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Will this new entryin the dynasty sweep all before it?Age of Empires IVSO MUCH TIME has passed since the last
Age of Empires release, one that wasn't a
remake or a definitive edition, the chances
are that anyone reading this hasn’t played
a game in the series, or at least hasn’t
thought about it for a long time.
Things have changed a lot over the
past 16 years. Series originator Ensemble
Studios is no more, replaced by Relic
Entertainment (Homeworld, Company of
Heroes) and World’s Edge, an internal
Microsoft studio set up to look after Age
of Empires. Things have also changed
outside of the development studio,
especially in the world of Total War. The
two series overlap in more than just
timeframe, with Creative Assembly’s
behemoth pushing the boundaries in
terms of units on-screen and, more
recently, fire and magical effects.
You won’t find any of the latter in Age of
Empires IV, unfortunately, but then that’s
not the nature of the game. Presented
as a historical documentary, with live-
action cut-scenes full of foreboding
ravens fluttering around on battlefields
and diagrams of how troops clashed in
real wars, Age of Empires IV takes itself
pretty seriously.
It all begins at Hastings in England,
where a battle was fought in 1066 thatAge of Empires IV is a whistle-
stop tourof historical battleswonder if a little more imagination could
have been applied to the campaign.
No matter. The game may be extremely
serious (though we make no apologies
for finding King William’s battle cry of
“Incontinent!” hilarious) but it’s also
polished and solid. Loading times can
be a little long, even from an SSD, but
what you get after the wait, especially
in 4 K, is worth it. There’s just enough
realism, units are easily picked out, and
some nice touches such as the sheep
who obediently follow your scouts to their
doom and the softly glowing crown that
floats above your monarch character.
Even when you have a thriving town full
of villagers hunting and gathering, with
military buildings pumping out units and
others carrying out research, it’s easy
to stay on top of things just by looking at
what’s there.
New features aren’t exactly thick
on the ground, though there’s now a
Homeworld-like ability to change the
shape of an assembled unit from a line
to a wedge to a loose scattering. Building
multiples of the same building is now
the way to access unique units, such as
the powerful English longbowmen who
require three archery butts, all selected
at once, to begin building.changed the course of a continent. Duke
William of Normandy’s victory over
King Harold of England is a foregone
conclusion, so the introductory campaign
sees you play as William, consolidating
his power and mopping up resistance.
This is followed by three campaigns set
in less clear-cut times: the Hundred Years
War, 116 years of battles between the
English and French in which both sides
won significant victories; the expansion
of the Mongol Empire across Asia and
into Europe; and the rise of Moscow to
dominate what we now know as Russia.THINGS THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN
There’s plenty of scope for the series’
trademark build-up of forces, though an
early rush with specialist units is still a
valid tactic, the whole thing modeled after
Age of Empires II more than any other
entry. Outside of the campaign, there are
eight lightly asymmetrical civilizations to
be thrown at one another in skirmish
maps and online multi-player.
These are naturally where you’ll head
for historical wish fulfillment, with the
campaign rather tied to the record of how
things really happened. Having the Delhi
Sultanate stomp all over the English in
battles that never happened makes youin the lab