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[IbizaPocholo]

0:00 - An Intro to Age of Empires
4:20 - Chapter One: Going Back
8:40 - Chapter Two: Finding the Line
10:38 - Chapter Three: Visual Fidelity
13:05 - Chapter Four: Sound & Voice
15:45 - Chapter Five: The Xbox Version
25:09 - Chapter Six: Return of the RTS
28:04 - CREDITS

The video game series “Age of Empires” has experienced a renaissance in recent years with the release of remasters and a new game, all of which have been well-received by fans, the media, and the market. The series, known for its exciting balance of city building and real-time strategy, allows players to choose a civilization and engage in battles with different rules on various landmasses. Despite already being available on platforms like Steam, Microsoft chose to remake the first three games in a definitive edition and create a new game, “Age of Empires IV.” The series even has a vibrant esports scene and a devoted online community, with some players using the game as a way to connect during lockdowns. Two executives at Microsoft’s World’s Edge studio discuss the decision to remake the first three games and the series’ resurgence.

 

[Tams]

I'm a massive Age of Empires fan, but:

• It's still very niche, not 'the world' by any means
• The remasters came from a fan mod team - great as a fan mod team, but you can really tell that as full developers they did/do not have the polish of Ensemble Studios. Some of the changes and additions are clearly their personal mores, and the performance is much worse.
• I really didn't get on with Age of Empires IV. The 'cartoony' style was okay and some of the new features good, but redoing AoE II was not what I was after.

AoE's heyday was the time of MSN Gaming Zone.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

I love Age of Empires. Honestly wasn't really aware of these "remasters" or remakes or whatever they are. My daughter and I play AoE and AoE II - I never bothered with AoE III though. I recently picked it up for a few dollars at Goodwill, so I'll have to try it. I saw these version on Steam but figured they were just re-releases with a few bells and whistles. But the first two games already run well on my modern PC for my purposes and they are also very nostalgic for me. I'll try the Definitive Edition of the first game to see if I like what I see or not.

 

[Dick Jones]

AOE II was godlike. I could never get into the others but I loved that. I lost months to that game in the early 00s. Civilization II was another banger, but again couldn't get into the others.

 

[Punished Miku]

Never once tried this series until this year. Played part 2 remastered and actually was loving it. I want to finish it, but not enough hours in the day lately.

Definitely will be trying 4.

 

[Unknown?]

I loved these games back in the day but there are definitely better RTS games. AOE4 doesn't look any better than the old games, unless I'm missing something.

I want a true Rise of Nations sequel.

 

[Rentahamster]

Great video. MS is doing great work with AoE4.

 

[flying_sq]

The remastered are great because the devs consistently add new fun things that would normally be a $1-$5 mtx but you unlock them just by playing the game and they're not super grindy. 2 and more so in 3 have gotten a load of new free stuff via events/challenges. AOE 4 is a Relic RTS, and I was disappointed when I heard they would be making it. I loved the campaign, and would buy additional DLC campaigns if they were at the same quality. Plus the actual DLC they release is pretty well done. IMO I want dlc campaigns for 2,3 and 4.