Age of Empires 4 is arriving in the wake of years of change for real-time strategy games. Helmed by Relic Entertainment, one of the few developers still wholly dedicated to RTS games, AoE 4 could see the series truly catch up to this genre advancement, and the recent Age of Empires Fan Preview gave fans their best look at the game yet.
It's been more than 15 years since Age of Empires 3, and in that time, the real-time strategy genre has grown by leaps and bounds. It's become far more accessible and streamlined, with series like StarCraft, Company of Heroes, and Total War all pushing the genre forward. Even the rise of MOBAs and mobile gaming drastically changed the face of RTS games.
Age of Empires 4 looks primed to modernize the beloved formula established by AoE 2. Screen Rant got an early look at AoE 4 in the Fan Preview presentation, along with a Q&A with core of its development team.
Age Of Empires 4 Is Clearly Inspired By AoE 2
To this day, AoE 2 is one of the most influential RTS games of all time and still the fan-favorite of the series. Age of Empires 4 is returning to that game's medieval setting, breaking off from the colonial themes of Age of Empires 3. Its campaigns are also doubling down on actual history, rather than bringing fictional characters into a historical setting.
On top of that, AoE 4 seems traditional in of RTS resource gathering, but it adds some much-needed changes. New features like ambush mechanics and the ability to place troops on walls help Age of Empires 4 feel more modern, even if the overall formula is inherently "Age of Empires."
"We knew we wanted to make a modern version of Age, but we also knew we wanted to make a game that felt like Age of Empires and [would] be immediately relatable to the core community," said Game Director Quinn Duffy in a Q&A. To this end, Relic and World's Edge (AoE's managing development studio under Microsoft) put together a "Community Counsel" of Age fans, helping ensure the game sticks to that vision. Relic wanted to create a spiritual successor to Age of Empires 2, according to Duffy, as it was a formative game for many of the team.
How Age Of Empires 4 Updates The AoE 2 Formula
The core of any RTS game is its factions, and Relic is attempting to make each Age of Empires 4 civilization feel unique. According to Duffy, this means each civilization has its own mechanics to master.
"The biggest difference for me is how asymmetrical our civs are. The different mechanics that the civs have, whether it's different units or the age-up mechanics [or] the special bonuses they get for city-building."
Modernizing Age of Empires also means updating the way it tells history. The franchise has always reveled in history, but its representations haven't always been correct or respectful, like with AoE 3's problematic Native American civilization portrayals, later changed in Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition. Relic emphasized multiple times that Age of Empires 4 is a "celebration" of history, and one of the big changes to accomplish this comes via the linguistics - and overall soundscape - of each civilization.
"Each civ has its own musical theme that grows as you age-up, and all your units are speaking period-appropriate languages that grow as you age-up," said Narrative Lead Phillippe Boulle. Different languages were lacking in previous Age games, as units on different civs would spout the same voice lines. With eight civilizations at launch, the AoE 4 roster's smaller size has let Relic focus on properly representing each one and making it unique.
golden illuminated manuscripts of past civilizations, and of the development team traveled to real-life locations to help get references. When players construct buildings in Age of Empires 4, they'll also be outlined in gold.
Even with just a handful of trailers and gameplay footage, Age of Empires 4 looks to be filled with great attention to detail like this. If the game continues on its current path, AoE 4 could be something special for fans and newcomers alike.
Age of Empires 4 launches on PC in 2021.
