Relic Entertainment (http://www.relic.com/#news/8349) has announced
Age of Empires IV with this new trailer:
Bring it on! O0
[edit] Oh bloody hell, I read that as Age of Wonders IV. Never mind.
That trailer has been around for some time already hasn't it?
Arise ye olde thread...
Release date is October 28. $59.99
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1466860/Age_of_Empires_IV/
Looking forward to it muchly 😎 - I wonder of it will pull me away from the definitive editions of the updated earlier games...except for AoEIII, which never really clicked for me.
Out now, fairly positive reviews so far.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1466860/Age_of_Empires_IV/
Also available on GamePass.
I'll be picking it up as soon as it hits that sweet price point of 25% off the original price.
Yeah $60 is a bit steep. However I'm several beers deep, and so I'll take a peep. O0
I realized that started to rhyme halfway through so I dove into the deep..... end..... that one fell apart a bit O:-)
^Hahaha - *ahem* - anyway - post impressions! It's a forgone conclusion that I will get it, the question is how long can I hold out for. I still have so much content to get through in the AoEII Definitive Edition.
Too expensive for me. But will get it when it comes down to $20 or so. Here it's $100 currently on steam.
My first impressions are quite strong. The graphics and presentation are nice, colorful without being cartoony - reminds me a bit of Medieval 2 Total War units. They've returned 100% to the AoE 2 formula with some small changes, most notable you construct special unique "Wonder"-like buildings called Landmarks to advance to a new age, which I like. I always found the Wonder system and the Age system to be a bit clunky in the old games, so I like that they mashed them together and made them a bit more manageable.
The biggest difference I'm noticing is that the civilization bonuses are quite a bit more extensive this time around, to the point that each civ has their own difficulty star-rating. I don't recall factions in AoE 2 being all that different except for the skins, unique units, and a few bonuses here and there. Nothing crazy or groundbreaking, just more uniques and more bonus stats.
$60 (or more for unfortunate folks like Destraex) is definitely a bit steep for what they're offering, but I'm glad I went for it. That said, I'll be returning to AoE II Definitive Edition for multiplayer because none of my friends want to shell out $60 for the game yet :buck2:
EDIT - Actually, classic Wonders are still in the game - at least in the "Build and Defend a Wonder" victory type, which was always a classic. Dunno how extensively Wonders are featured in this one though.
Won my first 1v1 skirmish against an Intermediate AI, who put up a reasonable enough fight for the most part. I was worried at first because they outpaced me on reaching Age 2, but after some successful early battles it seems like they focused on unit production rather than economy. I'm not sure the timeline is 100% accurate because I remember seeing a message telling me that the AI leveled up to Age 3, and they even had a stat on how long into the game they did so.
I quite like what they did with the after-action screen, with a detailed timeline that includes battles and their winners. I'm not sure how the game determines this, to be honest - late in the timeline when my unit count drops swiftly, I would certainly have counted that as a battle won in their favor, since I broke down their walls and stormed their town, then got mostly wiped and pulled out. I guess the game thought of it as a stalemate because my surviving units hung around just outside the destroyed walls protecting the siege equipment while I trained reinforcements and brought them in.
(https://i.imgur.com/KaMgNws.png)
I'm quite enjoying it...the historical stuff between campaign missions is nicely done and engrossing.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on October 29, 2021, 09:58:46 PM
I'm quite enjoying it...the historical stuff between campaign missions is nicely done and engrossing.
Yeah, the historical cutscenes are top quality. Like a high budget television/Netflix series.
Thanks al and JH. On Green Man Gaming I can get it for 47.00...
...interesting about the landmarks too. And I really like the news about civ buffs, etc. I admit I am surprised at the initial positive reviews, I did not expect them, to be honest.
Maybe I'm getting old and crusty.
Have you tried any of the campaigns yet?
Quote from: Gusington on October 30, 2021, 09:01:39 AM
Thanks al and JH. On Green Man Gaming I can get it for 47.00...
