Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition is more vital than ever in 2024

I spent the higher half of my vacation break leaping from one real-time technique recreation to a different: a They Are Billions failed run right here, a Command & Conquer: Red Alert skirmish there. I even dug up my bodily copies of The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth and its sequel from my mother and father’ basement. The liminal house between 2023’s late releases and 2024’s January rush offered the right alternative to zoom out (actually and figuratively) and benefit from the act of telling tiny little individuals the place to go and what to do.

At a sure level, my nostalgia morphed into curiosity. Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition’s Steam information feed has been more lively than these of many more recent releases, and I lastly determined to take a more in-depth look. It seems, developer Forgotten Empires and Xbox Game Studios have been releasing new DLC, updates, patches, challenges, and seasonal aesthetics on an virtually weekly foundation for the reason that remaster’s 2019 launch. This cadence, coupled with the truth that 26,000 individuals had been taking part in the almost 25-year-old RTS on Steam, satisfied me to take a detour. (I performed on Steam, nevertheless it’s additionally accessible by way of Game Pass.) And not solely is Age of Empires 2 nonetheless fairly rattling good — like many, I think about it one of one of the best RTS video games of all time — it feels more vital than ever in 2024.

To begin, there are actually 37 whole campaigns. This rely ignores the dozen discrete historic battles, the tutorial missions revolving round William Wallace, and the eight remastered campaigns from the earlier recreation. (Did I point out Forgotten Empires additionally remastered a lot of the primary Age of Empires and launched it as an growth for the sequel?) If, like me, you favor narrative campaigns and skirmishes in opposition to the AI in RTS video games, then Age of Empires 2 is tantamount to a single-player gold mine.

The player builds an army within the walls of a Fedual-era faction in Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition’s Dynasties of India expansion

While I at all times hesitate to contemplate a breadth of content material a top quality in and of itself, it’s each surreal and inspiring to see this many new missions, cutscenes, and distinctive items in Age of Empires 2 this lengthy after its preliminary launch. Forgotten Empires’ remaster performs like a dream, with a bevy of quality-of-life enhancements (I’m you, farm queues) and enemy AI that truly is aware of the right way to exploit your weaknesses and bait you into weak conditions. Sure, pathfinding is nonetheless an albatross round Age of Empires 2’s neck — chasing one scout midway throughout the map with a complete battalion of cavalry won’t ever be enjoyable — nevertheless it’s a a lot smaller albatross today. I can really maneuver a complete military throughout a river ford with out half of it doubling again to search out one other crossing.

When it involves a recreation that feels this good to play, I’ll take all of the missions I can get. I kicked off this specific stint with one Vlad Dracula (aka Vlad the Impaler) and his marketing campaign to guide the Turks, Magyars, and Slavs in opposition to the Ottoman Empire. Each of the 5 missions in his storyline contain vastly completely different situations. The third, titled “The Breath of the Dragon,” is as difficult because it is thrilling, tasking me with capturing the central Wallachian metropolis of Giurgiu earlier than defending it from assault in each path. Its placement on the banks of the Danube necessitates increase a naval presence and crusing to quite a few small settlements working to provide the principle Ottoman citadel of Darstor. When my Slavic forces lastly entered Darstor, destroyed its fortifications, and demolished its fortress, I virtually needed to step away to catch my breath.

A small army of cavalry approaches the castle at the center of a base in Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition’s Mountain Royals expansion

My return to the 1999 basic begs the query: What about Age of Empires 4, the latest entry in the collection? I’ve been a fan of Relic Entertainment’s sequel since its 2021 launch. That appreciation has solely grown because the staff refines and builds upon an already spectacular basis; I particularly respect 4’s asymmetrical faction design, which makes taking part in the nomadic Mongols, as an illustration, really feel vastly completely different than managing the complicated dynasty system of China. Age of Empires 2’s civilizations, by comparability, really feel a lot more uniform exterior of their distinctive items.

But in its slick mechanics, its beautiful artwork model, its wealth of inventive missions, and its robust content material cadence, Age of Empires 2 stays atop the pedestal it climbed virtually 25 years in the past. I haven’t even touched “The Mountain Royals” or “Return of Rome,” its latest expansions, as of this writing — however I completely plan to quickly. The recreation’s ongoing well being is proof that, given correct time and funding, a staff can revitalize a basic in a medium recognized for its ephemeral works. I booted up Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition on the doorstep of 2024 in order to replay an everlasting basic; I additionally discovered a vibrant trendy recreation.