Almost a decade in the past, I took crucial determination of my gaming life. With my first wage, I went forward and acquired myself a console as an alternative of investing in a brand-new PC. And I haven’t actually regarded again since. I obtained to play just about all of the video games I wished to… save for one explicit style.
I cherished enjoying Actual Time Technique (RTS) video games. I’ve spent numerous hours enjoying Command and Conquer, Warcraft (earlier than it turned an MMORPG), Empire Earth, StarCraft and naturally, Age of Empires. Nevertheless, as soon as I made the swap to consoles, I needed to ditch the style as an entire. It’s not like there have been no console RTS video games on consoles. It’s simply that I didn’t discover the controller to be pretty much as good as an enter as in comparison with a mouse and keyboard.
Effectively, now we’ve one of many best RTS video games of all time making its solution to the ring. Age of Empires 2: Definitive Editon was launched for PC again in 2019, and now the sport is obtainable for console. Can one of many most-loved RTS titles of all time succeed on the Xbox? Let’s discover out by first answering the largest query you’ll have.
Desk of Contents
The controls
That is the large one. Can you actually play Age of Empires 2: Definitive Version utilizing a controller? Sure, you may! By some miracle, the builders of the sport, Forgotten Empires, have managed to make the sport playable on a controller. That is probably the primary time I’ve managed to play an RTS recreation on a controller with out feeling the necessity to chuck the controller straight by way of my TV.
What Forgotten Empires did was sheer genius. It fully overhauled the Age of Empires UI. The previous toolbar that confirmed the unit particulars, the map and the instructions is gone. Now instructions are contextual and issued by way of the analogue stick by way of a range wheel. Widespread shortcuts are assigned to the D-Pad. I may spend fairly a little bit of time explaining the nuances of the controls, however within the curiosity of time, let’s transfer on.
The brand new controls can look very convoluted at first look, however the controls are straightforward to get the dangle of as soon as you know the way every little thing works. As such, the tutorial marketing campaign of Willam Wallace is now a should. Even when you’ve performed the sport on the PC earlier than. The addition of the ‘Artwork of Battle’ challenges may even assist veteran gamers.
Whereas all that is good, it isn’t with out its drawbacks. The controller isn’t as exact as a mouse, so selecting particular person items in a bunch may be troublesome. The cursor additionally snaps to the closest unit, which sounds useful, however when in a crowd, it might probably get irritating to decide on explicit items. This may be turned off in Settings, however it’s nonetheless fairly annoying.
Then, somebody at Forgotten Empires had the brilliant concept of mapping the ‘A’ button as the choice and the transfer command. So each time I choose a unit and attempt to transfer it shut to a different unit or a constructing, I generally find yourself choosing the opposite unit as an alternative.
One other challenge is you could’t merely click on on the map and leap to a location. You’d have the scroll all the best way there. Which means it’s very straightforward to overlook occasions akin to sneak assaults when you’re within the midst of a battle or assaults on far-off villagers/commerce carts.
Not solely that however chat, diplomacy and the tech tree are relegated to the primary menu. This makes it annoying to ship/obtain tribute and even entry the tech tree to quickie get a look at your civilization’s strengths and weaknesses.
Graphics
The graphics of Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edtion are on par with the PC model. When you’ve performed the sport earlier than, you then would really feel proper at dwelling. The general design of the items and buildings stays the identical. With the Definitive Version, every little thing will get a brand new lick of paint within the type of larger resolutions and higher environmental results akin to fog and water.
Probably the most notable distinction in Age of Empires 2: Definitive Version is the addition of higher destruction physics. Within the authentic, if you destroyed a constructing, it will instantly develop into a pile of rubble. Now, the buildings collapse with the ‘POWER OF PHYSICS!!’ Every brick or construction collapses very realistically. That is finest seen on bigger buildings akin to castles or wonders.
Gameplay
The general gameplay mechanics of Age of Empires stays the identical. The rock>scissors>paper>rock system with cavalry>archers>infanry>cavalry. In fact, then there are some items that change issues round, however the concept stays the identical. When you’ve performed Age of Empires earlier than, you’ll know what the deal is whereas new performs ought to get the dangle of issues shortly.
In fact, this wouldn’t be an Age of Empires recreation with out a number of civilisations to select from. The sport gives customers the selection of European, African, East Asian, South Asian and American civilizations. Every civilization has one or two distinctive items and applied sciences in addition to distinctive bonuses. Discovering the fitting civilization that matches your playstyle and the map is the enjoyable half.
We additionally see the choice of auto-scout on the primary scout unit gamers get at the beginning of the sport. Whereas this can be a very useful choice for brand spanking new gamers, the AI isn’t that nice in terms of this characteristic. I additionally famous that unit pathfinding typically was problematic with items generally taking an extended solution to attain a location as an alternative of heading immediately in the direction of it.
As talked about above, the controller simply isn’t as exact as a mouse. As such, the velocity at which you play is slowed down fairly significantly. This may be fairly a difficulty when enjoying on larger problem ranges and even in multiplayer as micromanaging turns into extraordinarily troublesome. And anybody who has performed an RTS recreation is aware of that micromanaging is vital. Nevertheless, gamers can join a mouse and keyboard to their Xbox and use that to play the sport. The sport will detect the identical and alter controls to match it. I might say that when you plan to play the sport in multiplayer, it is best to positively use a keyboard and mouse. That is very true for the reason that builders word that the sport is cross-play suitable with the Xbox PC app and Steam. As if that wasn’t sufficient, you even have the choice of enjoying co-op campaigns with a good friend.
Effectively, at the very least the cheats nonetheless work…
Verdict
Age of Empires 2: Definitive Editon for Xbox is a good way to play this traditional recreation in your sofa. It’s just about the identical recreation and love and is probably the most effective RTS I’ve performed on a console. This largely boils right down to the truth that the controls have been tweaked so nicely for the console. That being mentioned, it’s nonetheless not so good as a keyboard and mouse combo. That being mentioned, when you plan on scratching that nostalgia or RTS itch, then Age of Empires 2: Definitive Version on Xbox is a good choice. Particularly when you plan on taking the sport good and sluggish.
Nevertheless, if you wish to play multiplayer or on larger problem ranges, then the restrictions of the controller will develop into fairly evident. For such gamers, the choice to make use of a keyboard and mouse is kind of useful. General, it’s the identical recreation and love, however on the console.
Ranking: 4 / 5
Professionals:
- Effectively tweaked for the controller
- Tried and examined gameplay
- Plenty of civilizations to select from
- Choice to make use of keyboard and mouse
Cons:
- Limitations of the controller are evident at occasions
- Unit pathfinding may be wonky
Extra information
Developer: Forgotten Empires
Writer: Xbox Sport Studios
Platforms: Xbox Collection X/S, Xbox One and PC
Reviewed on: Xbox Collection X