...interesting about the landmarks too. And I really like the news about civ buffs, etc. I admit I am surprised at the initial positive reviews, I did not expect them, to be honest.
Maybe I'm getting old and crusty.
Have you tried any of the campaigns yet?
I'm playing the Norman campaign that starts in 1066 with the battle of Hastings.
Since I have as part of Game Pass, going to download and give a try. For those that are buying the full version stand alone, you may want to look into a Game Pass subscription. Good library of games and more and more being released on it. In my opinion, better than paying $50 for one game.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on October 30, 2021, 12:35:45 PM
Since I have as part of Game Pass, going to download and give a try. For those that are buying the full version stand alone, you may want to look into a Game Pass subscription. Good library of games and more and more being released on it. In my opinion, better than paying $50 for one game.
+1...Halo, Flight Simulator, Gears of War, Age of Empires, etc. etc. etc.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on October 30, 2021, 12:35:45 PM
Since I have as part of Game Pass, going to download and give a try. For those that are buying the full version stand alone, you may want to look into a Game Pass subscription. Good library of games and more and more being released on it. In my opinion, better than paying $50 for one game.
Wow - thanks for this. I have game pass for my son. Was about to spring for this on steam until I saw this - wonder what else I have bought I didnt need to...
I've been diving back and forth between this and AoE 2, and my overall impression is that AoE 4 is, at current state, very much a Campaign focused release. The campaign content is awesome, and the core game mechanics are really solid and fun.
However, the multiplayer/skirmish content is sadly lacking, such as very low number of civs and skirmish variety, and a lot of little nitpicky complaints like not being able to switch your team color in skirmish, no way to unlock MP teams so you can do diplo and betrayals, stuff like that.
The combat feels a little dumbed down in 4 - for one thing, all your melee units use firebombs when they attack buildings, a la AoE 3. IMO this mechanic made more sense in 3 because that was set in the 18th century and the mainline troop was a Grenadier. I prefer how in AoE 2, if you send a group of spearmen to attack a castle, they literally just stand there and stab the bricks and very, very slowly chip away at its HP. That said, it's still very solid RTS action, and I'm really happy that there's a good AoE game being released in 2021. I'm looking forward to picking up any expansions and DLC they release.
---
Also, I wanna share a funny story from an AoE 2 online game last night. Me and my good buddy got back into AoE 2 after a decade-plus hiatus and have been doing some cooperative skirmishes against AI teams. Last night, we set up a free-for-all game with us and 3 bots, and I accidentally locked the teams so we couldn't ally for a combined win.
My buddy is best described as having only one tool in his gaming toolbox, which is a blunt object that he uses to smash the nearest enemy to pieces. :knuppel2: This applies to all games, by the way - not just strategy. :) I spent a good portion of the game building walls and towers so that when he inevitably attacks, he's funneled down a convenient killing field into my base. He did not build any walls or defenses to speak of, but spent all his resources upgrading and amassing an army of elephants, camels, and trebuchets. This actually worked out for him because I never got the chance to harass his base due to his incessant pressure.
Anyway, when the bots are all dead he reveals his hand by sending this deathball straight down my killing lane. Both our armies get almost completely wiped, forcing us into a stalemate. We rebuild our armies and repeat this same process several times. We were talking over voicechat, and he was chest-pounding pretty smugly about every upper hand he pulled on me.
Eventually, he noticed I had a Wonder just outside my town, surrounded by walls and towers. For anyone who's never played AoE, a Wonder is a top-tier hyper-expensive building that basically wins the game for you if it's not destroyed within a countdown. This is a core mechanic of AoE because it means turtling and playing defensive is a viable strategy. This countdown to victory is announced and displayed clearly in the UI to all players. Anyway, he asks me what a Wonder does, and I go "Oh, it's just a sick important building." His units start attacking it on their own, but he decides to stop them and pull them back to his own base for some reason.
