Revamped graphics, changes to unit numbers and more
NEED TO KNOW
RELEASE 2024
DEVELOPER Forgotten Empires
PUBLISHER Xbox Game Studios
LINK tinyurl.com/ynz2zv36
The upcoming Age of Mythology: Retold has just shown off its signature mythological monsters in detail, including the terrible Medusas, the flying Pegasus scout, and the titan Cerberus, and I’ve got to say the monsters are dang good looking.
These visually punchy new models are part of the overall effort to make Ageof Mythology:Retolda real upgrade from the original 2002 game, including changes to the models as you upgrade through the ages –though they come complete with a stack of classic sounds and twists on the old animations. The Medusa death sound is just as I remember it.
That’s just what AgeofMythology: Retoldproducer Earnest Yuen had to say when I spoke with him about the remake, which will release this year on PC and Xbox. Yuen has worked at Microsoft for nearly a quarter-century, starting as QA on the first AgeofEmpires –it’s clear that his love for the series runs deep.
“AgeofMythology:Retoldis way beyond what we normally do for definitive editions,” says Yuen. He and the team want to make the game as epic, engaging, and pretty as players remember it, rather than simply updating what was there. “We want to build the game in your head.”
FIRST LOOK
That means using changes to the graphics and game engine that were made for the AgeofEmpiresIIIDefinitive Edition, then going beyond that. The start is “adding ray tracing, upping the population limit, [and] adding an engine to handle special effects,” according to Yuen. Population limit in particular will be a big change for AgeofMythologynot just in how visually impressive it is, but in the fundamentals of how it plays. Strategies in AoMwere often boxed in by the strict limits on units set by the limitations of the day’s graphical tech –even if it was widely praised at the time.
ANOTHER BIG TWEAK COMES IN HOW MUCH CONTROL YOU HAVE OVER YOUR MYTH UNITS
Another big tweak
