Age of Mythology: Retold review - Godly powers add to an already great formula

I had two major concerns when I started playing Age of Mythology: Retold. The first was how the game had aged in the many years since its first release. Sure, the visuals were getting an upgrade, but much of the game was left intact and since 2002, the RTS genre has grown and evolved.

I didn’t have to worry too much about this concern though. After playing through the extensive campaigns - there are three - and seeing all the narratives had to offer, I moved on to skirmish mode and found that everything I loved about the Age of Empires franchise was still here - as good as ever.

My other concern did linger for a while, however. As with any strategy game played on a console, the issue of controls would rear its head. Using a controller for a game like this is never going to be the better option, it’s viable, but mouse and keyboard will always be superior. With Age of Mythology: Retold this was only reinforced.

We’ll get this bit out of the way because it’s a rather obvious statement; using a controller to control large numbers of units in a strategy game is always going to be awkward and clunky, no matter how much effort the developer puts into it. Now, it’s not terrible, the collection of developers here has created a wealth of shortcuts that require combined button presses to bring up radial menus making life a bit easier.

Age of Mythology: Retold - Xbox Game Studios

Having said that, there were still many times when my cursor latched onto the wrong unit, or even when I turned off the latching, the precision needed was sorely lacking. Ferrying units around the map, particularly when on the offensive, just never feels satisfying. You can hold a directional button to focus on specific troops or hold the ‘left click/selecting’ button to create a growing circle for unit selection which helps with finer points.

There is a lot to learn, however, and I often found myself moving through a few button combinations before landing on the right one. That could be a combination of my aged brain and the numerous menu options that are spread over units, buildings, and individual building-based options.

Now, let’s move away from the controller and focus on my previous concern which was assuaged after only a couple of hours of playing. Once my fingers (and brain) got used to the controls, I was as happy as a pig in… a sandbox.

If you’ve never played one of these games, the premise is simple. You must become the best ruler by guiding your little civilisation to greatness. However, this differs from the actual game franchise Civilisation as here, war is generally encouraged and often unavoidable. You’ll create little villagers who work around your base gathering resources and constructing buildings, while little soldiers are guided around the map causing all kinds of war.

If you have played one of these games before, you’ll know that the last paragraph was ridiculously oversimplified. There’s so much more to the Age of Mythology: Retold, including researching ways to improve your army, balancing the right resources in order to birth various troops, and placing buildings strategically around your area of the map.

Age of Mythology: Retold - Xbox Game Studios

In all of this, Age of Mythology: Retold doesn’t stray far from the usual formula. Where it does differ is in the heroes. Hero units are based on the mythological world. For example, if you’re playing as a Greek army, you can recruit heroes such as Odysseus, but it gets even better when you move through the upgrade trees and start creating units that include Cyclops, giant soldiers, and even Gods.

These epic units will often turn the tide of battles, as do the godly powers bestowed upon you, to be used where you see fit when you choose your godly allegiances through the skill trees. Each god will offer a variety of powers from resource gathering boosts to meteor showers that will decimate enemies.

These allegiances provide depth within each match as they offer different options while you progress through the ages. For example, choosing Loki the Norse god offers two heroes in the Classical Age - Forseti, who focuses on infantry, or Heimdall, who focuses on buildings. Choosing a path will open up unique units and options to grow your army.

With a range of gods to play as, like the Greeks Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon, or the Egyptians, Ra, Isis, and Set, there are plenty of ways to play. And that’s without counting the Norse gods or the Atlanteans. Despite playing countless skirmish games, I still hadn’t quite seen everything I wanted to before sitting down to write this review as games can last for hours.

Age of Mythology: Retold - Xbox Game Studios

It’s clear that godly powers and buffs heavily modify the game from the usual Age of Empires style. Sometimes, I chose a god that ended up not suiting my style of holding back while I hoard an army, while others gave me the option to fill those ranks with slobbering monsters like the Argus that spits globs of acid at opposing troops.

I often found myself abandoning the campaign mode. While it’s very handy for learning the ropes, the stories playing out aren’t overly interesting, and the combination of the voice-acting and visuals, while improved vastly from the original, is a little lacklustre. It’s not that the graphics are bad, but they retain some of that old polygonal style making the characters appear plasticky in appearance.

So, skirmishing was where I’d find myself, with AI opponents of varying skills. This gave me better chances to try out all the gods and gave me a chance to build my army from lowly villagers finding their way to conquering troops on the warpath. This was always my ideal way to play these games and the campaign levels often gave me matches halfway in, or set out scenarios that I found uninteresting.

As a revisit to a game that has solid foundations in the RTS genre, Age of Mythology: Retold does enough to warrant a new release. It gives players spectacular powers and so many ways to play that it’s dizzying. And yet, it’s held back slightly by a lifeless set of campaigns and the minor frustrations of controller play. Of course, if this is your only way to play, you’re going to have fun, but you might find yourself pining for more precision and a bit more polish.

Pros: Engaging battles, awesome godly powers, huge variety, plenty of gods and monsters to fight

Cons: Dull campaigns, fiddly controls on controllers, uninspired visuals

For fans of: Age of Empires, Gears Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics

7/10: Very Good

Age of Mythology: Retold is available now on Xbox Series S|X (version tested) and PC. Review code was provided by the publisher. Find a complete guide to GAMINGbible's review scores here.