Being able to play Age of Empires 2 with the gamepad is, in its own way, a historic event. Microsoft's real-time strategy game has been one of the most beloved PC games for about 25 years, a true icon of that type of product that, despite everything, could not be found on consoles.
Microsoft's strategy with Game PassHowever, it no longer represents any obstacle and this applies in both directions of travel. So if all Xbox games must also be available on PC directly at launch, then even those genres that were once considered possible only on personal computers must now find their way into living rooms (and even phones) from all over the world. It happened with Flight Simulator, another simulation of the self-proclaimed “master race,” and now it happens with Age of Empire.
In this case, however, the operation is riskier than expected: for several generations of consoles, many development studios have tried to adapt real-time strategies to gamepads, but few come close to obtaining acceptable results. Interestingly, Age of Empires 2 is at the center of some of the most famous attempts: in 2001 Konami brought the original game to the PlayStation 2, but it was a fairly straightforward conversion in which the lack of practicality and precision of the controllers immediately emerged. especially if they have to emulate the mouse and keyboard. Even the series' original developer, Ensembe Studios, attempted to create an RTS designed natively for consoles before closing its doors: even Halo Wars, despite its qualities and its high-sounding name, failed to clear the genre on Xbox.
In the Age of Empires II Review: Definitive Edition We will try to see if, years later, someone has managed to close the circle.
The definitive version
But first let's do a little introduction. Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition, as is easy to guess from the name, is the definitive version of Age of Empires 2, a 1999 strategy game that was revived for PC in 2019 with Improved resolution and graphics. on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary. This edition, published by Forgotten Empires, contains all the downloadable content and expansions published over the years, in addition to an unreleased package designed for the occasion, as well as some small graphical tweaks introduced to make some units more fun and simplify the game. map management, such as a more effective zoom. In short, these are 11 historical campaigns that trace the exploits of some of the most famous heroes in history (William Wallace, Genghis Khan and Joan of Arc, to name a few), to which are added cooperative missions, skirmishes and the classic multiplayer. . The improvement of artificial intelligence, which, at higher levels, behaves less mechanically and more credibly, should not be underestimated.
All this to say that the version that will arrive on Xbox One, Xbox Series So, in case you are looking for more detailed information on the composition of the package and a description of the improvements, we refer you to the original review of Age of Empires 31 Definitive Edition.
What you need to know in this case is that in Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition the player will be asked to do prosper your kingdom through various historical eras. To do this, it will be necessary to develop mainly two elements: on the one hand, the economic growth of the settlement, based on the exploitation of the resources scattered throughout the scenario; on the other, the management of the army, an inevitable tool. with which to settle possible differences with the rest of the actors acting on the map. The campaigns of Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition decline this structure in different ways, telling the exploits of some of the most famous leaders in history to confront the player with different challenges, such as having to face much stronger armies. or having to get a fragile economy back on track.
Everything just as we remember it, that's why we focus on what it's like to play Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition with an Xbox gamepad.
An adaptation, not a conversion
In summary, we can say that what is done by Xbox Studios is more An adaptation than a conversion. of the game. The developers, in fact, did not limit themselves to mapping the PC controls on a gamepad, but rather looked for a way to automate some processes, group options and simplify some operations. However, correctly learning all the shortcuts takes time and the speed and precision of the mouse + keyboard combination are unsurpassed, but it cannot be said that it is not possible to play Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition comfortably on Xbox, also thanks to new tutorials designed to teach strategies and controls.
To achieve this goal, the developers have attempted to limit all information and options available to the player to a maximum of two keystrokes. This is thanks to the intelligent management of radial menus, which change depending on where you place the cursor: above a building you will see its management options, such as the possibility of building technological improvements or creating a queue of units. Regarding the warriors, you can decide their attitude, whether they patrol an area or protect a building. Without any specific objective you will be able to access a more generic menu that will allow you to send specific units to a point, for example a fishing boat in a newly discovered school of fish, or access the general construction menu. This way you can decide to build a building without selecting an inhabitant, the AI will then send one to complete the job. In addition, you can customize some boxes in these menus, to adapt them to the needs of the game or simply to your own way of playing.
La directional cross allows you to jump between different units (military, citizen or religious) with a double click you select all soldiers of the same gender, while by holding down the A key you can group all the units "touched" by the cursor.
Very interesting is the economic administration- You can choose the occupation of each individual citizen in a timely manner or, by pressing the right trigger, you can decide to automate these processes. There are presets based on the era the civilization is in and you can decide how many workers to assign to a specific sector, with the others managed by the computer based on need. Thanks to some shortcuts to jump from one point to another on the map and the ability to zoom a lot, you will be able to manage the entire scenario quite efficiently, even during the most hectic phases.
Vintage
Despite the improvements of this Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition, such as the 4K resolution (1440p in Series S) or the improved assets, we are still talking about a game with almost 25 years behind it. Therefore, from an exquisitely technological point of view, it cannot be defined as beautiful or modern, but it certainly can. functional. The units and buildings are clear and well defined, the maps are easy on the eyes and well designed and the series certainly has an unmistakable style, however it is impossible not to notice the "choppy" construction animations, the menu layout and vintage style. interface and all those things that have been achieved in these two decades of study on the game interface and quality of life.
For the console version, however, some have been added accessibility options very interesting, such as the audio guide of the menus, the color blind mode and a larger menu interface.
The only sector that has not aged is Sonoro, given that it could count on good Spanish dubbing and epic music. The age of the sound design is also noticeable here, with noises disappearing if they end up off-screen without a softer fade-out. In short, nothing that affects the quality of the gameplay and the fun: Age of Empires 2 continues to be one of the best exponents of the genre and this Definitive Edition is extremely rich in quality content, with which to occupy dozens of hours between campaigns historic and intense. multiplayer skirmishes.
Conclusions
Tested version Xbox Series X digital delivery Xbox store Price 19,99 € Holygamerz.com 8.5 Readers (20) 8.6 your voteIt took almost 25 years, but Age of Empires 2 has finally been successfully ported to consoles. In this way, even gamepad fans will be able to enjoy one of the pillars of the real-time strategy genre, proposed here in its best form, with all the content ever produced and several features designed both to make the game more fluid and to simplify the management of your empire. The mouse and keyboard are still unbeatable, but being able to enjoy Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition comfortably sitting on the couch or without installation via the cloud are advantages that should not be underestimated.
PRO
- This is the definitive version of one of the best RTS of all time.
- Good shortcut system
- It remains one of the cornerstones of the genre.
AGAINST
- However, it is designed for mouse and keyboard.
