#Age of empires steam not launching series#

For anyone but history buffs IвЂ™d hesitate to call them вЂњexcitingвЂќ, exactly, but theyвЂ™re well-made and informative. If nothing else, the production values of these documentaries make them feel authentic and real. Missions are interspersed with documentary-style cutscenes, skillfully narrated and with a mix of real video and animation. TheyвЂ™re presented as histories, albeit with some pretty huge artistic liberties. After completing the first two missions of the Norman Conquest, youвЂ™re free to jump into any of the other campaigns. The Norman Conquest of England, the Rise of Moscow, the Hundred YearsвЂ™ War, and the Mongol Invasion. There are four narrative campaigns, each separated into 9 missions. Perhaps the biggest addition is the way it tells its stories. In a genre that typically takes risks to stay current and fresh, Age of Empires IV feels almost ironically safe. But thereвЂ™s also the sense that it knows the genre has moved on in certain areas, but itвЂ™s not willing to risk falling behind by trying to move ahead.ДЄs a result, its hallowed return, while welcome, comes with almost zero innovation.

#Age of empires steam not launching series#

This is a series that knows itself, and thatвЂ™s clear from the get-go. On one hand, thereвЂ™s a self-assuredness and, dare I say, swagger, to the way Age of Empires IV presents itself. ThatвЂ™s actually a difficult question to answer. With Age of Empires IV, the old master has emerged from retirement вЂ“ but is it still the once and future king, or should it have stayed on bed rest? But which, importantly, still used many of the tropes pioneered by EnsembleвЂ™s title.

This year saw the release of Humankind, for example, a game that felt in many ways like a progression for the civilisation sim as a whole. Since the last new Age of Empires game (AoE 3 in 2005), the genre it helped to mould has diversified pretty massively. Sitting back, observing what the younger generations have done with the secrets it once taught. For more than a few years now, Age of Empires has seemed like one of the old masters.