Better yet, it’s a strong foundation for updates yet to come, and you can play it for “free” as part of a monthly Xbox Games Pass subscription, the best deal in PC gaming. It’s not quite as deep as AoE 2 is yet-that game has been out and being tweaked for over 20 years-but Age of Empires IV is nevertheless fun and deep. Each civilization brings its own quirks and advantages to the table, and as always, you can win the game in several different ways, from scoring a religious victory to building and holding a late-game Wonder. Age of Empires IVstays true (almost too true, at times) to the classic formula, offering four campaigns (each with branching civ-specific landmark choices that change your empire’s direction in different ways) and eight different empires to play in skirmish battles or multiplayer clashes.

All these years later, Age of Empires II remains a gold standard in the real-time strategy genre, and it’s only getting stronger with the extra attention devoted to the recent Definite Edition release-but that’s not the only way to scratch that AoE itch.

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