Age of Mythology Retold (PC)
If you remember the good old days of 2002, and were a fan of real-time strategy games, chances are you played Age of Mythology, a classic RTS from Ensemble Studios.
Fast forward 22 years, and it’s back with Age of Mythology Retold, a remaster that slaps on a fresh coat of paint – using the graphics engine from Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition – and it does an excellent job for anyone feeling nostalgic for those RTS days of old.
Featuring gods, monsters and humans, Age of Mythology Retold concentrates on Greek, Norse and Egyptian mythology, with the main quest seeing involves Atlantean admiral Arkantos hunting for a traitorous cyclops who is working with Poseidon, the god of the sea.
Classical spin on a classic series
Drawing from all three mythologies, AOE Retold sees players gather resources like meat, gold, and wood and use them to expand their small settlements, creating cities and large economies, armies and build structures that help you advance through the four ages: the Archaic, the classical, the heroic and finally, the mythic in your quest to become the dominant civilisation. As you make your way across the map, the “fog of war” lifts, revealing more and more of the surrounding environment
Each civilisation bestows the player with major and minor gods – each god granting each civilisation mythic units such as minotaurs, mummies and trolls, unique technologies and a god power – a special ability that can either be used to benefit the player or cause damage to the enemy. The main campaign is quite deep, with each quest feel like an epic journey through ancient myths, and there’s nothing quite like being able to call upon the powers of the gods (which, thankfully, are rechargeable) to smite your enemies with lightening or a powerful earthquake.
At its core, you’ll be battling other civilizations with hero units and mythical creatures (such as Pegasus the flying horse), which adds a little flair to battles. While the game will gently ease you into the mechanics if you’re new to the genre, as things progress you’ll need to keep an eye on advancing troops and invasions on multiple fronts as you battle to not leave your settlement unprotected from invading forces.
Age of Mythology and the Kitchen Sink
As with the original, the game uses the classic rock-paper-scissors mechanics, forcing you to think strategically about which units to pit against your enemies – or their rampaging minotaurs! One moment you’ll be fending off invading kraken sent from Atlantis and pirates, the next you’ll be assaulting the city of Troy.
Visually, Age of Mythology Retold brings a significant visual overhaul to the graphics, with environments that are more detailed than its predecessors and character animations that are much smoother but modern technology brings its own challenges and I felt that the more cartoonish look of the units didn’t have the same impact and dare I say it charm as the visuals in the original game.
I also felt that at times the voice acting, especially in the early parts of the game from some of the heroes, was just a little stilted and a little over the top. I know Greek heroes like Arkantos were brave soldiers but I didn’t expect him to sound like Hollywood actor auditioning for an ’80 action flick.
I would never say I was an excellent RTS player – having to juggle multiple units while fending off several simultaneous enemy attacks would often overwhelm me – but I have fond memories of playing the original Age of Mythology in an age when PCs came in one colour (biege), were likely powered by a Pentium CPUs and your PC s RAM was less than what you’ll find on the average graphics card these days.
With enough campaigns to keep the most ardant RTS player busy for some time, plus skirmish and multiplayer modes, Age of Mythology Retold successfully modernises a beloved real-time strategy classic, making it accessible and enjoyable for a new breed of real-time strategists.