Fast forward a few minutes later. His army of elephants and camels rolls into my base, and his trebuchets deploy to start attacking my Wonder. Just as he was on the cusp of wiping out my base, he gets hit with the Defeat screen and the sound of me over voicechat going "OH GEE, WHAT JUST HAPPENED THERE? IS THAT WHAT A WONDER DOES?"
Of course, he was a bit pissed and tried to make me feel bad for not telling him what a Wonder does. But it was a friendly competition, he has just as much experience with the game as I do, and I know for a fact if the situation were reversed, he would have given me a similarly coy response instead of surrendering the fact that he's about to pull a sneaky victory on me that I'm fully able to prevent.
I actually have another friend who's really into classic RTS but for some reason never played AoE. I bought him the game recently and have been teaching him to play. If it were him I was playing against, I absolutely would have told him what the Wonder does. But between my other friend's experience and smugness, I couldn't let the opportunity pass to pull a fast one on him that I'll never let him live down. :2funny:
^Warms my cockles to read that AoE4 is campaign-focused.
I would not hesitate to recommend the game to someone who's campaign focused.
O0 Fantabulous <:-)
Just waiting for some time to go by and the discount train to get a-rollin'
Quote from: Gusington on November 04, 2021, 05:12:35 PM
O0 Fantabulous <:-)
Just waiting for some time to go by and the discount train to get a-rollin'
Sadly, that's me with every new release...gotta wait for the sales, even if it takes years. :-[
Not sad at all! 'Mature.'
I had an experience with AOE multi-player that turned me off from it. I played a guy who used a bunch of what I thought were gamey exploits...not cheats per se, but just taking advantage of the way AOE was set up. For example instead of building a stone wall, building a wall with Siege Workshops (one workshop right next to another), there must have been 30 shops in the "wall." Then he used those shops to spam an army of ballistas that for some reason my troops could not resist. While I appreciated his creativity...the experience made me cold toward AOE.
Anyway, now many years later, hearing all this good stuff...maybe time to look at it again.
^That anecdote is one reason of many why I don't use MP.
That anecdote is why I only play RTS multiplayer with/against good friends. Random people online are either way too good or know too many gamey exploits.
^Or are total jackwads.
Got this recently (only played the tech demo way back before). Really enjoying it. Finished the Norman campaign and have started the Rus one. But most rewarding is playing coop with friends who have it on gamepass or steam.
Found it on Amazon for $30 or so as a steam or Xbox live key.
A lot of really cool paths to take and some really cool factions. Elephants, pavises to deploy, stakes for english archers etc. But in the end if you are against the AI you generally just end up on Trebuchet escort duty.
I have a long way to go to learn this game. It's very relaxing. Where Chivalry II is cathartic.
Just realised this game is coming to xbox as well as company of heroes 3. I hope we get some RTS fans move to PC.
But at the same time I can now see why AOEIV looks and feels the way it does. It's relic as well iirc?
You have really nice historical animations and models and really poor colour pallete and UI.
^You know you hit the nail on the head for me of why I didn't like the art style much, and miss the updated sprites of AoEII Definitive Edition.
Age of Empires IV is free to play for the next 3 days. Just sayin, for anybody that wants to try it.
They just added some more fantastical elements... booo, but fun enough. An enchanted forest biome and an English king with an 11c shield, 16c foot Landschnect sword even though he is on a horse among other things. It's like they went cheap with the age up models for this "king". Not so Kingly. Having said that it's an RTS that has never claimed as far as I am aware to be historical. Although for the most part the models look damned fine.
^Age of Empires II Definitive Edition has some very historically-based scenarios. AoEIV just hasn't grabbed me, it feels and plays totally different from previous games.
Age of Empires IV DLC - 2 new civilisations (byzantines and japanese) and 4 variant civilisations. Sounds cool.
Variant Civilizations? I haven't played since around release. Wut's da deal wit dat doe.
Somebody I know was saying it is probably like one of the other games in the franchise where the factions can have revolutions or some such in mid game to change units.
Despite not liking the game much when I fiddled with it, I already pre-ordered this.
Hi I am Gus and I am a PC game addict.
:tophat: