a strange move. The Mongols are a great step in the right direction as far as breathing new life into Age of Empires, and having another civilization that played entirely unlike those in AOE 2 would be awesome. I wish the devs could have found a way to make some of the other factions feel more unique. This makes them as different from the English as the Terrans are from the Protoss in StarCraft. They have to mine stone using a building and arenвЂ™t able to build farms. The Mongols are highly mobile and can pack every building and redeploy it at will. However, one of them, the Mongols, is completely different. Most of the other civs are still recognizable while having a gimmick or two to differentiate them.

The English and French are closest civilizations to those found in Age of Empires 2. Each civ is more specialized this time around, with one of them playing almost completely differently than the others. In previous Age of Empires games, the tech trees and bonuses between factions were largely the same outside of some special units. The most significant change that comes with Age of Empires 4 is that the civilizations are now asymmetrical in their capabilities. So, what is there that Age of Empires 4 has to give that its predecessors didnвЂ™t? Well, surprisingly little. The issue is that Age of Empires 2 exists, and itвЂ™s a great game that just got another expansion this month. On the contrary, this is a very good real-time strategy game. ThatвЂ™s not to say the game is poor quality or that itвЂ™s not worth playing. The campaign sets the tone for the recent of the package, and thereвЂ™s really nothing about Age of Empires 4 that hasnвЂ™t been done before. But, it lacks the drama and visceral depictions of recent historically-based productions. ItвЂ™s quite nice for fans of history, and you can tell the devs put a lot of time into making sure their portrayal of the events was informative and correct.

However, the game leans into it with unlockable mini-documentaries for trebuchets and bows. This means each campaign has a bit of a clinical feel that might not be to everyoneвЂ™s taste. However, itвЂ™s given from an impersonal viewpoint with a narrator. There are four of these, and players can follow the English, Normans, Mongols, and Rus civilizations through hundreds of years of history. The campaigns of Age of Empires 4 have a lot of love put into them.

Age of empires 2 units