Age of Mythology: Retold Game Review – History Retold, Retold 

The late ’90s and early 2000s were awash with RTS (real-time strategy) games. While a handful broke the trend, most of these games were based on classical tales, where the chariot and bow and arrows were the key to your march to victory. It may seem strange, but Age of Mythology: Retold is a remaster of the original, released in 2002.

The Development of Age of Mythology: Retold

The now-defunct Ensemble Studios developed the original Age of Mythology, which achieved reasonable success and built a faithful fanbase around it. The development wasn’t as straightforward with the latest title, with various development houses lending a hand in its recreation. This was led by World’s Edge and Forgotten Empires for most of the build and included the likes of Tantalus Media, CaptureAge, and Virtuos Games. It falls within the Xbox Game Studios stables as the publisher, with a release on both Xbox and PC. 

For those who aren’t aware, the Age of Mythology game (and its subsequent expansion: The Titans) falls under the Age of Empires series umbrella. Age of Mythology follows similar trends in its gameplay and storytelling. Still, it differs significantly in that it doesn’t follow actual historical events and tells its own stories inspired by the mythology and legends of the Greeks, Egyptians, Norse and Atlanteans. 

With the Definitive Edition released for the reworked Age of Empires I, II and III in 2019 and 2020, it was only a matter of time before the release of Age of Mythology: Retold. However, it was quite the wait for eager fans – even after its announcements back in 2022.  

Age of Mythology: Retold is built on the same gaming engine as Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition: Bang Engine. As a result, various units within the game and their animations have been reworked. This makes it feel quite different from the original, with much snappier gameplay. 

Same, Same But Different

As mentioned, Age of Mythology: Retold keeps much of its original gameplay and charm despite having a new engine beneath. It just feels a lot more fluent. It’s always thrilling to engage in historic battles with the exciting twist of your favourite mythical creatures joining the fight alongside you. Think of the Trojan War with all its underlying elements and then throw centaurs and minotaurs into the battle to bring down the walls of Troy. 

As with all good RTS games, the trick is to find an outstanding balance between units, spending resources, and attack and defence. It’s not simply a matter of throwing all the more giant creatures or mythical gods to rain down attacks, which could just as quickly leave you exposed if not done correctly. 

With that bedded down and ticked off, where the game comes to life is the reimagining of the graphical elements. The grassy landscapes, shining rivers and choppy seas make it feel like a different game. Well, it is, in a way. And with the beautifully crafted buildings to erect, paying close attention to your town and city planning adds charm without impacting the game as much. It just feels a lot more well-rounded. 

Each of the various cultures also feels different enough that you can develop different strategies with each to get the job done.  

Where Age of Mythology: Retold Fails

For the game’s diehard fans, there will always be plenty of caveats when reworking a classic, whether it be the design, the gameplay, the graphics, or even the sound. 

While I imagine that most of this won’t be too much of an issue, the voice acting leaves much to be desired. It’s not bad, but it lacks the charm of an early 2000s game. This is especially true when factoring in some of the accents for the various regions, which feels a bit less researched than one would have wished. 

Although not as big of a deal, some of the main protagonists in the campaigns don’t feel as well-crafted as the originals. Yes, they look better and have better animation, but they lack the charm. Some feel more cookie-cutter than others, but additional care on these character designs would’ve gone a long way here.

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Conclusion

There is a lot to love about reworking the original game with Age of Mythology: Retold. It feels new enough that it’s worth the look while also feeling true enough to its roots that it triggers your nostalgia. There may be a few shortcomings with the new game, but on the whole, it’s a fun trip down memory lane for the early 2000s RTS fan.