Excited about Age of Empires IV? Here’s everything you need to know.
Source: Microsoft
Microsoft’s return to beloved PC gaming titles includes Age of Empires IV, a revival of one of the best real-time strategy (RTS) series ever produced. While the first two Age of Empires games have been remade and re-released as Definitive Editions (with Age of Empires III undergoing the same treatment), Age of Empires IV promises a new look at the RTS formula while still holding true to its roots. Here’s everything you need to know.
What is Age of Empires IV?
Playing the games involves micro- and macro-management of workers and military units belonging to historic civilizations. You must grow a small starting population, collect resources, advance through the ages, and defend against invaders while also planning your own attacks. You can enjoy lengthy campaigns, skirmishes against AI, or multiplayer battles while alone or teamed up with friends. The games are relatively easy to pick up, but the best players employ in-depth strategies to get a slight edge on the competition.
Age of Empires IV is a revival of the series that hopes to capture the old magic while offering something new to veterans and newcomers alike. It appears to be a return to medieval times instead of another step forward in human history. Until its release, many RTS fans are returning to Age of Empires thanks to celebrated Definitive Edition remasters that bring updated graphics, reworked mechanics, and overhauled campaigns.
An RTS for the ages
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
A lot of game for the asking price
Who is developing Age of Empires IV?
Source: Microsoft
Thankfully, an internal development studio at Microsoft called “World’s Edge” — lead by Shannon Loftis — has been overseeing new Age content, including remasters of the first three games with help from third-party developers like Tantalus, Wicked Witch, and Forgotten Empires. In an interview with Windows Central’s Matt Brown, Loftis clarified that Age of Empires no longer belongs to one studio:
Age isn’t ours anymore. We’re stewards, it belongs to the community, and it belongs to the globe,” said Loftis. “There’s no world in which a Redmond-centric game development studio is going to get the right global set of voices in. […] We have contracts; you know about three of our partners, Relic, Tantalus, and Forgotten Empires. We have others that we’re not talking about yet. But it is truly a global development team. All the teams are working together to share assets, to share ideas, the legacy teams are working with Relic.
[W]e’ve learned so much with all of the launches. It’s been a real growing experience, but it’s unfair to say that it’s one way. There are things that we’ve learned in the development of Age of Empires IV that we can even put into Age II. For example, the network technology behind the scenes is actually from Relic. All of the Definitive Edition games are now going to have Relic’s modern networking backend. […] It’s this great two-way conversation between the old games and the new one, about what we’re going to share, and how we’re going to grow the games.
What is gameplay like in Age of Empires IV?
Everything in that trailer is real; everything we show will be in the final game. We have wall combat working. That falcon is real, that’s gameplay, it’s a scout unit. But all that’s real, genuine gameplay and nothing we will show won’t be in the game. […] That is why we waited so long, and what we’ll continue doing with Age going forward.
Moving on to the countryside, a falcon flies high, revealing the invading Mongols. We know it will work as a scout, which is an integral part of all Age of Empires games that feature a fog-of-war mechanic to keep enemies hidden. We can see cavalry, infantry, and siege on the field of battle, and there are some interesting tidbits to note. Infantry is seemingly rallied by a lone figure, which might suggest some sort of leader or captain system. Archers seem to be able to set up temporary defensive structures, and elevation will no doubt still play a significant role in combat mechanics.
Source: Microsoft
Graphics are a bit of a departure, and at first, they seemed a bit cartoonish. However, if you consider how much saturation is usually applied to Age of Empires pre-release content, this should prove to be a beautiful game, and saturation level will be an in-game setting. It seems like it will be a good balance between visibility and realism, and there’s plenty of detail for buildings and units alike.
Pathfinding, an RTS game’s chief concern, has been overhauled. Instead of the traditional move from point A to point B in the shortest way possible, Age of Empires IV should introduce far more realistic movement. Adam Isgreen explains:
[I]f [you] know real-time strategy games, behind the scenes it’s been run by a find path solution called A* for a billion years, pretty much since its invention, with a few exceptions here and there. One of our big changes is moving to a more organic, more modern solution for find-path, which is called flow-field.
Source: Microsoft
The faithful minimap also makes a return in the bottom-right corner, and there are some unit grouping icons along the left side of the monitor. Overall the UI seems reasonably straightforward, though this could all change during development. All previous Age of Empires games have employed a population cap, but it’s unclear what will be the max in the new game.
Does Age of Empires IV have a campaign?
Source: Microsoft
[W]e went to Mongolia, learned about Mongols. We didn’t go to a professor here in London, or someone back in the States. We went to the source to learn how those cultures operated, because respecting them and doing them justice is so important.
Who is composing the Age of Empires IV soundtrack?
Music in Age of Empires games has traditionally been epic, and many long-time fans of the series can hum the different tracks without any thought. Age of Empires looks to continue this tradition, bringing on composer Mikolai Stroinski to handle the music. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Stroinski composed the music for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Will you need a powerful PC to run Age of Empires IV?
There are not yet definitive specs for PC requirements, but Age of Empires IV is being developed with inclusivity in mind. A new engine that doesn’t rely heavily on a single processor core will immediately make an enormous difference. Even those with beefy PC hardware can sometimes see Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition chug along because of the old engine. The ultimate goal is to create a game that can be played the same on a relatively low-end laptop or a high-end gaming rig.
Will Age of Empires IV include microtransactions?
No, Age of Empires IV will not include microtransactions. In an interview with PCGamesN, Adam Isgreen explained that expansions and DLC “will be explored” while microtransactions are left off the table.
When is the Age of Empires IV release date?
There’s no set date for an Age of Empires IV release. Those of you itching for a medieval-based RTS can, in the meantime, check out Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. We awarded it a near-perfect score, and we’ve been enjoying it ever since its release in late 2019.
An RTS for the ages
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
A lot of game for the asking price
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