Become Mythic and Devastate Your Enemies in Age of Mythology: Retold

Directly coming from the original creators of the award-winning Age of Empires franchise, Age of Mythology: Retold is going to go far beyond the ordinary limits of human history and move towards a much more mythical period of times when gods, monsters, and humans all collided in grand battles on the regular.

The upcoming Age of Mythology: Retold had an in-depth presentation for the first time during the Microsoft's New Year, New Age livestream, making it the first official reveal of the definitive edition of everyone's favorite Age spinoff series since it got announced back in late 2022.

As the Age of Mythology: Retold release date is scheduled for September 4th 2024 for both Xbox and Windows, we are getting extra hyped up to enjoy the magnificent rise and fall of the different empires included in the title!

Make sure to secure your very own domain, take command over all the mythical monsters you can gather and ask the gods for their powers to assist you on the glorious campaign to crush all of your enemies on the battlefield, because in this review we are going to go through the different aspects and important details that you would need to know before you make even a single step into these times of powerful empires.

An Improved and Reimagined Version of a Beloved Classic

With a fine balance between all the leading elements typical in the beloved Age of Empires series that has been combined with the most modern technology in real-time strategy design and visuals possible, with its revamped graphics, intricate changes to unit stats and a wider array of mythological powers are all set in order to establish Retold as a huge update to the 2002 original RTS game.

With this in mind it would seem that Age of Mythology: Retold is surely going to be an epic and innovative gaming experience for both veteran and new players at the same time. The studios had huge plans on how to best remake the first fully 3D Age of Empires series entry and came to the conclusion that it would require a different kind of work, which then further inspired them to go to new heights in their effort to introduce exciting and new upgraded features to the game.

This is how the Age of Mythology: Retold producer Earnest Yuen described the upcoming remake. Age of Mythology: Retold is way beyond what we normally do for definitive editions," said Yuen. He and the team behind the entry wanted to keep the game’s feel as epic, engaging, and pretty as players remember it, but also expand it greatly rather than simply updating what was available. "We want to build the game in your head," Yuen said.

This all meant that they were able to use the changes to the graphics and game engine made for the Age of Empires 3 Definitive Edition, then move beyond these limits into new frontiers. It all became a reality by adding ray tracing, increasing the population number limit and including lots of special effects.

The producer explained that the population limit in particular is going to be a big change for the Age of Mythology: Retold gameplay not just in its visual appeal, but also in the fundamentals of how it plays as a whole. In the past the number of strategies was very often dropped because of the set limitations of graphical tech back then, but with today’s possibilities the battles would look much more crowded and intense.

Another major change is about the control you would have over your myth units. In the 2002 original they would just use their powers whenever they were out of cooldown, but not anymore. "In Retold what we are doing is we actually make that user-controllable, you can actually micro and use that when you want to," explained Yuen.

Let us now go through some of the other important Age of Mythology: Retold gameplay features and discover how it would all play out!

Discover the Civilizations that you would Gain Rule over

First things first, you would need to know which are the empires you would wish to choose, develop, and rule over. This of course comes with specific aesthetics, units, and powers to acquire in order to successfully manage with the daily operations and army management.

There would be different challenges ahead of you, depending on your choices and the way you see fit to navigate the difficulties that would await you during your rule. You are going to be able to choose among the Greek, Nordic, Egyptian and Atlantean empires and there are even a couple of other pantheons coming later in the expansions for the game! More information on that will be located further in the article!

Call Upon the Mighty Gods and Their Powers in Times of Need

Select the gods you would seek to help you in your fights, you would be able to pick deities from the complete Greek, Norse, Egyptian, and Atlantean pantheons. Bring the ultimate devastation upon the armies of your enemies by summoning the most powerful lightning storms, destructive meteorite strikes, tremendous earth-shattering quakes.

Or you may go for a different approach and ask for nourishing rains and the guardian Dryads to help your empire grow & prosper safely enough over time. There would be different ways to take advantage of the powers the deities grant you and how you wish to use them would be all up to you!

