Age of Empires: Definitive Edition

[h1][b] TLDR: Hard to recommend when the entire game already exists in a better form inside AoE2. Dated unit pathing, a clunky UI, and a tiny population cap make the original feel every bit its age. [/b] [/h1] [h1]PROS: [/h1] ➕Lots of campaign missions/good amount of single-player content ➕Graphics/animations are good, despite its age [h1]CONS: [/h1] ➖Clunky/dated UI is missing basic features, like edge scrolling speed ➖Units constantly get stuck on terrain and each other ➖[b]No point in AoE1 when the entire game exists as a DLC in AoE2 (Return of Rome) with engine enhancements and QoL upgrades[/b] ➖50 population limit is very small [h1] [b] Content (Game world/Narrative) – [4/10] [/b] [/h1] The game world consists of very similar, often repetitive terrain that is generally either grassy areas, desert, or water. I played a few campaigns with a few different civilizations and despite being in different regions, they all looked the same. There is exploration to be had, but only to uncover the map, there aren't any secrets that I found. There isn’t a narrative focus, it’s mostly contained games that have you obtain goals to completion with a small historical backd…

I played the original Age of Empires for hundreds of hours when I was a kid, so nostalgia was a big reason I bought this Definitive Edition. But I ended up disappointed. The graphics are obviously improved, but almost everything else feels like the same game I played decades ago. Pathfinding, enemy AI and some of the campaign missions could all have benefited from improvements, but the Definitive Edition doesn't seem to address these issues. The enemy AI in particular could have been much better. I would have loved to see enemies apply continuous pressure throughout a match instead of attacking mainly during the early stages and then becoming much less threatening. This is especially frustrating because Age of Empires is the kind of game that should be great for players who enjoy micromanagement and constantly optimizing what their units are doing. However, when pathfinding doesn't work properly and basic strategy-game functions are still missing, it becomes difficult to take the gameplay as seriously as I would like. I don't mind that the developers preserved the original gameplay, but I think there was a lot of room to improve the underlying systems without changing what made …

The enemy and ally forgot cap limit was a thing so there was a whole island of units I had to build my wonder on. Turns out when you build nothing but units you can't fit cargo ships. Great AI.

Nice!

Classic, one of the GOAT's

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