Age of Mythology Retold Review – A Fantasy Brought Back

If I'm being honest, I can't remember much about the original Age of Mythology. I remember thinking it was a great game, but I've not played that twenty-two-year-old game in about five years, and even then, it was only a quick jump in. Playing Age of Mythology Retold has left me wondering a few things, such as "Was the campaign this long when it launched?", "why haven't they allowed for WASD movement of the camera?" "Will I ever play the online PVP mode?" and "What time is it?"

The answers to these questions were, in order, "Yes", "No", "No", and "For Zeus' sake, it's 2 am". That is to say that I did spend a lot of time getting absorbed into Age of Mythology Retold, as I do any good strategy game. Now, after we've had definitive editions of Age of Empires, Age of Empires II and Age of Empires III, with a brand new entry in Age of Empires IV, how does a move to antiquity and fantasy stand?

It's good. Let's get that right out of the way. Like the original, Age of Mythology Retold is good. It's hard to ruin what is sprucing up the old model, fixing glaring issues, doing all the cosmetics, and sending it out for one last show. Though this isn't a classic car show, this is a classic video game show, so the question will be what spruces have been made, and how will this impact the player?

Cosmetically, this has been improved in every way I can think of. The models are much higher quality, and the animations certainly feel like they have been improved. Environmentally, this gorgeous game makes the most of the fantastical settings - taking you from Atlantis to the depths of the underworld, Mount Olympus, Scandinavia, and more. Everything from the units you control, the buildings you build, and even the berries you harvest have retained the "mythology" feel but are close enough to a modern look that you won't have any complaints.

This is especially true when you cast god powers, which have great effects and stand out. Even more so, unlike in the original, these god powers are not limited to being one-shot. Before we cover more on the gameplay, stick to the cosmetics. The UI has also been improved, both minimalised and modernised. It doesn't take up as much of the screen but displays everything you need to see, and you can even see something as simple as the minimap improved by better use of colours.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that Age of Mythology Retold also has a multitude of options when it comes to accessibility. Are you colourblind? No issues; let's start changing things. You can also add text narration, increase the contrast of things on the minimap, preview colours for building placement, a narrator for menus and in-game, text-to-speech, and speech-to-text. I'm a firm believer in being as inclusive and accessible as humanly possible, and it's always fantastic to see such a range of options in any title, never mind a strategy title, which is always going to be more complicated than your general action adventure.

On the gameplay side, the developers (there are too many to list) have made a few improvements, tweaks, and additions. Not all of the additions are things I use, but the core is the villager priority system. Rather than directing your villagers onto specific resources, you can have the AI direct them based on pre-set ratios of food, wood and gold (though, oddly, this misses out on the fourth resource in favour). You can also custom-set the percentages and allow the AI to build farms. It could be a helpful system, but the few times I used it, my villagers put themselves in harm's way.

The other core change I did use is the allowance of god powers to be used more than once - which is also why the cap on favour has been lifted. The more you use a power, the more it costs, but we all know that having Zeus blast down your enemy is always worth allocating some villagers to pray at the temple. Linking into your link to the gods is the brand new wonder age; once you have built your wonder, god powers become cheaper, letting you create even more havoc on the battlefield.

These three things are just that, three, but they are wide-reaching. While I don't use the villager priority system, it must be a godsend for those who would rather focus on combat and not have to micromanage. Pun intended. Reusable god powers and the new wonder era add a new level to a great strategy game.

If I have any issues with Age of Mythology Retold, I've encountered a few bugs here and there. It's nothing game-breaking, but sometimes it's just irritating. One is where the cursor will lock on one of the sub-cursors (as I call them); instead of a simple pointer, it will be stuck on the icon to build something, or it will be stuck on the attack icon.

That is all I can say. The base was a great strategy game, and this keeps that base. A few new features have been added: one, which I don't use, but I can see the use, and two, which gives it a step up. Add to this vastly improved visuals, effects, and a much cleaner UI, and you have a game that I would recommend anybody pick up and play.

Copy provided by the publisher.

8

WCCFTECH RATING

Age of Mythology Retold

Age of Mythology Retold brings back a classic with new - great - visuals, a new UI, and a few new gameplay features. While it does, for the most part, feel more like a remaster, there's still an incredible amount to love here, and the few new features the army of developers have added bring a whole new level to the game.

Pros

• Much improved visuals, and UI, bringing it into the modern age.
• Additional gameplay changes, such as unlimited god powers, adds a whole new dimension to the game.
• Still has great gameplay.
• Massive campaign from the original is still present, and in full form.

Cons

• Has a few bugs here and there.
• Not much beyond the few gameplay changes to justify a "retelling" rather than simple reskin.

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