Age of Empires IV

[Dark Drakan]

It's been a long time coming but finally Microsoft have confirmed that AoEIV is happening and it will be developed by Relic (Company of Heroes & Dawn of War).

No word yet on release date, but it's great for RTS fans (like myself) to know it's coming. Microsoft has several other projects in the works within the franchise that will please long time fans too.

Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is a remaster of the first title in the series, and it's coming very soon. You'll be able to play the overhauled version on October 19, exactly 20 years after the original release. In addition, Microsoft announced today that it's also working on definitive editions of both Age of Empires II and III.

 

[Lain]

I am curious to try these games out.

Would you recommend going for a Definitive Edition of one of the older games, or just waiting for AoE IV to come out?

 

[Dark Drakan]

I am curious to try these games out.

Would you recommend going for a Definitive Edition of one of the older games, or just waiting for AoE IV to come out?

I would probably wait for the AoEII definitive addition as a starting point. I have the original and the HD version but would go for second one and the definitive edition if I hadn't played any. I haven't actually played the first game (AoE) and AOEII was always regarded as the pinnacle of the series by many.

Though might be nice to start at beginning & get AoE definitive edition merely as it's out soon to get a feel for series but AoEII is an RTS masterpiece and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get into RTS games and I hope AoEIV uses it as its inspiration and cuts out some of the unnecessary 'bloat' from AoEIII.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Age of Empires 4 releases 28th October 2021

New gameplay trailer that came with the announcement during Xbox's E3 conference also its coming to Game Pass.

 

[Dark Drakan]

The Age Of Empires 4 Closed Beta Is Live

A little late on posting the news for this one but the current closed beta is due to run from August 5th to August 16th, with invitations extended to select members of the Age Insiders program.

The content playable for beta testers includes the tutorial mission, as well as regular matches for up to eight AI or human players. Insiders will be able to play in a number of maps, each with various size and biome options, while four of the eventual eight launch civilizations will be playable--Mongol, English, Delhi Sultanate, and Chinese.

If you do want to check out Age of Empires IV ahead of its release on October 28 this year, you can still sign up to the Insiders program to get a look in on upcoming beta tests, with testing happening across both the Microsoft Store and Steam.​

 

[Dark Drakan]

Managed to put a couple of hours into this and it rekindled my teenage excitement of playing AoE II and although it plays it very safe for an Age of Empires title released in this day and age it hits the right nostalgia buttons with some really good quality of life improvements from AoE II. Rare at the moment for a game to match my expectations at release but if they support it well like they have with AoE II then I can see me playing it for some time. Also a masterstroke putting it on Game Pass on Day 1 as its sold really well on Steam (breaking series concurrent player records on the platform) and thats not even counting the Game Pass numbers.