Age of Empires IV is sure to be one of the biggest games of the year! This series is insanely popular, but with Age of Empires IV, they are trying to make it accessible for new fans as well as long-time ones. With multiple campaigns and a nice blend of what is known to work and some new features too, it is easy to see why this has been such a huge hit already.
How to Download Age of Empires IV
You can download the game from Steam. Click on the Download button that is located below this review.
The Game Review
Let’s start by talking about what you can expect from the campaigns. There are four campaigns Age of Empires IV. The Normans, The Hundred Years War, The Mongol Empire, and The Rise of Moscow are the campaigns on offer. There is a fantastic mix here and each one from a story and setting point of view truly does feel unique.
A huge part of the reason why I got so invested in the new campaigns is the presentation. For the first time in the franchise, it has gone 4K and it looks great! The visual presentation along with the fantastic voice acting works wonders to get you well and truly invested with what is going on.
I think that the gameplay on offer here has a real sense of familiarity about it all. Once again, you are tasked with leading a civilization through the ages. You do this by building cities that start off small and then turn into something epic! You need to manage your resources by trading and finding them yourself, or just flat out taking them from others!
Of course, Age of Empires IV also has a lot of fighting! The battle aspect of this game is what has always appealed to me and I think that with this game, they have really nailed it. Your troops, units, generals and so on that you have at your command all add up to give you many options in regards to how you handle each battle.
The battles are epic and they are made even more epic by the historical figures that can be a part of them – for exampleGenghis Khan and Joan of Arc. This brings me to my next point, the available factions. The game was released with eight different civilizations for you to try and take through the ages.
Having eight civilizations (with more coming later probably via DLC) is more than enough to start things off. The English, the French, the Holy Roman Empire, the Chinese, the Mongols, the Rus, and the Abbasside Dynasty are the civilizations available to you. Resources, locations, units, and so on will different from civilization to civilization as you would expect.
I will admit that mainly I have spent my time here with the campaign so far. However, Age of Empires IV also has a very robust multiplayer offering. You can take part in PvP and PvE games with your friends. Up to seven people can take part in a match so you can have some very epic showdowns here.
While it was not available at launch. They have stated that in early 2022 we can start to use mods with the game! This sounds very exciting and with a community as dedicated as this, we can expect some pretty fun stuff. I would also wager stuff like new campaigns, civilizations, and historical figures could be added throughout 2022 as well.
It is hard to talk about a game like Age of Empires IV after only spending a few weeks with it. I can tell you that it is a very well-made game and I like the way it is easy to get into. I would say that it is far more accessible than Age of Empires III was and so far, it is a better overall game too!
