Age of Empires: Definitive Edition

Back in 1997 when Age of Empires was first released it was a game that my dad was super into. I was not really into these types of games back then, but as my dad was so excited about it I actually got into it. It is crazy to think that at this point the Age of Empire series is now over 20 years old. Well to celebrate that, Microsoft Studios have released a Definitive Edition of Age of Empires.

A Classic and a Trend Setter

You have to go back to 1997 in order to talk about the impact that Age of Empires had. This is a game that let you create an empire from scratch and go through the ages and do what needed to be done to make sure your empire thrived. I know that there are a million games like this out there these days, but Age of Empires was one of the first to do it well. It was certainly the first one that I remember catching mainstream attention.

What Is New?

Of course, if you played the original Age of Empires back in the day, you will want to know if there is more here than just tugs on your nostalgia strings. The most notable things are first of all, of course, the visuals. Age of Empires: Definitive Edition has been covered with a coat of 4K paint and it looks pretty good. You, of course, have to consider that this is a 20 year old game so there is only so much they can do. However, I do feel the improved visuals are nice, especially the environments. There are 8 player battles and a few tweaks have been made to the gameplay to make things a little more in line with what we have now. They could have added some new factions and perhaps some kind of new story to the game as well and I think that would have been a nice touch.

Building Your Empire

There are plenty of different empires in this game. There are 19 and while there are not a ton of buildings, people and items that are available there are more than enough for you to build your empire. Depending on where you are will depend on what resources are the most valuable. For example, if you are on an island surrounded by water, wood is a valuable commodity as you need it to build ships. Ships for travel and ships for fishing, this means that conflict can be brutal when it comes to wood as there are only so many trees, but everyone wants them! Of course, you have to be quite savvy with the conflicts you get into, how far your empire spreads, who you can trust and so on. Look, this is a 20 year old game so it is not as in depth as a modern Age of Empires game, but I did have a lot of fun and liked the more slimmed down aspect of this game. Although to be fair I think part of this must be down to my nostalgia for the game.

Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is a game that is very easy to recommend if you played the game back in the ’90s. If you are a strategy game fan and are curious as to where this series started I think you would have some fun with it. I will tell you that this is a 20 year old game and apart from the nice visuals it does feel like a 20 year old game from a gameplay point of view.

7/10

Pros:

• Enhanced graphics look very nice
• It is easy to get the hang of
• Cool to see where the series started
• It is very addictive
• It is being sold for a budget price

Cons:

• It feels like a 20 year old game
• May seem rather bare bones and basic to some