Even Real-Time Strategy First-Timers Will Enjoy Age of Mythology: Retold

At the time of writing this review, Steam says I’ve played Age of Mythology: Retold for 6.8 hours. That doesn’t feel right. Since getting a review code last week, I feel like I’ve been doing nothing but consuming content related to this game. My YouTube history is filled with dozens of hours of people streaming the original Age of Mythology. I have 10 browser tabs currently open, all with tips and tricks to ensure victory. It feels like I’ve spent 60+ hours with this game—not a measly 6.8. So what gives? Turns out, I’m not good at Age of Mythology: Retold. About 75% of my playtime has been spent trying to get past the 4th mission in the Fall of the Trident campaign. I’ve read all about build orders, macro and micro resource management, the military unit matchups, and specific guides for this exact mission! I could very likely guide someone through a second-by-second play on how to achieve victory. Despite any of this, I lack the capabilities required to progress further in the campaign.

Dear reader, you’ve certainly seen the 9.2 score by now, and you must be thinking, “Why the hell are they giving it such a high score if they’re so bad at the game? Why review it in the first place?” I want to go back to an earlier point: people who review games are not perfect machines. There are countless games in just as many different genres that play uniquely from each other, and the idea that somebody could be masterful at all of them is silly. A person who knows how to play guitar won’t necessarily be good at banjo just because they look similar and both have strings—it’s a whole different instrument. There may be an underlying understanding of technique that aids the transition, but there’s a reason you’ve never seen Dave Grohl play the banjo. The point remains the same with games and the people who review them. As Rob Rich wrote for Unwinnable, “Let people be bad at games.”

Age of Mythology: Retold earns its 9.2 because it’s just plain fun. Though I quite objectively suck at the game, my losses were never met with frustration. The quick decisions needed for optimum resource gathering tickled the strategic parts of my brain that I don’t get to use all too often. I’ve tried to get into games like Dota 2 and Smite, where game phase objectives change rapidly, but they never quite clicked with me. Here, they did. The loop is clear and fun. It just so happens that I was making all the wrong decisions in my games. I’m a guitarist trying to play the banjo, as it were. I like to think I won’t be alone in this camp—that other real-time strategy newcomers will face the same difficulty I have, but I really think it comes down to my own personal skills. The time I spent watching streams and the browser tabs with tips and guides are an important part of this story. It shows me that Age of Mythology: Retold is fun enough that I had a desire to keep getting better at it, and that others can become very good at it. These are the streamers I watched play the original game, the people who wrote the guides I read, etc. These sickos (written with every manner of affection) have a skill level that I could never hope to achieve, and I’m envious of that. In reality, the only difference between me and them is dedication. Regardless, the point still stands: Age of Mythology: Retold is so much fun that I wish I was winning at it. 

There’s an excerpt from Damien Mecheri’s The Works of Fumito Ueda: A Different Perspective on Video Games that I think of often. In analyzing if Ueda’s games are art, Mecheri asks: why would they even want to be considered art? The world of capital-A Art has historically been ruled by those with money and power; those who have enough authority to try and indirectly control the mores of a society through what is deemed socially safe for consumption. At times, these same figures can exhibit reactionary responses to works that challenge their belief systems—more often than not attempting to censor these works outright. Who would I be as a reviewer if I gave Age of Mythology: Retold a bad score, just because I’m not good at it? Especially when it’s as fun as it is. I cannot deny the sickos their joy—the truth is that this game will appeal to them most of all, and they will love the hell out of it. As Earnest Yuen told PC Gamer, “We want to build the game in your head.” Age of Mythology: Retold is very much that game, while being accessible to newcomers. My experience shouldn’t speak to the average beginner’s chance of enjoyment. There are tutorials, guides, and difficulty options. This game is designed for your introduction to real-time strategy games, and it’s designed so you can take it all the way up to the esport level.

I really hope any of this sells you on giving Age of Mythology: Retold a try. I truly believe that this is a well-balanced, engaging experience that’s kind to newer players. If you’ve been intimidated by real-time strategy games in the past, but remain intrigued, this is the game you’ve been waiting to try. It just so happens that it isn’t for me—but if nothing else, I gained a new appreciation for these types of games, and will stay on the lookout to see if World’s Edge and Forgotten Empires are successful in bringing Age of Mythology: Retold to the esports scene. If they are, I’ll be watching those games. See you there, sickos.

Age of Mythology: Retold was developed by World’s Edge and Forgotten Empires and published by Xbox Game Studios. Our review is based on the PC version. It is also available for the Xbox Series X|S.

Perry Gottschalk is a Paste intern, thinking about games and the way they make us feel. For more feelings, follow @gottsdamn on Twitter.