Age of Mythology: Retold Review – UNLEASH THE TITANS!

Alrighty, ladies and gentlemen. More than 20 years after its original release, we now have one of the most celebrated RTS games of all time, lovingly recreated for a modern audience… and no, I’m not talking about diversity quotas. Nothing but retro bliss here. Although, what is this remake all about? And what are some of the major changes going on here? Well, let’s have a gander.

Classic Mechanics with a Godly Twist

Just like all the other ‘Age of’ titles out there, the main gameplay formula involves building up your Greek, Egyptian, Norse or Atlantean civilisation and taking over any rising societies that dare to grow alongside you. This is all while balancing food, gold, wood, population growth and favour (god power points, essentially) in order to train units, construct buildings and unleash godly powers. It’s a pretty straightforward concept, but one that’s packed with an immense amount of depth and strategy to get a leg up over your opponents.

In single-player Skirmish or Multiplayer (the ‘kick-off’ of Age of Mythology: Retold), each encounter normally starts off quite slow and steady, as players build up their resources and facilities on a randomised map. However, they all eventually must make a major decision, sooner or later: does one begin assaulting other civilisations, slowing its own development? Or focus more on advancing their infrastructure? Especially with the new Age of Wonder system in Retold; anyone who progresses to level V gets access to cheaper god powers and can build shrines which automatically conquer the battlefield in 10 minutes, unless they’re destroyed. Exodia would be proud.

Speaking of overpowered monsters; a variety of minor gods can be called upon to join the fray, alongside big, giga-get-wrecked Titans from the titular 2003 expansion when certain circumstances are met, utterly curb-stomping anything in their path. And the chaos looks absolutely stunning in this new remake of Age of Mythology. For instance, buildings don’t just get engulfed in more and more flames as they burn, they instead crumble into dust while slick particle effects and debris fly around like a dazzling demolition. They look so glorious, and it’s somehow even easier to make out what’s happening than the original. “It just works” as Todd Howard once famously said.

Content, Customisation and Cross-Play

In terms of main content, players have access to 3 different campaign paths with fifty, 30-40 minute scenarios to overcome. From fighting through the walls of Troy, to battling giants in the frozen wastes of Midgard, there’s a heap of challenging content to keep players invested in Age of Mythology: Retold. This is not including the two planned DLCs that will introduce two new pantheons and possibly even more single-player content to power through in the future.

Several units and buildings now have different names and stats from the original too, whereas god powers like the lightning storm and meteor are indefinitely rechargeable throughout a game. One of the new additions to Age of Mythology: Retold are the major and minor gods. You select a major god to start which acts as your traditional team/civilisation. Then, as you spend resources to ‘age up’, you can select one of two unique ‘minor gods’ – each with their own unique god powers, mythical units and specialised upgrades. Do you want to focus on infantry or cavalry? Early offence or late-game dominance? Similar to AoE4’s new Landmark system, this really emphasises the S in RTS and adds even more replayability.

Other handy features like auto-queue allow your buildings to continue creating new units (so long as you’ve got the resources), which frees up more of your time to focus on the action. Another is allowing newly constructed Town Centres to auto-produce those valuable villagers, keeping the momentum of your games flowing. Did I also mention that the game fully supports cross-play between PC and Xbox Series S|X? And includes in-built mod support from day one? Yeah, baby! We weren’t able to test out the cross-play features during the review window, but it’s safe to assume it’ll be A-okay after launch.

Features For Newer Players

Age of Mythology: Retold boasts a number of features to welcome new players into the genre. One of which is the Villager Priority System, where players can change villager distribution at the click of a button to automatically collect food, wood and gold at whatever rate they desire. This can be especially useful in the heat of battle, as villagers can gather the resources you need, when you need them (heat of battle = I need more food, defensive = everyone on stone and gold). Alongside a host of other accessibility features like unit outlines, per-player colours, narration, adjustable difficulties and more, Retold has arguably made this genre more approachable than ever before.

These features are a great step in the right direction to help onboard newer players to not just Age of Mythology, but the entire RTS genre as a whole, which has always struggled to garner a newer player base due to its notoriously high barrier of entry. Experienced players however will still have the upper hand, as the game greatly rewards those who take the time to learn its many units and matchups.

That being said, my only real issue with the game is its pathing. There would be multiples instances during a game where a unit would just randomly walk into a wall, or get stuck on a bit of geometry and peace out. Not particularly fun when things hit the fan. It’s not the worst aspect ever, but something that can really damper the experience when it keeps on happening.

Decision

Age of Mythology: Retold is an awesome remake of a classic RTS, staying true to its roots with a bunch of modern enhancements. The core gameplay of building and managing civilizations, using god powers and strategic decision-making remains intact, while new features like the Age of Wonder and Villager Priority System enhance and make the gameplay much more accessible. Even though the game supports full cross-play and in-built modding capabilities from day one, it suffers from consistent pathing issues that can dampen the experience somewhat. After all’s said and done, it’s a nostalgic yet refreshing experience for both old and new players alike.

By Anthony Culinas & Chavez Opetaia – Reviewed on PC

Great

With a great foundation throughout, Age of Mythology: Retold has successfully revamped an early 2000s gem for today’s audience. It’s never been easier to jump into an RTS, nor completely customise this game to Retold’s extent. The Age of Wonder adds another layer of strategy into the mix, and the graphics have been beautifully recreated in 4K. It’s a pity that the unit pathing can be off sometimes, but it doesn’t drastically mar the experience.

This game was reviewed using a download code provided by Microsoft. The Beta Network uses affiliate partnerships, however, this does not influence reviews or any other content published. The Beta Network may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links that are on the website.