When it comes to bringing an old game a breath of fresh air, Age of Mythology: Retold not only lives up to its esteemed if underrated pedigree. Released on September 4, 2024, over two decades since Ensemble Studios’ fantastical spinoff to the Age of Empires series made it to shelves, it is setting a new benchmark for how to approach “remakes” properly. Given enough time and attention, it has the potential to surpass the original. You may be forgiven for thinking this as hyperbole or blind praise, for it is well earned.
Its predecessor was notable for being the first in the franchise to jump into 3D in 2002 through the so-called “BANG Engine,” its stylized, colorful aesthetic – taking as much from ancient sources as from Wagner, The Mummy Returns and Ray Harryhausen movies – remaining iconic to this day. Yet while selling over a million copies within the first five months of launch, it was overshadowed by other heavy-hitters from that same year like Relic’s Dawn of War and Blizzard’s Warcraft III. A technical remaster in the form of SkyBox Labs’ Age of Mythology: Extended Edition came out on May 9, 2014, plus a new if poorly-reviewed expansion the following year in Tale of the Dragon (featuring Chinese mythology as playable), though it never quite reached the same heights of popularity as Age of Empires II or even III. This did not prevent a small, yet loyal fanbase from keeping it alive, thanks to its unique gameplay and combination of divine hijinks with the classic RTS formula. Nonetheless, the announcement on October 25, 2022 that Retold was in development had been met with surprise, excitement and more than a little trepidation.
While Tantalus Media, World’s Edge, and Forgotten Empires are no strangers to quality releases (notably seen with the “Definitive Editions” of II and III), there seemed much to be skeptical about regarding this reimagining. The closed beta and stress test held during July 2024had a mixed reception, be it the myriad bugs in gameplay, controversy over the alleged use of AI-generated art (particularly for the deity portraits) despite the developers denying said claims, or concerns over monetization and the post-launch roadmap’s viability. The negative precedent set by remakes like Blizzard’s Warcraft III: Reforged, as well the less-than-stellar launches of other RTS titles such as Relic’s Company of Heroes 3, had led some to question whether the studios involved could really pull it off. How would they do justice to what came before, when there’s been so much disappointment?
After all, there is quite the pedigree to live up to. Age of Mythology – along with its original expansion, The Titans – is set in a world where convention doesn’t always work, the great pantheons of yore are all too real, and mortal realms fight with divine might. The game features four main playable civilizations (the Greeks, Egyptians, Norse and Roman-esque Atlanteans), each with their own distinct mechanics and myriad sub-factions, represented by major deities like Zeus and Isis. All these are topped with mythological creatures with unique abilities, a new resource called “Favor” to access them, collectible “Relics” with game-changing perks, and valiant heroes to counter them for good measure. Aging up, meanwhile, has players choosing between which minor deity to worship, along with new units, technologies and god powers (ranging from economic boosts to devastating earthquakes and meteor showers).With enough resources, you can even summon a mighty Titan to crush enemies with near-impunity.
Age of Mythology: Retold, however, is not a remaster like Extended Edition was, nor is it a remake in the same sense as the Definitive Editions were. This becomes evident upon playing a skirmish or multiplayer match.Unlike previously, in which god powers could only be used once – or as much as four times if playing as the Atlanteans – this time, theycould be used repeatedly at the cost of a recharge time and mounting Favor, making battles more unpredictable. Building expensive wonders after reaching the Mythic Age, meanwhile, unlocks a new “Wonder Age” endgame instead of a conventional victory timer like other Age of Empires entries, granting significant perks like more powerful myth unit bonuses and the ability to summon more than one Titan after a cooldown. Said titular units have been retooled to have passive damage by strolling near enemies and be more viable even on naval-dominant maps from simply being able to walk on water, while also tweaked such that they are better countered with enough preparation. That the god portraits were overhauled from the beta to be more consistent is but the tip of the improvements done.
This extends to how the various civilizations have been overhauled. The Norse, for instance, have been given an altered military tree (with new units and a more generally balanced roster) and an additional sub-faction worshipping the Viking deity of fertility and kingship, Freyr (available for free with the Premium Edition), though still retaining their aggressive “fighting for Favor” mechanic from the original. The Atlanteans, on the other hand, have their Town Centers being Favor-producing replaced with that being passively generated by their Oracle scouts instead. Combined with quality-of-life improvements like improved pathfinding, a very generous camera zoom, and a “Villager Priority” mode that automatically assigns worker units with specific macro-scale tasks and build orders in mind, these make the overall gameplay loop more competitive-friendly while also accentuating what made its forebearer so memorable to begin with. Whether it’s the series’ familiar rock-paper-scissors system meshing well with divine hijinks or the plethora of options available for players to toy with, no single match-up is bound to be the same.
Retold likewise takes a heavily enhanced descendant of the BANG Engine, which was previously used for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, to not only recreate its predecessor’s looks from the ground up, but going the extra mile. Structures and unit models alike have considerable attention to detail on them, be it the sheen on a Greek Hoplite’s armor (as well as how tech upgrades are visible), the individual pieces of clothing on an Egyptian Titan, or in the way buildings physically fall apart when damaged instead of having fire sprites. In addition to the wide variety of randomly generated battlegrounds available, there are new additions with unique challenges, such as a mist-laden Mount Olympus map filled with even more relics to collect and contest over. Topping these all off are crisp sound effects coming offas if they were lifted almost wholesale from 2002, as well as the remastered music conveying the sense of playing an old game the way you remember it rather than as it was. That these added bells and whistles also work on less powerful systems is icing on the cake by comparison.
