Age of Empires: Definitive Edition set for February 20th launch

[Greg S]

Age of Empires can be called a classic real-time strategy game. Originally released in 1997 by Ensemble Studios, gamers build an economy to collect resources and create armies to take down opponents. A little over 20 years later, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition modernizes the original title without removing too much of the classic feel.

One of the most obvious new improvements is the addition of an in-game tech tree. Age of Empires II: Age of Kings brought this luxury but it will now also be found in the remastered version of the original. All game assets have been updated to support 4K gameplay. Back in 1997, you would be hard pressed to play above 1280 x 1024.

Another major change is the introduction of proper online connectivity. Multiplayer mode is supported through Xbox Live as well as over LAN. Setting up a game with friends used to take quite some time, especially if your phone line was in use, preventing any phone calls to them.

Campaigns now have narration for all missions. The scenario and campaign editor has been improved to simplify creation of custom maps. Players are able to share their custom work via AgeOfEmpires.com.

If anyone is interested in trying out the remastered version a little early, beta access is open to 100,000 new players before registration closes on January 25 at noon Eastern Standard Time. Registered beta users will be notified and granted access to the game on January 29th.

The final rendition of Age of Empires: Definitive Edition will launch on February 20th and will be available worldwide for Windows 10 PCs. It will be listed at $19.99 USD and available through the Store app on Windows 10.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/72839-age-empires-definitive-edition-set-february-20th-launch.html

 

[TomSEA]

Great game. Man, did I sink some hours into the original one, including creating numerous campaigns with their world builder.

I think this would be worth a $20 bill, if nothing else but for nostalgia's sake.

 

[amghwk]

The death of game innovations... it's all just remakes or rehashes of old games nowadays...

Maybe there are no good new games worthy of making anymore...

Only the old games seem to be the best... hence everyone just keep repainting old games and put up for sale..

And suckers keep buying the recycled products, instead of asking for newer designs...

 

[yRaz]

Great game. Man, did I sink some hours into the original one, including creating numerous campaigns with their world builder.

I think this would be worth a $20 bill, if nothing else but for nostalgia's sake.

I miss playing it on MSN gaming zone. I wish they didn't try to redo all the pgrahics and kept the original style, it seems out of place. I will play it just for a few good " YOLOLO's"

 

[Puiu]

The death of game innovations... it's all just remakes or rehashes of old games nowadays...

Maybe there are no good new games worthy of making anymore...

Only the old games seem to be the best... hence everyone just keep repainting old games and put up for sale..

And suckers keep buying the recycled products, instead of asking for newer designs...

Come on dude, 2017 has been huge in terms of games.

 

[yRaz]

The death of game innovations... it's all just remakes or rehashes of old games nowadays...

Maybe there are no good new games worthy of making anymore...

Only the old games seem to be the best... hence everyone just keep repainting old games and put up for sale..

And suckers keep buying the recycled products, instead of asking for newer designs...

Come on dude, 2017 has been huge in terms of games.

If you consider Loot Boxes to be huge. 2017 was a horrible year for games. Any potential the gaming industry had in 2017 was ruined by microtransactions and lootboxes. I'd mark 2017 as the year the gaming industry started to die. Battlefront 2, an amazing game, was completely raped by loot boxes. It's WOULD be one of the best games out if EA didn't get it's hands on it. I'd take remakes of games I loved from 20 years ago over this crap. Heck, reviewers have to since NDA's to not talk about the game until 24 hours before release. Aside from battlefront 2, because I though it would be battlefield with starwars overlay, last new game I bought was Ark and before that, fallout 4. I've seriously only bought 4 new games in the last ~8 years. Skyrim, fallout 4, Ark and Battlefront 2.

I wont count Age of Empires 2 HD because I already own the original since release.

 

[Puiu]

If you consider Loot Boxes to be huge. 2017 was a horrible year for games. Any potential the gaming industry had in 2017 was ruined by microtransactions and lootboxes. I'd mark 2017 as the year the gaming industry started to die. Battlefront 2, an amazing game, was completely raped by loot boxes. It's WOULD be one of the best games out if EA didn't get it's hands on it. I'd take remakes of games I loved from 20 years ago over this crap. Heck, reviewers have to since NDA's to not talk about the game until 24 hours before release. Aside from battlefront 2, because I though it would be battlefield with starwars overlay, last new game I bought was Ark and before that, fallout 4. I've seriously only bought 4 new games in the last ~8 years. Skyrim, fallout 4, Ark and Battlefront 2.

I wont count Age of Empires 2 HD because I already own the original since release.

Lootboxes ruined some games and fortunately 2017 was the year people voted with their wallets (mostly anyway). But let's not generalize the entire year based on some stupid things a few games did.
FYI buying fewer games is normal. You just don't have the time to play as much as when you were young. I'm the same.

 

[misor]

I'd rather have a new and improved age of empires 4 rather than having 'definitive and hd editions' which are just minor improvements of old games...

 

[psycros]

I'd rather have a new and improved age of empires 4 rather than having 'definitive and hd editions' which are just minor improvements of old games...

I'm sure if they could convince RTS players to embrace loot boxes or season passes it would already be here.