Unleash the Monsters in Battle and Turn the Tides with Great Ease

From what video footage we got to see the team showed off many of the iconic mythological monsters in full detail, including the terrible Medusa, the flying Pegasus, and the three-headed titan Cerberus. The monsters looked amazing and quite ferocious, showing the real effort to make Age of Mythology: Retold a massive upgrade from the game we played all the way back in 2002. The showcase demonstrated the different sets of changes to the models and what upgrades they received through the various ages —although the characters come complete with a stack of their own voice lines, sounds and behavior in the animations.

Even more of the most legendary creatures from different mythological legends can join the fight and destroy your enemies swiftly. You would be able to use the unbelievable powers of creatures such as the Nidhogg dragon as well as many other extraordinary beasts available to you at the tip of your fingers.

Use these abilities to then easily summon and unleash Centaurs, Trolls, Mummies, and many other mighty monsters to bring the demise of your opponents. From giant crocodiles that can fully harness the power of the sun to the brute strength of the one-eyed Cyclops, take command over these special units that came as inspiration by some of the world’s greatest mythologies ever.

Explore the Epic Universe Full of Mythological Wonders

Embark on an epic journey through the 50-mission campaign that would take you through the vast, mythical world: explore different emblematic locations, besiege the mighty walls of Troy, battle against the Giants in the frozen wastes of Midgard, and discover the hidden mysteries of Osiris in the shifting sands of Egypt.

You will have the chance to become a legendary hero of mythology — or why not even a god?

Best to be Played with Lots of Friends as both Allies and Opponents

You can choose to play with your friends, either in PvP or battle it out in a mighty alliance against the advanced AI on the dozens of randomly generated world maps and different scenarios that would present you with a huge number of options for limitless hours of re-playability.

Just have in mind that the online console multiplayer would require you to have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or Core which are sold separately and does not come included in the Age of Mythology: Retold steam release.

Experience the Most Intense Battles in the Arena of the Gods mode

Are you ready for even more interesting feats and excitement!?

You better be! There is going to be a completely new game mode available that is coming shortly after the launch for the title!

You are going to have the chance to challenge the Labyrinth in the all-new Arena of the Gods mode that would be launching very soon with both single-player and co-op options.

Collect all your most powerful Blessings and join the ranks with your friends or alone, then get ready to take on the new challenges to prove your might in the greatest arena where the gods themselves do battle.

Game Versions to be on the Lookout for

Apart from the standard game version that would bring you the complete Age of Mythology: Retold experience which would give you everything in the base version there is also the Age of Mythology: Retold Premium Edition which would grant you additional goodies and cosmetics such as:

Up to 7-day Advanced Access:

Make the step into the divine realm before anyone else with the exclusive early unlock to the game that would be available on Xbox, Steam and PC users alike. 

New Gods Pack: “Freyr”:

Age of Mythology: Retold Premium Edition would make Freyr available in the Norse pantheon. You would be able to use the power of the Norse god of prosperity and fertility to its absolute full potential with this pack and enjoy the benefits coming with it.  The potent blessings of Freyr are surely going to elevate your reign to further unprecedented heights.

Legacy Deity Portrait Pack:

Go on a nostalgic journey all the way back to the roots of gaming greatness.  Get to relive the classic glory days of gaming with this special pack. It would offer players the option to use the iconic deity portraits from the original game that have captivated audiences worldwide for so very long.  

Upcoming Expansions for Age of Mythology: Retold steam key

As of the date of writing this article there is confirmation of two different expansions for the game. Get ready to experience the untold with the two highly anticipated expansions. For now, only one of the expansions has been hinted at more specifically, while the other one remains shrouded in mystery:

Expansion 1:  All-New Chinese pantheon expansion
Expansion 2:  additional new pantheon expansion

So, are you ready to relive the magnificence and the latest renewed Age of Mythology: Retold RTS concepts and bring the classic to modern times with this all-new version?

It seems that this autumn is already shaping up to be quite interesting because there would be so many outstanding titles coming to market and we here at YUPLAY intend to keep on informing you about the major upcoming releases all throughout the summer season, so that you can stay aware of what is coming next!