Tiles can influence the buildings around them, for example, a mill surrounded by farms will yield greater production than an endless row of farms on its own. Now, thanks to a new influence system, buildings can no longer be placed in random places if you want them to work to their full potential. “The campaign, which sees players play through moments in history to relive it for themselves like it was the showcase mode of a WWE Game, is a great way to learn the ropes.” The process of building and maintaining your farms are simpler, although in a change from Age of Empires III, villagers once again need to drop-off resources at a specific building, meaning if you’re going to send them across the map on an expedition, you’ll need to make sure they have a chaperone. While the campaign is a great way to get your feet wet, we spent most of our time playing skirmishes, which is where the quality of life improvements can really be felt. These include videos on a group of people using ancient techniques to build a castle in modern day, or the current site of The Battle of Hastings. In a sign of Relic knowing its audience, each mission you complete will unlock additional historical material, including 4K mini-documentaries which are all brilliantly produced. You’re presented with small scenarios and are given fairly clear instructions as to how to finish them, with the whole thing serving as a long, highly produced tutorial. The campaign, which sees players play through moments in history to relive it for themselves like it was the showcase mode of a WWE Game, is a great way to learn the ropes. There wasn’t a single game, even those we won, that we didn’t find ourselves learning something that could have secured victory more easily, or ensured our army was impenetrable. It’s these moments where Age of Empires IV teaches you its harshest lessons. You were so caught up in creating an efficient production line of stone for your upcoming advancement into the next age, that you forgot that even the most basic spearman can pretty easily end the short careers of your villagers, no matter how long you spent building a University.

Then, just as suddenly, that peace is broken by the uniform screams of the enemy as they burst through the weakened southern walls of your castle, and start turning all your hard work into a series of celebratory bonfires. It’s almost peaceful in the early game, maintaining a steady flow of villagers to attend your rapidly growing farmland, hearing the clinks of pickaxes as they chip away at the favourably positioned vein of gold near your town square. We were great fans of working towards building a wonder, a victory condition that requires balancing your economy with an army that can defend the structure once it’s built. Notice: To display this embed please allow the use of Functional Cookies in Cookie Preferences.

Age of empires 4 full version