Age of Mythology: Retold Review (Xbox Series X|S)

Age of Mythology might not be a major numbered entry, but it's still played a significant role in the Age timeline – transitioning the series from 2D to 3D following the success of Ensemble's real-time strategy king, Age of Empires II. Mythology wasn’t just there to fill the void when it landed on PC in 2002 and is still regarded by many fans as one of the best RTS games of all time. It swapped the attention from history to mythology and built upon the formula of existing entries by expanding the gameplay players knew and loved with Gods, titans, heroes, monsters and all sorts of mythological creatures.

This brings us to the latest iteration, officially titled Age of Mythology: Retold. Retold is an overhaul by World’s Edge and its partners, following in the footsteps of previous works like Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. It comes with enhancements, new graphics and even gameplay adjustments that modernise the title, while ensuring the spirit of the original game continues to shine. It’s also a historic feat for the development team – marking the first time an Age game has ever shipped simultaneously on Xbox and PC (with a ‘Day One’ Game Pass release to top it off).

So, what can be expected from this new version? Diving right in, you’ve got the usual offerings – a campaign packed with 50 mythical missions, skirmish (where you can engage in all sorts of AI battles), online multiplayer and additional sections like the game's lore and tech trees. When you’ve loaded into your first game, it shouldn’t take too long to get back into the groove – with the classic core gameplay intact, now supported by fresh new graphics, quality of life improvements and new content. At a glance the most notable upgrade is the visuals. The models have been redone (including some stunning titans), the environments and maps look better than ever, there are plenty of animations, detailed building destruction, enhanced water effects, and much more – it all looks the part for a release of this decade, but still manages to retain the style of the game's previous versions.

On the Xbox front, the additions in Retold are similar to past Age releases. Starting with the controls, the unique Xbox controls and UI carry across. You can highlight multiple units by holding down a button, issue commands by holding the triggers (bringing up a wheel of options), and assign or access shortcuts with the control pad and other buttons. There are also ways to automate actions of your units throughout each age, making certain aspects of the game easier to manage. It might still take some time to get to grips with this, but when you do, it feels like the best version of this controller system yet. Admittedly, keyboard and mouse still remains the definitive way to play this kind of game - and fortunately, like previous releases, you can plug these devices into your Xbox to simulate the true RTS experience.

One other thing to note on Xbox is the option to play the game in performance or quality mode (with the ability to enable bloom also available). Like so many Xbox titles nowadays, you’re going to have to make a decision and either way, there’s going to be a compromise. In the case of Age, performance is best if you’re planning to play online. In saying this, we mostly had the game set to quality mode and it ran relatively well during the battles we played, even if we did encounter the odd bug, like some minor pop-in and loading delays (notably the team has already rolled out some pre-release patches as well, including portrait and VO updates). Overall though, the Xbox version is as close as it can be to the PC version at launch, despite seemingly missing the scenario editor in our pre-launch build.

Returning to gameplay, if you’re not already familiar with Mythology, you choose your God (covering Greek, Egyptians, Norse and Atlantean mythology) and the battle begins. The general pattern follows other Age games where you progress through the ages, and in this one you're able to summon mythological creatures such as dragons, centaurs, Medusa and sea creatures, and call on the powers of Gods like Zeus, Thor and Poseidon (with lightning storms, dragon attacks, healing abilities and more) to change the course of battle or disrupt your opponent's progress. God powers can even be used multiple times throughout the battle, especially in the end game, which can completely change the outcome. On the downside, one 'new Gods pack' and some other content like Mythical Battles (as well as future expansions) are paywalled behind the "Premium Edition" of the game.