Well, here's a nice surprise for us all. Perhaps the greatest RTS series in PC history - other than Command and Conquer - a new Age of Empires game just arrived and it's available to play, in full, right now. AoE 2 will probably always be the best one, but with Civilization 7 still a ways off, any fresh installment in the medieval strategy saga is very welcome indeed. This isn't a complete Age of Empires sequel. Age of Empires 5, for now, remains a distant dream. But even though it's on mobile, it's still AoE, and certainly worth a look.
Suitably named Age of Empires Mobile, this is a restructured version of the RTS game that's available now on the App Store and Google Play. All the tentpole mechanics are here. You choose a ruler (there are eight civilizations at launch), gather resources, build up an initial settlement, and then go to war with your rivals using period-authentic weapons and siege tactics.
You can play solo and run a single-player campaign, or you can try the multiplayer. Rather than one-versus-one, multiplayer games in Age of Empires Mobile are fought by alliances - you can team up with dozens of players and then put your combined army against a rival alliance, itself composed of dozens of players. At its grandest scale, you have a hundred players commanding thousands of units.
As with the traditional AoE games, the trick is to effectively combine units. Throwing calvary and swordsmen at castle walls won't get you anywhere, but trebuchets on their own are incredibly vulnerable. Hold back, fling some boulders with your catapults, and launch a few volleys from your archers. Once the enemy's defenses are down, that's when it's time to wade fully into the fray.
Available right now on mobile devices, we'll have to see whether Age of Empires Mobile - or some version of it - ever makes it to PC. Meanwhile, the definitive edition of Age of Empires 2 just got a dramatic new DLC, and is well worth another playthrough.
Otherwise, try some of the other best strategy games, or maybe the best 4X games in PC history.
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