- Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios , Xbox Game Studios
- Release Date: Oct 28, 2021
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Feb 23, 2022Age of Empires 4 is based on a solid foundation created way back during the last millennium, but it suffers from a plethora of annoying little flaws and drawbacks. Some of them will be fixed with patches and maybe future DLCs, if we’re lucky, but even then, it’s a far cry from the stellar Age of Empires 2.
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Edge MagazineDec 2, 2021It's a quality RTS, then - though a few irritations sour the experience. [Issue#366, p.114]
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Nov 19, 2021I’ve enjoyed my time with Age of Empires 4 quite a bit, and I’d recommend it to any Age fan. But I wouldn’t do so without a few important caveats. Age of Empires 4 may finally be available after 16 years, but it hasn't arrived just yet. There are still resources to gather and troops to assemble.
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Nov 8, 2021Age of Empires IV is a satisfying game, but its more innovative ideas are overshadowed by a gameplay formula that rarely deviates from the revered legacy of Age of Empires II. Dated graphics, annoying AI, and a thin selection of content holds Age of Empires IV back from establishing an RTS kingdom that can stand the test of time, but thrilling campaigns, a passion for history, and factions that feel truly distinct from one another makes for satisfying RTS comfort feud.
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Oct 27, 2021A highly competent but disappointingly unambitious real-time strategy that fails to move either the genre or the Age Of Empires franchise forward.
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Oct 25, 2021It’s certainly a competently-designed RTS. Thanks to unique units, buildings and technologies, playing around with each civilisation is fun and offers a different experience each time. Unfortunately, with it feeling so similar to Age of Empires 2 but with many stripped down features, it’s extremely difficult for me to recommend spending £50 on this when you can grab Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition for £15. Maybe it will be better after some updates, but right now it’s just reminding me of better games.
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Oct 25, 2021Age of Empires IV is a worthy return of an iconic series, but is difficult to recommend over older remastered entries. Newer players, and some returning ones, may find use of its new gameplay features but will probably end up scrapping them as they grow more experienced.
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Game World Navigator MagazineDec 15, 2021Basically, it’s an Age of Empires II remake. Why would Microsoft remake a game that was re-released as recently as 2019? That’s beyond us. [Issue#257, p.58]
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Oct 25, 2021I understand that Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios would have been worried about Age of Empires III-style backlash, but they’ve gone too far to avoid it this time...Considering many casual RTS fans see Age of Empires as one of the stalwarts of the genre, and would return to play the game just for its fourth release, to see a new riff on the franchise’s 1999 title will disappoint many. I have the highest of hopes for the title — AOE II is, of course, a testament to how strong the series can be — but Microsoft has a lot of work to do to make Age of Empires IV its own beast.
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Nov 11, 2021Both longtime RTS fans and Age of Empires vets will find things to love here, a comfy if well-worn tactician’s armchair to slip into, spiffed up, and with a few shining surprises stuffed down the sides. But it all comes at such a premium, and with campaigns geared so heavily as tutorials for the multiplayer, it’s hard to wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone not already invested.
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Oct 27, 2021Age of Empires 4 is a safe new entry in the classic series. It is both nicer and bigger than before, but at the same time characterized by an extremely familiar feeling. The various playable civilizations are the triumph of the game, but the inherited problems from the rts genre as a whole do create some irritation.
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Oct 25, 2021Age of Empires IV is fundamentally a true AoE game, but sadly, it's very little else. There are no bold chances taken here, no great additions or revolutionary changes. And that, after so many years, is disappointing.
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Oct 25, 2021While there is nothing especially groundbreaking about Age of Empires 4's formula, it should manage to scratch a very particular nostalgic itch for fans and offer a starting point for beginners to begin their own journey through history.
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| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
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Dec 17, 2021History repeats itself with a joyful, educational flourish in Age of Empires 4, a game of sweet simplicity and bottomless depth. [Eurogamer Recommended]
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Oct 25, 2021I think this game is accessible and easy to learn, but it’s also got a lot of depth for real-time strategy veterans. I hope it does well because I want to see more RTS games hit the market. But this one could keep fans busy for a long time, as far as I can tell right now.
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Oct 25, 2021In the 16 years since the last “new” Age of Empires game, video games have changed a lot, and in Age of Empires 4, Relic manages to cater to modern players without losing the soul of the series. The game revives and renovates Age of Empires’ fantastic multiplayer not through fundamental changes, but through clever adjustments to old systems. These minor updates may bristle longtime Age of Empires 2 fans, but they’re a welcome and important addition to the series, making AoE 4 feel like the first big-budget modern RTS since Starcraft 2. [Polygon Recommends]
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Oct 25, 2021I don't feel very strongly about Age Of Empires. That might sound damning, but I'm someone with no particular stake in the series, perhaps even slightly biased against it. Yet I've never wanted to stop playing AoE 4 all week. It might not be a huge step forward, but it's a sure step in a genre whose comeback is long overdue, and it doesn’t appear to have ambitions beyond that. I'd like to see more clear innovation, I'd love an active pause and speed controls in single player at least, and a pull towards macromanagement, and a heap of smaller tweaks that may well come in time anyway. Fundamentally, the best I can say is that I enjoyed it more the better I got, I got steadily better the more I played, and I don't see myself stopping any time soon.
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Oct 25, 2021Age of Empires IV is content being a familiar and affable RTS companion, but it's not a complacent one. It's not making the kind of flashy, noisy challenge to convention that Relic made with the Homeworld, Dawn of War, and Company of Heroes games. It very consciously returns to an old genre formula, but finds enough places to add new touches and twists that it feels less conservative than its forerunners did. Perhaps more importantly, this kind of RTS went from being the default to being a rarity, and in that context it's become easier to appreciate its craft and to concede that our parents and normie nemeses may have been onto something.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 339 out of 473
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Mixed: 58 out of 473
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Negative: 76 out of 473
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Oct 29, 2021Nice way of telling how the battles of history changes the way that we live, good gameplay, it could improve on graphics
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May 3, 2022
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Oct 30, 2021