the score is going down from 85 to 82. A good game but not enough.
and i think this review very well understood this game.
"The physics of battle are very weak and yet this seems to be a purposeful attempt to retain the look and feel of the originals, which seems especially unnecessary given the remasters. We don’t know whether that’s the same excuse for why the pathfinding is so bad, but it also seems like it’s stuck in 1999. Everything is clearly supposed to be like this, and there’s no denying the game is entertaining, but nostalgia is ultimately a hollow pleasure and, like indulging in too much cake, you only end up feeling guilty and slightly bilious by the end of it.
Age Of Empires 4 is a fine real-time strategy but it’s nowhere near ambitious or different enough to revive the genre’s fortunes. Given Age Of Empires 2 still has the more robust multiplayer mode (and more options in general at the moment) it’s arguable whether this is even the best game in the series. The world doesn’t need two Age Of Empires 2 games and this feels like a missed opportunity to create a new beginning for the franchise.".
In Short: A highly competent but disappointingly unambitious real-time strategy that fails to move either the genre or the Age Of Empires franchise forward.
Pros: As a pseudo-remake of Age Of Empires 2 it works very well, with simple and accessible controls. Four enjoyable campaigns and the asymmetric factions are very welcome.
Cons: The game has far too much reverence for Age Of Empires 2, with the graphics, AI, and general lack of innovation suffering as a result. Multiplayer is currently an unknown quantity and some traditional modes are missing.
Score: 7/10