INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
After more than 13 years in hibernation, the Age of Empires series is coming back for its fourth outing
In August 2017, publisher Microsoft Studios announced that Age of Empires 4 was alive and kicking, and that it was being developed by Relic
Entertainment, the team behind Homeworld and Company of Heroes (which is a hell of a lot of pedigree).It's not been until the tail end of
2019 that we've finally learned more about the game (and even then we'd still love to know more) but we feel like we can finally get excited
about the next instalment in the Age of Empires series
Read on to find out everything we know so far![Update:Age of Empires 4 will have fewer civilisations than Age of Empires 2
Read on to find out more!]Cut to the chaseWhat is it? The latest installment to the historical real-time strategy series Age of Empires.When
can I play it? There's no release window just yet but it'll be late 2019 at the earliestWhat can I play it on? Windows 10 PC is the only
confirmed platform thus farWhat is Age of Empires 4?Age of Empires 4 is the latest instalment to the historical real-time strategy series
spin-offs during that period, including two Nintendo DS titles and the popular Age of Mythology, which took inspiration from myths and
legends rather than history
the other Age of Empires games have been made by Ensemble Studios, which folded in 2009
point development was in its early stages
interview with Stevivor Microsoft's Shannon Loftis and Adam Isgreen said that while the team's "number one priority is to make it work great
with keyboard and mouse" they're still going to "explore our options Once we have a wonderful PC game, then we'll start looking at other
ways that we can show up."That's not a solid commitment to an Xbox release by any means but it makes it at least slightly more possible that
we could see the game come to Microsoft's console further down the line
Check it out below:Age of Empires 4: news and rumorsFewer Civilisations than Age of Empires 2We don't know exactly which civilisations will
appear in Age of Empires 4, nor do we know how many there will be
What we do now know, however, is that there will be fewer than in Age of Empires 2
The news comes from creative director Adam Isgreen, who revealed during an interview with PCGamesN that players "can expect to see fewer
this lower number, it seems that the game's developers are aiming for depth and uniqueness with each one which should make things more
game won't feature microtransactions
Empires 4 may be set in Medieval times but in an interview with GamesRadar, Creative Director, Adam Isgreen, said that he and his team are
players" and really keep the spirit of the series
But given its been 13 years since the last new game in the series a few things have had to be done to bring it into the age of modern gaming
According to Isgreen, they're "doing things that no other RTS game has done before".Nothing has been revealed about the civilisations that
timesAfter missing E3 2019, Age of Empires 4 finally made an appearance at XO19 in November with a brand new gameplay trailer
This trailer confirmed that the game is to be set in the Medieval period and it looks set to be a more detailed and colorful game world than
we've ever seen from the strategy series
We don't know which civilisations will appear in the game just yet, though the trailer does at least reveal the Mongols and the English
everything went somewhat quiet
Those who were hoping to see some kind of update during Microsoft's E3 press conferences for 2018 and 2019 were left disappointed too
However, shortly after E3 2019 in an interview with PC Gamer Phil Spencer confirmed that the game is still making progress and that more
game isn't yet known but there's another Gamescom conference still to come, which would be the ideal place for Microsoft to make an update
given the game was first announced there
trailer, you can glimpse Native Americans, British Redcoats, Romans and Japanese samurai
campaign, so expect a story that plays out over an extended timeline
So, there will be the usual 4X fare (explore, expand, exploit and exterminate)
most three clicks away and, generally, if you hover over a button you can find out what it does
But going back to it now, it looks a bit old fashioned, with a large box covering most of the bottom section of the screen, and can be
overwhelming at first glance.If the series is going to attract new players (and the more the merrier) then the UI needs to be sleek and
Age of Empires Online, another spin-off, might perhaps be a good guide: that game had much less on screen at any one time, allowing you to
see more of the battlefield
Smaller, contextual menus that only appear when you click on certain elements would work well.Revamped unit tacticsThe Age of Empires games
do boast military tactics, and the positioning and stances of your units can turn a battle
But largely, fights are won by the biggest army, and they are over quickly
You start with a town hall and build out from there, never really expanding beyond a single settlement
Rise of Nations, also published by Microsoft, could be a good yard stick for how the game should expand; in that game you could build
multiple cities and combine them into large territories.If you apply that to Age of Empires then you get multiple hubs of production: one
town could focus on food production, and transport the finished product to another nearby town, which is itself churning out military units
Planning out the structure of your empire, rather than just a single city, would add another layer to the game.WDQvknnc7fbRgnrcB8Tamd.jpg?#
