- An enormous and fully mobile installment of the Age of Empires series
- Combining classic RTS style with newfangled, casual management
- There is a lot to take in and a noticeable emphasis on online
Whether you’re interested in history, gaming, or both, you’ve probably encountered Age of Empires at some point in your life. This is no surprise, as it is one of the longest-running real-time strategy series that is still busy. It combines the two best things: quick strategic thinking and historical fiction.
In Age of Empires, Mobile Ensemble Studios focused more on fiction, which is a good choice for a video game. It’s a 3D real-time strategy game combined with management, city building, and even gacha elements. Let’s see how Age of Empires plans fit into the newfangled era of mobile and tablet games.
What is Age of Empires Mobile?
Age of Empires has always mixed and matched lore whenever it wanted to tell a up-to-date story or recreate historical events. In the case of Age of Empires Mobile, the plot seems to be heading in a different direction. It tells the story of Josephine, the Steel Rose, who fights to regain her throne after her people are driven from the kingdom.
It all begins with Josephine recruiting, leading, and fighting alongside the nation against the Ottoman Empire that is spreading across the country. He gains a robust symbol of hope after retrieving the Holy Sword and using it to unite the people. From this point on, he must build his fortress and camp to gain enough strength to regain what was lost.
State of the Age of Empires on your mobile phone
When a series decides to create a mobile entry, there are many things to consider, and the most significant decision is what will stay and what will be removed. In the case of Age of Empires Mobile, it seems that the developers have made every effort to retain all the elements that make the series great.
There’s still this huge sense of grandeur that no matter who your heroes are, you’re always striving for something. Whether it’s reclaiming an venerable kingdom, expanding into up-to-date territory, or simply trying to bring the best to society, you always have another significant thing to work on. All elements interpenetrate each other, but you can decide what to focus on.
Your focus can go many places. You’ll start in the early Middle Ages and want to progress further in history. You don’t want to look at flimsy wooden boxes behind which you rule, you want a castle on top of a mountain if you like the isolated villain style.
This means you’ll be working demanding to gather resources, build up-to-date facilities, and train your villagers to keep the wheels of your society running. From there, you can spend the collected money on expansions, exploring the surrounding lands, upgrades, or expanding your army. There are plenty of opportunities to fight, but a successful campaign relies on a robust base that will require your strategic attention.
Are the battles as stimulating as they should be?
When it comes to battle, tap and drag controls work well. Each hero has room for a certain number of soldiers and is treated as a single unit for convenience. This makes it easier to exploit simplified combat and determine which weapons are more effective against others. Island battles are even more streamlined because they exploit a closed grid battle system, and at first you only have to worry about positioning your units. Strategy is still required, but you don’t have to constantly worry about moving entire armies when someone steps out of line.
Then comes visualization and presentation. The game combines the striking up-to-date 3D graphics used by many hero-driven games to showcase their complicated characters while retaining the retro charm of Age of Empires. You can see this for yourself during some of the cutscenes where the characters look like low-poly paper dolls as they act out medieval dramas, but it works. Since most fights take place at a distance, you won’t notice most of the time, but you’ll still be able to clearly tell what’s going on.
Rough Rising for Age of Empires Mobile
The Age of Empires mobile game has a lot to offer and it is clear that a lot of work was put into creating a mobile version that still fits into the series. However, there is a risk of falling into an obvious trap as you continue to develop: doing too much.
There are so many elements, mechanics, and rules thrown at you in the first 20 minutes that it’s demanding to keep track of them all. There are still some questions about basic things like building an army or adding more heroes to your squad, but the game already encourages you to join an alliance, ask for aid, and then give aid in return.
It’s true that Age of Empires has always had an online element, but this may turn out to be the most online installment of the series yet. This isn’t a bad thing, but when most of the features are available online, you’re left with less when you just want to jump in and play.
There are missions and tasks to complete, but if you hit a snag that requires grinding or passive resource gathering, you’ll have to turn to the internet for greater rewards. Depending on how functional it is, it could be a huge boon to the experience. If not, you’re left with an empire of features that can cause your game to freeze and crash.
A up-to-date era of empires on mobile devices
Age of Empires Mobile is an evolving installment of the Age of Empires series created specifically for mobile platforms. It has all the look and feel of the other entries, while adding enough to make it newfangled and more accessible to the casual gamer.
You may be putting too much into the pot at first because it looks like you’ll be relying heavily on online access, but that’s just the beginning. All empires rise and fall, but in this age, being able to build them in your pocket will hopefully aid them grow faster and fall slower.
FAQs
What is the Age of Empires Mobile game about?
The Age of Empires Mobile game follows the story of Josephine, the Steel Rose, as she fights to regain her throne after her people are driven from the kingdom.
Are the battles in Age of Empires Mobile engaging?
Yes, the battles in Age of Empires Mobile are engaging, with tap and drag controls that work well and streamlined combat mechanics.
Is there a noticeable emphasis on online features in Age of Empires Mobile?
Yes, there is a noticeable emphasis on online features in Age of Empires Mobile, which may be the most online installment of the series yet.
Credit: herosweb.com
