REVIEW – Released in 2002, Ensemble Studios’ game was reimagined for Xbox Series and PC 22 years later with Forgotten Empires and World’s Edge. It was released in September, but six months later the real-time strategy game was released for PlayStation 5, with Tantalus Media working alongside the two studios mentioned above. For nostalgia seekers, this game will be a great choice.

As the game’s title suggests, mythology will be very much in evidence, with all that that entails.

An era of mythology reimagined

Building societies, acquiring resources, leading armies, all with a lot of modern quality of life enhancements and thus a pretty sophisticated gaming experience is the result. There’s even a new god in the north. There’s nothing to complain about in terms of controls, as everything is handy on a controller (and that’s what we should think about here in general), and they’ve taken the Age of Empires 4 scheme for this (a great idea, by the way). It feels natural, so you don’t have to suffer with a mouse and keyboard on Sony’s console. Plus, they’ve provided multiplayer options, so Arena of the Gods, Skirmish, offers a lot of options and replayability. The storytelling in the original wasn’t complained about either, so Retold doesn’t fall short either, as the backstory has been expanded. Memorable characters, engaging missions, an excellent soundtrack and no complaints about the voice acting. But where are the innovations? There are new scenarios, the balance has been completely rethought so that not only players familiar with the original will enjoy the strategy, but also “newcomers”, and old barriers have been removed.

You can have troops of any size, and there are no limits to mythical troops, as the currency is not limited as it was before. Graphically, AoMR has nothing to be ashamed of. Of course, the gods and mortals interact with each other, and the goal is for one faction to dominate the other. If the Greeks were led to Valhalla, that might work, but the Egyptians are waiting for someone to take charge. Then there’s Atlanteans and the Norse. No matter which faction you choose, each one is unique with its own mythic sub-formations, and you certainly have to play them differently depending on who you choose. In the game, you must balance economic growth, your army, and divine intervention. In the meantime, of course, we develop the technology that improves our society and gives us new abilities. The models are detailed and you can see that the developers have paid attention to detail: even water reflects light, there is a dynamic weather system. So it’s a very strong visual experience and a game that has been given a new era. The fifth era is called The Wonder Age, and the developers have also tinkered with the automation of the villagers, so you don’t have to micromanage them all the time.

The effects of 22 years: nostalgia or real quality?

AoMR is available on the PlayStation Store in the form of a Premium Edition for 50 Euros, which is not so much, because it is not 60 or 70. This more expensive edition also includes the Immortal Pillars add-on, which adds the Chinese Pantheon to the game. But there are bugs. The performance doesn’t seem to be perfect, so it’s not exactly steely. A few times troops get stuck on something or their pathfinding isn’t very strong, and so they wander off, which can be very annoying, especially during combat. And as it becomes quite obvious in the course of the 20 hours or so of playthrough (it can certainly be faster than that…), it can be annoying. There’s not much more to say about the PlayStation 5 version.

The gameplay retains something that made the original stand out from the real time strategy crowd: it could appeal to those who aren’t really into RTSs, and the retold version certainly managed to keep that. The aforementioned automation of the villagers is good for just that, allowing you to focus on the power of the gods, destruction and monsters. The story isn’t as muscular, but it still manages to deliver. It’s a little understandable, though, why we had to wait so long for the PlayStation 5 version. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is likely to be released on Sony’s console sooner than that (although MachineGames and Microsoft have only said it will come in the spring; Indy was released in December on Xbox Series and PC). The game and the genre itself are not blockbusters that should have kept the PlayStation community waiting so long…

The game delivers what you’d expect

Age of Mythology: Retold receives an 8/10 as a game. The PlayStation 5 port isn’t as stellar, but it’s still an 8/10. So the score is understandably an 8/10. Not bad, and it’s nice to see other games from the Xbox family showing up on the PlayStation 5. It’s a bit of a niche game, though, because RTS isn’t a first-person shooter. So it’s not going to be mainstream. But that’s a good thing, because it means you don’t have to worry about a huge casual community.

-V-

Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

Developer: World’s Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media

Style: Strategy

Release: September 2024 4 (XS/PC), March 4, 2025 (PS5)