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Before the time when monks wololo’d your units, before the trebuchet rush, before fast-shooting Dodge Vipers, there was a time of gods, heroes, and monsters. A time of myth and legend. At least, in-world chronologically speaking. The original Age of Mythology was a 2002 spin-off to the already massively popular Age of Empires series, coming at the heels of the franchise’s second instalment. It was a golden age for real-time strategy games and we loved it.
While I enjoyed both Warcraft and Starcraft games, it was Age of Empires that dominated our household’s PC (along with HOMM3). AoE2 in particular was something that we all sunk countless hours into. When Age of Mythology arrived on the scene, we were entranced. They added monsters, magic, and all the fun gods and characters I used to read about. The game itself was a modest departure from the formula, with enough recognisable mechanics to play seamlessly, but also enough differences to feel fresh and challenging.
Nowadays, the RTS genre is facing a bit of a resurgence, thanks to many remasters that have begun cropping up. Some have been better than others. Age of Mythology: Retold follows in their footsteps, though it isn’t the first Microsoft (or indeed Ensemble Studios) game to get a face-lift.
Content-wise, it largely matches the Extended Editions version, meaning that there is no Chinese civ from the Tale of the Dragon expansion. That means that factions available in Retold consist of the Greeks, Atlanteans, Norse, and Egyptians. The game uses the Bang Engine, the same one used in the AoE3 Definitive Edition remaster.
The game has everything we’ve come to expect from an RTS game. There is the campaign, with its three main chapters. Then there’s the custom game mode, which includes the option to form a multiplayer lobby. Two wonderful additions come in the form of a scenario editor right out of the box, as well as an in-game mod browser.
With modding so readily available and at our fingertips, we can’t wait to see what the community comes up with in the future. Imagine all the extra campaigns, scenarios, units, and more that will come out as the game progresses.
It plays out similarly to what we’re used to. You start by picking a faction and one major god. Then, the game begins with your Town Center and a few villagers, a scouting unit, several buildings, and possibly a few other additions, based on your civ and god choice. The goal is to build and expand your economy and army, march them across the map and beat your enemies. Of course, that’s easier said than done.
Each civ and god provides a different way to play the game, with bonuses, powers, techs, and units that can shape the way you approach your overall strategy. Your civilization can advance through four ages of progress, starting from Archaic, then Classical, Heroic, and lastly, Mythic Age. At each juncture, you can pick between two minor gods, who then further shape your tech and unit trees.
Your economic strategy relies on expanding your buildings and gathering the game’s main resources – food, wood, gold, and Favor from the gods. Meanwhile, your army is comprised of different units that roughly branch into several categories. For one, we have human, hero, and mythic units, which operate on a rock-paper-scissors counter basis. These then also branch into infantry, cavalry, and ranged units, as well as siege engines and navies.
All this complexity opens the path to different strategies and approaches. If your enemy favours cavalry, build anti-cav spearmen and mythics to counter them. If they attack with bulk archers, form a cavalry regiment to slice them down. The game allows for both reactive and proactive approaches, which is what makes every playthrough so enticing, be that versus AI or while climbing the multiplayer PVP ladder.
Both major and minor gods bring meaningful choices to the table. You’ll have to weigh between unique units, techs, and god powers shaping the way you play. The god powers themselves are once again an interesting take on the genre, able to swing the game with appropriate use. They still require Favor to cast, which they share with the production of mythical units.
Each civilization has a different way of gathering favor. However, in Retold, favor is no longer capped. To balance it out, god powers costs increase with each successive use, so spamming them unnecessarily can put you in a bad position when you really need them.
Those who have played the original campaigns will find a nice trip down memory lane in Age of Mythology: Retold. The missions have been slightly retooled compared to the originals. However, they are still seamless and fun, letting you play through Arkantos’ journey that takes him from Atlantis to Troy, and then all over the ancient world. If you enjoy the narrative side of things, you’ll love the campaign, as it’s still one of the best in the franchise.
Campaign missions progress in a linear fashion. Captured by VideoGamer
A kraken attack threathens Atlantis. Captured by VideoGamer
We set sail from Atlantis, unaware of the journey we’re going on. Captured by VideoGamer
Arkantos meets up with Agememnon at the walls of Troy. Captured by VideoGamer
As a remaster of the original, Retold has received a graphics facelift. This leans more towards the resolution and optimization side of things, as the graphics themselves could’ve used more work. Don’t get me wrong, the game looks great when zoomed out in isometric RTS view. However, any cinematics (during the campaign for instance) that focus on the models up-close are much less flattering. While it’s not a deal-breaker by any means, it does show a bit of a lack of polish in the final product.
On the audio side of things, there is much to like. For one, the music is just as epic as I remember, and the same goes for responses you get from units and buildings. Just hearing “prostagma?” again brought a big smile to my face. However, and I could be misremembering, but I feel like the sound cues are more overwhelming in this new version. Everything gets a sound cue, which is not bad in itself, but they do tend to overlap a bit much when the game becomes chaotic, making it more difficult to pay attention to what’s going on. Of course, this is only subjective and I’m sure that with more experience with this system, we’ll learn to filter out those that aren’t as important.
Age of Mythology: Retold also brings a couple of quality-of-life improvements with mixed results. One is an auto-queue for military units. It does what it says on the tin, and you’ll have to manually turn it off if you feel like it’s overproducing. The other is a villager automation system. In a nutshell, you can select a preset to automate the resources your villagers will focus on, dividing them up at predetermined ratios.
This system is difficult to gauge. On a simple straightforward map, it worked like a charm. Conversely, on a more complex map, it performed horribly, crashing my economy. The villagers would get stuck after building a farm while they all tried to work the same one. They would go to the least efficient resource nodes, or oversaturate certain resources to an absurd degree. Yet there’s a lot of potential there to help you deal with the economy while microing your troops. It just needs to be used sparingly and with an eye for any odd behaviour.
Meanwhile, the devs have done a great job rebalancing the game. There are a few outliers, but nearly everything is viable. As we mentioned, some areas could use a bit more work. For one, Set on the Egyptian side is a bit overpowered currently, thanks to his animal hordes having no counters. On the other end, the whole Atlantean faction feels slightly underpowered, but not by much. A good player can still pilot them to victory. Outside of that, every match feels fair and balanced, which is a far cry from some of the original.
The user interface has also received an update, providing more information than before, all while appearing clearer and easier to read. You can see everything about your civ and how the game is progressing at a glance. I especially liked the clear production and research queues which helped with timing attacks and similar strategies.
Age of Mythology: Retold is a refreshing take on a beloved game. In a landscape where RTS games are few and far between, it scratches that itch and provides a wave of nostalgia for those of us who loved the 2002 original. Retold elevates that game into the modern era, though it hits a few bumps along the road. Still, if you’re a strategy fan, you owe it to yourself to play, if nothing else, then for the campaign alone. I have a feeling it will be another staple for online ladder players, with its many improvements perfectly catering to the competitive crowd. But even by its own merits, Age of Mythology: Retold is a great addition to any strategist’s collection.
Reviewed on PC. Code provided by the publisher.
About the Author
Age of Mythology: Retold
- Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s): Real-time, Strategy
