Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Rome Expansion Arriving May 16

[T0@st]

The Return of Rome campaign is set for a May 16 2023 release date according to a tweet posted by the official Age of Empires account. The latest campaign expansion for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition follows several (almost) yearly DLC drops since the re-mastered strategy game's debut in late 2019 - Lords of the West (January 2021), Dawn of the Dukes (August 2021) and Dynasties of India (April 2022). Last year's India campaign added a significant amount of content, in the form of three new civilizations: the Bengalis, Dravidians, and Gurjaras. Three new campaigns were added to the base game and introduced a trio of new empires: Babur, Rajendra, and Devapala. The entire Indian civilization within the game was renamed to the Hindustanis.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome was first announced, albeit briefly, during a livestream on 25 October 2022, which celebrated the 25th anniversary of the real time strategy game series. Details are scarce about the actual content on offer, but the upcoming campaign is expected to feature all 16 of the original civilizations from the first entry in the franchise (AoE) according to an internal Xbox Games Studios memo.



"Return of Rome" is a possible reference to "The Rise of Rome" expansion for the very first Age of Empires game. The line also alludes to Age of Empires II's tag line "Rome has fallen and the world is up for grabs" on the back of the Age of Kings (1999) packaging. Long term fans of the franchise are getting quite excited about the prospect of this new Rome campaign sharing a lot of historic content with (the original) Age of Empires: Definitive Edition.

23 years ago, a legend was born....

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is here! Enhanced 4K UHD graphics, 35 civilizations, 27 campaigns, and an all-new expansion "The Last Khans"! Join the battle today! Purchase on the Microsoft Store, Steam, or access it through Xbox Gamepass for PC!

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, one of the most beloved strategy games ever made, is available for the first time on Xbox and Xbox Game Pass, featuring brand new mechanics optimized for controllers for both new and seasoned players alike. Enjoy 35 civilizations, 200+ hours of historical campaign gameplay, and 1,000 years of human history from the comfort of your living room.

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[AusWolf]

Shouldn't this be in AoE 1: Definitive Edition?

 

[Selaya]

there's a fucking reason rome wasn't part of the og aok/aoc ...

 

[drohm]

there's a fucking reason rome wasn't part of the og aok/aoc ...

Calm down there, fruitcake...

 

[Regeneration]

AoE 2 single players campaigns are lame.

Quantity instead of quality. 50 nations, 300 missions, but its all the same, without any interesting story or creative goals.

Create 30 knights, 30 archers, 5 priests, and 3 trebuchets OR 5 battering rams and attack the AI base(s).

 

[AusWolf]

Calm down there, fruitcake...

I think the frustration over a historically completely inappropriate civilisation making its presence in the game is understandable (even if the language use isn't).

 

[john_]

Ahh.....Age Of Empires.

You wake up in the Saturday morning, so no university and you think "Let's play 1-2 hours and then go and buy stuff for lunch".
Two hours latter is already evening.

That's Age Of Empires.

 

[Bones]

Ahh.....Age Of Empires.

You wake up in the Saturday morning, so no university and you think "Let's play 1-2 hours and then go and buy stuff for lunch".
Two hours latter is already evening.

That's Age Of Empires.

The same can be said for the Total War series, of which I have the 4-pack version of.

 

[[XC] Oj101]

Welcome to the new woke world where historical accuracy takes a backseat in favour of avoiding any potential offense being caused. Look at AoE3E’s changes from the original AoE3 to see what I mean.

 

[EatingDirt]

Welcome to the new woke world where historical accuracy takes a backseat in favour of avoiding any potential offense being caused. Look at AoE3E’s changes from the original AoE3 to see what I mean.

What a strange unhinged rant.

Most of the changes to AoE3 were actually historically accurate changes. We're on the internet, you can look up these things, which is what I literally just did. You could argue the one change, changing "Colonial Age" to "Commerce Age", wasn't historically accurate for some of the civilizations, but it's more accurate calling it the "Commerce Age" for basically every civ that didn't colonize, and that's the majority of the civilizations now in the game.


As for the actual subject at hand. This basically seems like an AoE1 port DLC. Not sure how I feel about it, or how it'll work with the existing game. If it's some good single player content and works as a separate entity from all the other Civilizations in the game, then great, and that's what I assume they're doing as to not have to balance another 16 civilizations with the existing ones.

 

[PenguinBelly]

A shameless cash grab..