As a seasoned RTS enthusiast with over two decades of gaming under my belt, I must say that Age of Mythology Retold has been a nostalgic journey down memory lane. I fondly remember the days when I’d strategize for hours on end to ensure my peasants were building oxcarts and my sentry towers were boiling oil. This new version, with its improved visuals and quality-of-life updates, has made that experience even more enjoyable.
If you’re a strategy game enthusiast who enjoys details like “peasants construct oxcarts” or “sentry towers discharge boiling oil,” then Age of Mythology Retold is tailored just for you. World’s Edge has revamped the 2002 original and its 2014 enhanced version, enhancing visuals, implementing numerous balance adjustments, and adding contemporary user-friendly features that make it more accessible than ever. While Age of Mythology Retold remains enjoyable for those not deeply invested, understanding the impact of many of its modifications – and why it was created – might be a bit challenging.
Lands of legends
Reframe the essence: First and foremost, Age of Mythology Retold refashions the Age of Empires formula, primarily referencing Age of Empires 2 that was released three years prior to Mythology’s debut. However, it introduces a divine twist to this classic gameplay. Instead of traversing an extensive array of civilizations across time, Mythology offers you the choice among the Greeks, Norse, Egyptians, and Atlanteans (a peculiar option given Atlantis’ deep-rooted Greek mythology). The technological advancement for each civilization is intricately connected to their respective deities. It’s not just about building heavily armored infantry or making berserkers more powerful when you please Poseidon or Set; they also influence the gameplay in other significant ways.
The types of units in this game appear uniquely separate yet subtly connected to mythology. To illustrate, instead of scouts, the Greeks and Atlanteans have Oracles; these units expand their range of sight over time as they stand still and gaze into the distance with their minds. Additionally, you have heroes, which share some similarities with Age of Empires’ heroes but boast more divine, spectacular abilities, and a choice of unique units based on the civilization you select – for instance, advanced siege weapons for the Atlanteans or chariots for the Egyptians.
Even if you own the game, you can’t access the Chinese civilization right away; instead, it must be bought as additional content at a later time. This move is frustrating for players who have already paid for this DLC in the previous game’s version.
A godly whack
Instead of just exceptional civilizations, Age of Mythology Retold takes gameplay to another level by allowing players to unleash mythical creatures and deities in combat. From stone giants and terrifying mummies to dragons and cyclops, you can wreak havoc on the battlefield or fly over settlement walls with a dragon, or crush an entire squad with a strategically placed cyclops. Age of Mythology Retold thrives on chaos in a way the original games don’t. It’s incredibly enjoyable to play, and even the behavior of mythical creatures is full of character. What sets it apart is that you can’t simply summon divine power to win instantly. Using your otherworldly abilities requires careful thought, and misusing them can lead to defeat in battle. Mythology demands strategy, and making the wrong move could cost you the game.
1. One important thing to note is that it usually requires numerous attempts and adjustments before you can effectively perform these actions. A key difference between Mythology and Age of Empires lies in the necessity for constant aggression, which remains unchanged from earlier versions. If you don’t promptly construct a substantial army and set up outposts when a campaign begins, you’ll likely spend an excessive amount of time fighting off invasions by enemy forces that already have established villages and powerful armies. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible to succeed, but the minimal focus on strategically organizing your units and constructing defenses often results in battles within Mythology Retold resembling classic RTS tropes, where combat boils down to throwing all forces into a chaotic melee to see who emerges victorious.
Creative license
In story-based Age of Empires campaigns, you won’t find the historical foundation present in mainline games. This makes sense since these stories are rooted in mythology. However, they compensate for the lack of a traditional structure by providing a gritty underdog vibe as you guide a band of warriors on their quest to win divine favor and establish their place in the world. These campaigns offer more than just “construct this, destroy that” missions; they include challenges like navigating challenging terrain or completing tasks to please the gods, adding unique elements to each gameplay experience. This variety not only distinguishes each civilization but also makes gameplay more enjoyable overall.
Campaigns also frequently make little sense, though. I picked the Atlantean campaign first, a story of Atlantis’ survivors struggling to rebuild a life for themselves 10 years after their city vanished beneath the waves. For reasons, World’s End shoehorns a Kronos story in that imitates Disney’s Hercules film, where the Titan of Time tries to unleash his brethren to wreak havoc on the world. It’s odd and has few ties to Atlantis, but coherent narrative is hardly the reason to play an Age of Empires game.
If you’ve dabbled in Age of Mythology before, this might ring a bell. The new version, Mythology Retold, has some eye-catching visual upgrades and conveniences that make gameplay smoother. However, if you’re a more casual player, these changes might slip under your radar. Mostly, it’s about fine-tuning the balance and tweaking units, which appear to be geared towards Player versus Player (PvP) interactions. It’s tricky to spot the differences in action or appreciate them within the controlled environment of a campaign.
Age of Mythology Retold is fun, don’t get me wrong. The visual overhaul alone is enough to make playing this 22-year-old game easier, and the quality-of-life improvements sand down some of the older versions’ more annoying edges. However, with more substantial structural improvements in later Age of Empires games, plus with the likes of Ara: History Untold just around the corner, I’m just not sure Retold needed to exist.
For this assessment, I was given a digital version of Age of Mythology: Retold, which is currently accessible in its early release phase for PC and Xbox Series X|S users who bought the deluxe edition. However, it will be open to all players on September 4, 2024.
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2024-08-27 17:28