So I’ve played it! After 45 minutes I was hit with the strangest sense of satisfaction; my rhombus-shaped area of Nile delta was explored as much as is possible, my 6 member tribe of male-villager/antelope-meat hybrids all patrolling for crocodiles… And I absolutely LOVE the soundtrack. I don’t see how it fits the game in any way, shape or form but it was really enjoyable.
Sadly I didn’t have time to get any further into the tutorial scenarios this weekend but it’s safe to say that I’ll be playing AOE1 as often as I can this summer.