Quick Look: Age of Empires IV

Finally. The release of this game took ages!

I'll see myself out. Thanks.

"Sacking with sheeps" - I think Kevin Costner is available.

I'll see myself out. Thanks.

how do you turn this on

This detached documentary style of depicting historical events is an interesting approach. As a very casual AoE player (I only play campaigns) I quite liked the dramatized character stories of AoE2. That said, if the monks go wololo, I'm in.

This looks really good. I still love watching Starcraft and Starcraft 2, so its nice to see a new RTS with a (relatively) high budget compared to most of the genre.

I was already looking forward to this, but the presentation has made me really want to drop everything and get into it at my first opportunity. I've played AoE2 Definitive within the last year or two, and it felt just clunky enough by modern standards that I didn't stick with it. It'll be interesting to see just how much this has been made a 2021 game, and what an RTS of this profile looks like in 2021.

I wonder how deep each campaign goes. There was a sizable year gap between missions in that English campaign, I wonder if it gets all the way to the English Civil Wars. My family's history was dramatically altered by the third one, so I love when anything touches on it.

Just here being enough of an absolute nerd to know that the Yam was the mongol pony express.

I like how the age-up stuff seems to all be unique to the civ you're playing. One of my complaints about previous games has often been that civs felt real similar, because most of the differences were just stats, this gives me hope that by cutting the majority of them, it allows them to make each one that much more unique.

I will miss the connected campaign stories, but the documentary cutscenes seem really well presented.

oh Hastings

like the battle, yes

Is it just me, or does the game not look that great?

It kind of has the vibe of the graphics being changed for the worse in order to make the game easier to read in multiplayer.

Make a documentary about the documentaries in AOE4. You know this is the way.

It's one of those NBA 2k or madden things in that more of the same with minor changes works over drastic new stuff. Diehards will buy it for the small updates and more of the same, new people will buy it every few iterations and be surprised yet not overwhelmed, everyone comes out with average people seeing it and saying this looks like last game...dismisses it then moves on. In actuality, it's more of an if it ain't broke, situation, and the game is generally received well.

Please try to get more than one person on the quick looks. Solo QL's are pretty dull.

Age of Empires is a weird series, where it's main competitors are the previous games. Especially when the Definitive Editions of AOE2 and AOE3 are still pretty fresh. Some of these people have been playing these games for decades, to have a shiny new version of that can easily last them another decade. But there's a new one out already! Will those people be curious enough to walk away from their dreamgame to give this fancy modern one a try, when the nostalgic 2D look might be unbeatable to this group?

On one hand, you want the new one to be familiar, but it's also the first game in the series that is truly untethered from the past. That's exciting!

To see it be so unambitious in trying to move the series forwards is a bit dissapointing to me. Those beloved old games are still there. They received modern new versions a few years ago. That audience will be hard to shake loose i imagine. Why not offer something slightly more different so this can truly plant it's flag as the RTS for the modern age? It almost reminds me of the constant 'Rock is dead' / 'That new thing that's popular, that's not rock!' discussions. If you've have been into Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy and Guns N Roses for decades, you're probably not going to jive with newer rock acts no matter what. So why not create a fresh new sound instead that takes cues from all sorts of musical ideas that have popped up in the decades since?

Should the levels of Fog of War still work like they did in the 90's? Should we still be thinking about producing individual units from production buildings? Should combat still mostly be about rightclicking the enemy and hoping your army composition is better than the opponent? Should it's scope remain focused on creating small settlements with the aim to produce a powerful army? Is citybuilding a taboo? Diplomacy? Random Events? Choices? VIP quests in your cities? Religion? Upgrading buildings and units? Cultural influence? Spies?

Not saying that this series has to take nods from Crusaders Kings or Civilization type experiences, there's definitly room for a battle-focused 20 to 50 min RTS-experience against a direct opponent. I just wish the first completely modern one of these would stand out more and come up with more fresh ideas. Especially in it's campaign, which can deviate from the balance that you want from a multiplayer game. You could do a 'They are Billions'-esque scenario where you're overwhelmed by enemies.

@onemanarmyy: I'd argue that the fans of these games aren't looking for the no offense but the usual critic response of NEW INNOVATE > Aint broke approach. Critics usually want new and innovative since they play so many games and are looking for that next big thing and don't wanna waste time playing something like something they already played. BUT, Refining a working system beats throwing the dish out each time to give the customer a new flavor. Fans didn't like and buy their attempts of new over same. For games like this it's best not to jump on too many new ideas. They added some new stuff you gain later on, from what I heard in the ign review. It just works like what I assume many BR, Shooters, or better yet sports games work by. Your sequel cant be such a drastic departure that you get say power stone 1 vs 2, more halo 1 vs halo 2 i suppose, but people aren't looking for something like leaps seen in Banjo Kazooie nuts and bolts vs banjo tooie. I see it as how good a game being built on can be (bioshock 2 dlc) due to time and finally getting a chance to go wild with ideas instead of building everything from scratch, vs (totally new bioshock infinite) and needing to reinvest your audience and prove the systems work etc. In this case I think age was smart for keeping it simple (similar). I see it as how good a game being built on can be (bioshock 2 dlc) due to time and finally getting a chance to go wild with ideas instead of building everything from scratch, vs (totally new Bioshock infinite) and needing to reinvest your audience and prove the systems work etc. In this case, I think age was smart for keeping it simple (similar).

