Trying to build the ultimate road network in Cities Skylines 2. Completing a Domination victory on Civilization 6's Deity setting. Just surviving in Frostpunk 2. If you're a big strategy game buff, you're likely no stranger to challenge, but Age of Mythology Retold is taking it to fresh, hellish extremes. The Age of Empires spin-off that launched back in September has already earned adulation over on Steam. Now, taking a leaf out of Elden Ring's haggard, brow-beaten book, it's probably just become the hardest RTS in recent history.
The new Age of Mythology Retold update adds a lot to the RTS game. There's the seasonal Holidaze event which runs until Sunday December 22, offering daily rewards if you can complete challenges in either the skirmish or multiplayer modes. The graphics, audio, and UI have all been tweaked and improved, and there are plenty of bug fixes and optimizations for controller users. Most significant, however, is the aptly named 'Ludicrous' mode.
Until now, AoM has featured six difficulty modes, ranging from the easiest, called Standard, to the toughest, named Legendary. Legendary is especially hard because, as well as buffing the enemy's decision-making and strategizing, it also grants them a 50% bonus for every single resource - if they usually earned 100 gold, now they earn 150. The same goes for food, wood, and favor.
Ludicrous, however, is somehow even harder. According to developers World's Edge and Forgotten Empires, it combines the general difficulty increases from the Titan difficulty with "new modifiers." Potentially, this means a 75% resource buff, or maybe even 100%. Either way, the new update is designed to raise the challenge, suitably, to "ludicrous levels." At the moment, it's only available for the campaign, but I challenge anybody to beat the final mission, A Place In My Dreams, on Ludicrous. Best of luck out there.
If you're feeling bold, you should also try some of the best 4X games, or maybe the best strategy games available on PC.
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