Age of Mythology: Retold Review – A Godly Comeback

Back in the day, when everyone was watching elephants pop out of castles in Age of Empires, I was one of the gamers who felt more drawn toward Age of Mythology. Why wouldn’t I? Summoning godly powers and titan units and watching minotaurs march next to my army hit a sweet spot that other RTS games didn’t quite manage to at the time. Imagine my surprise when I saw Age of Mythology: Retold — one of my favorite RTS games ever — would get a fresh lick of paint thanks to a new, modernised remake. A cleaner UI, better unit management, and plenty of quality-of-life changes are just a few things on the docket. And while there are a few bumps around this pantheon, Retold is genuinely a titanic comeback.

Age of Mythology: Retold is the endeavor of not one but five studios. Specifically: World’s Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media, CaptureAge, and Virtuos Games. I’ve always been doubtful when it comes to many studios putting their hands on one project, but by Zeus’s promiscuity, it worked out wonderfully. What you have is an extremely cohesive remake that remains faithful to the 2002 style and just adds some welcome and useful additions to enhance everyone’s playtime. Yes, there are a few jarring things here and there, but nothing that makes the game fall from grace.

A Threefold Odyssey

As soon as you fire up Age of Mythology: Retold, you have the option to pick between any of its game modes: campaign, skirmishes, and multiplayer. For those looking for a story-driven mode, the campaign is obviously where it’s at. You’ll assume the role of any of the game’s civilizations, including Atlanteans and Nords, and take them into iconic mythical battles set in places like Midgard or Troy. Here is where my first and biggest complaint comes in, and I’d like to get it out of the way before moving to the good stuff: the voice acting.

Every mission in the campaign is perfectly designed, but hearing characters across the three scenarios is awful. There’s no coherence to any of the tones or emotions when characters deliver their lines, and while we all just want to jump into the action, those small moments with flat voice acting break any sort of immersion or seriousness the campaign wants to convey. Luckily, that’s the only one big complaint I have. Everything else is perfectly done.

I will not tell you Age of Mythology: Retold has the most groundbreaking narrative, but for any mythology nerds out there, it is great to see and control some famous characters from the myths we grew up with. Furthermore, there’s a new scenario that introduces Freyr, one of the new gods in this remake, which adds new fun gimmicks to the Norse pantheon.

While having all the familiar missions and even a fun new one is nice, I would’ve liked to see more. Most gamers who prefer singleplayer content will dive into skirmishes, which are highly customizable now. But still, a few more missions or other campaigns at launch would’ve made Retold an even greater game.

Modernizing the Pantheon

Leaving the story bits aside, let’s move on to some of the notable changes in Age of Mythology: Retold. First and foremost, the visuals. Every single aspect of the game has been graphically revamped, and it just looks wonderful. I know that in 2002, we couldn’t expect anything more than low-poly hydras and weird-looking minotaurs, but it’s nice to finally see them as proper mythical units. A few human faces still look a bit strange, but I prefer having a scary frost giant than a photorealistic Arkantos.

In terms of gameplay, I love all the modern QoL features that arrived with Retold. Up first, the UI. It is clean and easy to use, it doesn’t clutter the screen, and it’s extremely friendly toward newcomers. Secondly, the ability to assign your gatherers’ tasks with the click of a button is superb. For instance, if you want to move on to the next age, you can click on a setting that makes all gatherers work for that goal by splitting the workforce depending on what you need most. It’s a simple addition, but one I absolutely love as it reduces the micro-managing time.

Similarly, you can auto-queue military units to have them pop out of buildings when required. Lastly, and this might be controversial, God Powers is on a cooldown now. Each use requires more favor, but it’s nice to have the option to use them constantly during a fight. This might not sit well with some players, especially in multiplayer modes, but I like the change. It always felt strange for this game’s most original gimmick to be a bit restrictive, so it’s nice it isn’t like that anymore.

Previously, I mentioned how skirmishes are highly customizable now, and as someone who plays mostly solo, I love this. All the old game modes like Regicide or King of the Hill are victory conditions now. You can tailor as much as you want before clashing your army against others. In terms of multiplayer, I didn’t touch it much. I feel safer walking at night in my neighborhood than entering a multiplayer match — players are incredibly vicious. Toxicity is already around some ranked matches, but I guess that’s also a blast from the past. This isn’t the developers’ fault, of course, but I don’t have a lot to say about multiplayer as I tend to avoid it.

A Legend in the Works

Despite being a remake of a 22-year-old game, Age of Mythology: Retold is a grand spectacle, but it may not dazzle everyone. If you want a small dose of RTS greatness, you’ll get it here. The systems are great, the visuals are superb, and it’s extremely modern without forgetting the game’s roots. However, it still lacks a bit of content. The Chinese civilization isn’t here yet, and the mythical battle, while great, is quite short. Furthermore, there are still a few issues that need ironing out. For some reason, I couldn’t save my games until I ran the game as an administrator. Also, my cursor would glitch to different icons instead of the usual arrow cursor. Not ideal!

Still, Age of Mythology: Retold is a perfectly enjoyable RTS with tons of hours of fun. Beyond that, after the lackluster games of the genre we’ve seen, like Homeworld 3 or Men of War 2, it’s great to see Age of Mythology: Retold as the savior the genre needed. With a few more updates, this could become an odyssey we won’t stop talking about.