Instead of being PC-exclusive, it also strives to be playable on consoles like the Xbox Series S/X. At least on the Steam Deck, the developers have succeeded in making it so. The controls are intuitive and do not require much tweaking. While this can be somewhat clunky at first, particularly with how creating control groups and accessing building/recruitment menus take more than a few button presses or thumbstick moves, it’s not long before it becomes almost second-nature. Thanks to a streamlined UI geared toward gamepads – which by extension, would include Xbox controllers – the generous camera zoom, and scalable requirements, there is no functionality sacrificed at all. Though by no means the first to pull this off in recent years, with Halo Wars 2 and Age of Empires IV coming to mind, it is nonetheless impressive right from the onset.
The campaigns, which were at the heart of the original title, are as prominent and attention-grabbing as ever. It notably brings back the classic Fall of the Trident and The New Atlantis – chronicling the tales of Atlantean heroes Arkantos and Kastor respectively – as well as Ensemble’s lesser-known and Nordic-inspired story DLC, The Golden Gift. Much as before, the story is a grand adventure that weaves multiple mythologies at once, from the Trojan War and the search for Osiris’ remains (one of the only Western pop culture works to portray that piece of Egyptian mythology) to Ragnarok and stopping the Titan deity Kronos from escaping Tartarus. Entertaining as the overarching plot is, the myriad scenarios are just as varied (from conventional “destroy X” missions to stealth levels and timed objectives), forcing you to toy around with the tools at hand. That those same setpieces also showcase the game’s competent AI (which could hold its own without relying too much on cheats), have secret little easter eggs for those who explore enough, and various tweaks to throw off long-time veterans, mean that there is much in the way of replayability.
It is also here that one of Retold’s more divisive aspects starts rearingi ts head. While the new voicework is well-implemented for individual unit responses (coming off both recognizable and more natural sounding), the English-language campaign dialogue is another matter. Most characters speak with pronounced accents based on their respective cultures, with characters like the cyclopean villain Gargarens is and the Scandinavian giant King Folstag stealing the spotlight in cutscenes with their dramatic flair. In practice, however, the line delivery can seem a hit-or-miss, at points being somewhat stilted and weaker compared to the more memorable 2002 audio track. It by no means ruins the experience, and the new performances do grow on you, helped along by how Arkantos’ lines were redone between the beta and August 27,2024 “Advanced Access” (coincidentally unlocked for those who bought the Premium Edition) by the original voice actor. Nonetheless, this may still be a sore point for long-time fans.
There are other various hiccups that came with the early launch that mar the overall gameplay. Unlike before, killed units vanish rather quickly instead of leaving rotting corpses on the battlefield. Villager Priority seems too dependent on workers’ proximity to a Town Center, causing resource-gathering tasks to be buggy depending on location. The UI itself, meanwhile, has a habit of flickering for a split-second every time there is an auto-save, which could become noticeable if not distracting given how frequently the latter happens. As much as the AI is generally more challenging, it still tends to struggle on predominantly naval maps and nomad-oriented modes, carried over from Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. Then, there is the way multiplayer, though serviceable even prior to the main launch, comes off clunky and restrictive, whether it’s players stumbling to find those with the same skill-level, being inadvertedly booted out of a match in progress due to server problems, or the peculiar choice to have auto-queuing for military production as an option only if everyone agrees.
At the same time, those blemishes are nowhere near the technical issues and reports of system-crashing bugs that plagued prior Definitive Edition releases. If anything, in contrast to other recent launches over 2023 and 2024, Age of Mythology:Retold has come out swinging smoothly. When everything works as intended, which is more often the case (the overall experience being largely without incident after over 16 hours logged in) those flaws seem to fade into the background like a myth unit’s ability running its course. Even the somewhat questionable decision to have a “Legacy Deity Portrait Pack” – featuring upscaled and polished versions of the 2002 artwork – as separate, paid DLC is compensated by a robust long-term roadmap which, among other details, promises new major gods, a thoroughly reworked Chinese expansion compared to Tale of the Dragon, and a completely new pantheon, possibly Mesopotamian or Mesoamerican in nature. With the developers continually receiving feedback and releasing patches, as well as providing robust modding tools to gamers, it is evident that they are making the effort to be up to that ambitious task.
As it stands, this reimagining of Age of Mythology is already beginning to gain significant traction. Beyond positive reviews from critics, with an 84% average on Metacritic and 83% on Opencritic, it has garnered even greater attention among fans. Within a day of its full release, the game had garnered a “Very Positive” 92% rating, saw a peak of 20,869 active players at once (surpassing Extended Edition’s all-time high of 11,074), and was among the Top 10 sellers on Steam globally. While debate persists over which rendition is superior, that streak cannot simply be ascribed to merely nostalgia or sleek marketing. Whether its long-time RTS fans, competitive multiplayer veterans, or newcomers curious at the sight of Norsemen fighting centaurs on Atlantis, there’s something for everyone.
For a remake of an underrated offshoot, let alone a RTS released long after the genre’s heyday, what Retold has accomplished could not be understated. While it remains to be seen whether the momentum seen within the first weeks could be sustained, and whether it will truly become a classic one day, it has certainly earned its title. At the very least, it’s a welcome reminder that it is possible to stand on the shoulders of giants and do that justice.