 

[yRaz]

Lootboxes ruined some games and fortunately 2017 was the year people voted with their wallets (mostly anyway). But let's not generalize the entire year based on some stupid things a few games did.
FYI buying fewer games is normal. You just don't have the time to play as much as when you were young. I'm the same.

you're part of the problem if you think over monitization of games doesn't ruin them. But, you know, I come from a generation that actually had demos to see if a game was worth buying

 

[Puiu]

you're part of the problem if you think over monitization of games doesn't ruin them. But, you know, I come from a generation that actually had demos to see if a game was worth buying

Please don't accuse me of something stupid like that. I've been the most vocal one around here against this kind of monetization and I've slammed down anyone defending SWBF2 as much as I could - prolly much more than you since I like to be direct. (and not just here) Hell, I've even trolled multiple BF2 streamers just for fun (you should have seen the chat go wild ). FYI you are the same age as me.

But that's not the point of this topic. We are looking at 2017 as a whole and you can't ignore the simple fact that 2017 had a lot of good games (much more than what EA managed to ruin). Do you need me to list a few? O_o

 

[thelatestmodel]

If you consider Loot Boxes to be huge. 2017 was a horrible year for games. Any potential the gaming industry had in 2017 was ruined by microtransactions and lootboxes. I'd mark 2017 as the year the gaming industry started to die. Battlefront 2, an amazing game, was completely raped by loot boxes. It's WOULD be one of the best games out if EA didn't get it's hands on it. I'd take remakes of games I loved from 20 years ago over this crap. Heck, reviewers have to since NDA's to not talk about the game until 24 hours before release. Aside from battlefront 2, because I though it would be battlefield with starwars overlay, last new game I bought was Ark and before that, fallout 4. I've seriously only bought 4 new games in the last ~8 years. Skyrim, fallout 4, Ark and Battlefront 2.

I wont count Age of Empires 2 HD because I already own the original since release.

No, 2017 was the best year for games since 2007. I agree that loot boxes are a cancer - but forget about those for a second, and just look at the games that came out. Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Zelda, Horizon Zero Dawn, PUBG, Nier Automata, Cuphead, AC Origins, Resident Evil 7, Prey, Nioh, Divinity 2, Hellblade, Sonic Mania - I could go on.

Hate on loot boxes all you want but you can't possibly argue that 2017 wasn't a great year for games.

 

[Adhmuz]

I'll take remakes of games from the 90s that were actually enjoyable to play over the crap being released every year for the sake of profit. Back in the day game developers made it or didn't when they released their games, they didn't have a corporate giant backing them to fall back on if their games flopped. Games had a level of difficulty I find modern games lack just to appeal to everyone, or they lack any substance and just provide you with a hollow multiplayer experience with a $100+ annual subscription. Granted there are the few rare exceptions, but they don't get nearly the same attention as they big BS games that people keep wasting money on year after year...

 

[bohemond1099]

The death of game innovations... it's all just remakes or rehashes of old games nowadays...

Maybe there are no good new games worthy of making anymore...

Only the old games seem to be the best... hence everyone just keep repainting old games and put up for sale..

And suckers keep buying the recycled products, instead of asking for newer designs...

Come on dude, 2017 has been huge in terms of games.

2017 was pretty abysmal; really the last 3 years have been.

 

[Puiu]

2017 was pretty abysmal; really the last 3 years have been.

Was there really nothing you liked? There were incredible games for every genre released in 2017. Quality, variety and quantity, all of these things happened this year.
Have you tried playing at least What Remains of Edith Finch?

 

[bohemond1099]

Was there really nothing you liked? There were incredible games for every genre released in 2017. Quality, variety and quantity, all of these things happened this year.
Have you tried playing at least What Remains of Edith Finch?

I'd rather eat broken glass than play a game like that. Quantity was not the issue; quality certainly was. Metric f*ckt*on of trashbin worthy indie and VR titles, copy paste AAA games; really the only quality games that I played can be counted on two hands for 2015-2017 (and two fingers for 2017) and as far as exceptional; only 3. Just looking at 2012-2014 I need three hands for the number of quality games; and it goes on like that all the way back to the mid-90s. Remember that variety and quantity don't preclude garbage. There is a lot of sh*t in the world in a plethora of various forms; that doesn't mean that they aren't still sh*t.

 

[Puiu]

I'd rather eat broken glass than play a game like that. Quantity was not the issue; quality certainly was. Metric f*ckt*on of trashbin worthy indie and VR titles, copy paste AAA games; really the only quality games that I played can be counted on two hands for 2015-2017 (and two fingers for 2017) and as far as exceptional; only 3. Just looking at 2012-2014 I need three hands for the number of quality games; and it goes on like that all the way back to the mid-90s. Remember that variety and quantity don't preclude garbage. There is a lot of sh*t in the world in a plethora of various forms; that doesn't mean that they aren't still sh*t.

then there you have it. no wonder you don't know that good games came out this year, you haven't played any of them.
a game praised for its incredible narrative and you throw it in the trash calling it "a game like that" even though you didn't even try it.

you don't know what quality is even if it hit you in the face with a truck. so many good games this year yet here you are not playing them. how about Nier? or Nioh? or Persona 5? or Horizon? or Zelda? or Mario? or Cuphead? or Hellblade? or RE7? or Wolfenstein 2? or Divinity: OS2? or South Park TFBH... should I go on? you want multiple hands? there is something for everybody.

I've looked at the 2012-2014 list. what was so special about them? there were good games but the lists aren't as big as you say. are you putting all of them combined and then comparing to 2017? or are you counting things like TLU multiple times? are you counting the indies there but not in 2017? you are not making any sense dude.