TLDR Fans seem to want more of the same and the safe approach seems on purpose and not just to save money and cut corners on ever trying to deliver something game changing. Sometimes the other approach works but playing it safe like a sports game (refining over complete overhauls) was in its favor it seems.

@topcyclist: But here's the thing. AOE2 was the big hit in '99. Fans of that game either still play the original or they play the AOE2 definitive edition that released 2 years ago. There was even a small sized Esports scene around that game. They already have decided that that's their RTS. Just like i prefer playing the ancient Zeus:Master of Olympus over the new Nebuchadnezzar. Dungeon Keeper 2 over War for the Overworld.

Now there's a truly new entry in the franchise after over a decade. But it's 3d like the less popular AOE3. It requires the oldtimers to have a fairly modern PC. I just don't know if AOE4 is interesting enough to pull these people away from their beloved game and buy in on this new one. While the non-AOE crowd looks at this and is like 'yup.. another one of those' and passes on it too. I just feel the return of AOE after 16 years should be a more impactful release than this seems to be from a glance.

Sports games are completely different because those players live from season to season and want to see updated rosters and have the online component be relevant to what happens in real life (ooh, this player is in great form, so he gets a better card!). Normal sequels also don't have 16 years between them to the point where the new game is now actively competing against two editions of an ancient game that your target audience is still in love with.

@onemanarmyy: Ok gottcha. I spoke out without that knowledge about the bigger history of fans for this franchise. Way different than what I was thinking and I agree. My take works more on a different type of game entirely. Well see how sales do then.

This seems like an awesome mix of AoE2 and AoM and I'm so here for it. AoM would've probably had just as much staying power as AoE2 if they never introduced the Titans or the multiple-use god powers with the expansion.

@onemanarmyy: Different strokes for different folks I guess. I'm looking forward to this and I would be glad if Firefly had have taken the route of "old game but new graphics" with the Stronghold series. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see innovation, too (in particular, a deeper economic game in both Stronghold and Age of Empires) but these particular franchises are enough of a niche within a niche that a do-over of the older games is kind of the only thing that'll keep them going outside of an indie dev with nostalgia trying their hand at the same type of game.

Although I guess with AoE they already did AoE2 HD and definitive so disregard what I just wrote lol. Game still looks neat, though.

Edit: This documentary stuff is awesome. Kid me would've loved this since AoE2 was what got me interested in history

I tweeted about this but I would like to post here as well. I am loving the fact Danny is bringing some European gaming angle to GiantBomb. I'm very hyped and hopeful that we will see more strategy and western RPG coverage going forward. (Not that they were not covered before, but it makes a difference when the person is into those genres)

They say the 90s are back. Good.

@dijidiji: Yeah i don't disagree with you. It makes sense for such a niche product to cater to it's core userbase and make something that's very close to those older games, especially on a fairly small budget. But at the same time, a game like this will always stay niche if it doesn't stray from the path a bit more. Total War made some big swings with Warhammer and saw a boost in success. This was AOE's first chance in 16 years to move things forward, with the definitive editions as fairly fresh options for the players that just want to play their beloved old game with a modern update.

I guess i should just assume that the market conditions don't line up with what i want from AOE4 and should rather hope for an indie to sprout some new ideas to move the genre forwards.

@topcyclist: AOE is not exactly a yearly franchise with minimal updates though.

@onemanarmyy: I am hoping that if this new game does well, maybe Microsoft will commit to a new one that can attempt something more innovative (or at least more evolutionary). This game gives me heavy vibes of Microsoft coming to Relic with a contract that says "make us a new Age of Empires 2".

I doubt it will ever happen but I would love if AoE becomes the RTS that I dreamed of where there's a more in-depth economic game and decreased emphasis on micro. This would probably not go over well with the hardcore AoE2 crowd, though. I just find it somewhat annoying that we are still handling singular units and manually telling our cavalry to flank.

... What I basically want is a big-ass, modernised Rise of Nations where groups of units have a modicum of intelligence so that I don't have to micro them as much and can handle battles on multiple fronts simultaneously.

Age of Empires and Limp Bizkit are back. It truly is the 90s again.

@timcredible: yes I came here to say this - gotta have 2 minimum, the banter is why quicklooks are so fun!!

So glad to see a QL of this game by Danny. AoE2 was my jam back in the day. I can’t wait to play it!