Microsoft Announces Age of Empires IV, Developed by Relic Entertainment

[Raevenlord]

I remember Age of Empires II fondly; it was my first PC game, really. The intro sequence of chess really served to put my young mind racing towards ideas of military movements and countermovements, and led me towards devouring historical romances accompanying the exploits of Alexander the Great (Valerio Massimo Manfredi's novels), and Hannibal Barca (I'm partial to Ross Leckie in this one). Now, Microsoft has announced yet another installment in this PC-exclusive series, after Age of Empires III's somewhat lukewarm reception. Age of Empires IV is coming for all of your medieval RTS needs.





Since Microsoft has since dismantled Age of Empires historical developers Ensemble Studios (while finishing development on the first Halo Wars, no less), the helm of the series is now being taken by Relic Entertainment (of Warhammer 40,000K: Dawn of War and Company of Heroes fame), in partnership with Microsoft Studios. In an announcement on its website, Relic wrote that "[We] couldn't be more proud to be a part of the legacy, (...) We can't wait to tap into our strengths as a studio to fuse historical context with deep strategic gameplay, and to bring this franchise back to the forefront of gaming and into the hands of its beloved community." And this is not all: in addition to the previously announced Definitive Edition of Age of Empires I, which will be out in the wild come October 19th, Microsoft also announced Definitive Editions of Age of Empires 2 and 3. Fest your eyes on the trailers below.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[niko084]

I'll have to keep an eye on this one, I didn't much care for 3 but enjoyed the others. Always need another RTS and Bliz isn't getting onto Warcraft 4 anytime soon...

 

[_JP_]

Not enough gold.

 

[Raevenlord]

Not enough gold.

robin hood
robin hood
robin hood

I also wonder how do you turn this on?

 

[Red_Machine]

Part of me is incredibly happy that they are calling it "Age of Empires IV" and and not "Age of Empires". I hate franchise resets with a passion.

 

[Ubersonic]

Part of me is incredibly happy that they are calling it "Age of Empires IV" and and not "Age of Empires". I hate franchise resets with a passion.

Hey they could have called it any of the following:

John Age of Empires (Rambo style)
Age of Empires Balboa (Rocky style)
Age of Empires 4.0 (Die Hard style)
Age of Empires Endgame (Highlander style)

 

[RejZoR]

The game basically lost it's mojo after second one... I wonder if this one will be any different. The only one in 3D that I did absolutely love was Age of Mythology. Probably best Age of X game after original two games...

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

error for the 2nd video.

I really dont like game trailers without some actual game play.

 

[Liviu Cojocaru]

Great news, I can't wait to see how this will be

 

[jagjitnatt]

The best version was actually Age of Empires: Rise of Rome. The original lacked convenient features, and I could never get into AOE 2. AOE 3 was ok, but guns and cannons is NOT AOE.

They should stick to historical stuff but I think AOE 4 would be about the world wars or present day wars, which I might not enjoy a lot. It could also be somewhat like Rise of Rome, where we began in the nomadic age and moved to nuclear era in the end.

I still play AOE ROR with friend on LAN. It is massive fun, especially because the resources are scarce, and it is a challenge to manage resources like gold and stone. AOE 2 had too much resources, you could make mistakes and still survive.

 

[dozenfury]

error for the 2nd video.

I really dont like game trailers without some actual game play.

Agreed there. CGI trailers don't tell us much of anything about the game, and it's easy to have a CGI trailer and the game ends up looking like a low-budget Greenlight game.

I'm cautiously optimistic though. Age of Empires is too big of an IP for Microsoft to have it not be fairly decent. I've always liked some other RTS like Civ more, but it will still be worth checking out.

Probably the biggest announcement so far at Gamescom. Granted it's not E3, but I've been expecting a bit more than the minor bread crumbs revealed so far.

 

[ZoneDymo]

Damn it Relic, go fix Dawn of War 3 untill its something worth exciting gawd.

 

[Fx]

I'll have to keep an eye on this one, I didn't much care for 3 but enjoyed the others. Always need another RTS and Bliz isn't getting onto Warcraft 4 anytime soon...

I can't think of any greater news that I would be ecstatic to receive than the announcement of a WC4. That would embody the very definition of epic.

This is still pretty big news though and I'll be keeping a close eye on the user reviews whether to buy it or not.

 

[VSG]

error for the 2nd video.

I really dont like game trailers without some actual game play.

Fixed the 2nd video.

 

[B-Real]

I can't think of any greater news that I would be ecstatic to receive than the announcement of a WC4. That would embody the very definition of epic.

I wouldn't be surprised after an AoE announcement, Blizzard would announce War4 in a year.

 

[ZeppMan217]

Windows Store exclusive.
Following THQ's bankruptcy in 2013, Relic ended up in Sega's hands. Their 2 latest games, Company of Heroes 2 and Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 3, were met with heavy criticism, mostly in regards to gameplay.

 

[Chaitanya]

eagerly waiting for new one, played AOE 1 and 2 back in school days. One of the first games I played on LAN with other friends.

 

[Luke51087]

For old times sake

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Fixed the 2nd video.

The 2nd video is much better, shows game play. Hope there is great AI with "enhanced setting and features".

 

[xkm1948]

Loved AoE1 and AoE3. However I never had a chance to play AoE2. By the time AoE2 rolled out I was still using an old crappy 486.

 

[Darksoviet]

RTS is too difficult in recent years , I hope AOE4 can be more friendly for Light Player.

 

[Frick]

RTS is too difficult in recent years , I hope AOE4 can be more friendly for Light Player.

Whut. Granted, the only modern RTS I've played is Starcraft 2, which definitely is not nearly as hard as the RTSes of ages past.

And don't forget they made Homeworld and Impossible Creatures.

 

[efikkan]

RTS is too difficult in recent years , I hope AOE4 can be more friendly for Light Player.

RTS games have fallen into the trap of micro management, which makes them no longer about strategy, but rather who can bash the mouse the quickest and use a predetermined recipe. All the great franchises went down this path, including C&C, Warcraft/Starcraft, AoE/AoM etc.

AoE peaked at AoE II, but unfortunately the new HD edition screwed up the game.

 

[Melvis]

Its cool that there doing another one but the graphics dont look any better then AGE 3

 

[Parn]

Hope this isn't going to be a W10 exclusive.