age of empires 2 definitive edition beta

In Age of Empires and Age of Empires II, players took control of important historical figures, like Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan, and played out some of their pivotal battles. One unique feature of Age of Empires IV is its approach to campaigns. (Image credit: Microsoft) Age of Empires IV campaigns Players will have to try out similar matches for themselves. A huge battle raged - but we didn’t get to see who won. The Mongols had a huge army of cavalry, horse archers and trebuchets. The Chinese had a huge flourishing city, full of castles and siege workshops, protected by gunpowder weapons. The Imperial Age match between the Mongols and the Chinese was where we got to see Age of Empires IV in all its glory.

These hardy, destructive units assaulted the sturdy stone walls of an English fortress, where individual archers rained arrows on enemy soldiers below. (This makes sense, as the Mongols essentially did the same thing in real life.) Tactics like this could open up a whole world of strategic options - but I’m also curious what kind of unique features the Chinese might have to counteract the hit-and-run playstyle.Īs the game moved into the Castle Age, we got to see the Delhi Sultanate’s unique feature: warriors mounted on elephants. When the Mongols were ready to go on the offensive, they simply packed up their yurts and took their entire base with them to a new section of the map. But the Mongols gave us our first look at some of the unique features we can expect from each civilization. The Chinese built a fairly conventional city with a town center, farms, a barracks and so forth. Things got more interesting in the Feudal Age, where we got to see the Mongols and the Chinese get their bases in gear. An English scout attacked a contingent of Delhi miners Delhi pikemen fought back. The English/Delhi Sultanate match began in the Dark Age, where there wasn’t much to do except build farms, gather berries, construct houses and erect crude palisade walls.

It also introduced us to some of the stark gameplay differences between various civilizations. While we didn’t spend too long on any given match, it helped give a good idea of how an average Age of Empires IV session might go. The first match cast the Chinese against the Mongols the second cast the English against the Delhi Sultanate.

The devs showed us two extended sequences of empire-building and battle. (Image credit: Microsoft) Age of Empires IV gameplay

Age of empires 2 definitive edition beta