Age of Mythology: Retold

Age of Mythology: Retold masterfully revives the beloved 2002 classic, blending the timeless gameplay that made the original a favorite with modern graphical upgrades and thoughtful quality-of-life improvements. Visually, the game is transformed with richly detailed high-definition models, dynamic lighting, and realistic environmental effects that breathe new life into the ancient mythological world. Units, buildings, and especially mythical creatures like Hydras and Titans are rendered with striking textures and fluid animations, giving battles a vibrant and epic feel. While some may find the art style leans slightly toward a more polished, cartoonish look compared to the original’s classic charm, this update largely succeeds in immersing both veterans and newcomers in a breathtaking strategic arena. Underneath the enhanced visuals, Retold deepens the strategic experience with several gameplay enhancements that elevate late-game dynamics and overall flow. The increased population cap and the reworked god power system—introducing cooldowns instead of one-time uses—add fresh layers of tactical decision-making, allowing for more sustained and varied strategies. Additionally, quality-of-life improvements such as improved unit pathfinding, auto-scouting, and streamlined villager controls greatly reduce micro-management frustration and help maintain game pace without sacrificing depth. However, despite these strides, some minor AI pathfinding quirks persist, reminding players that perfect refinement in real-time strategy is elusive. The core civilizations—Greek, Egyptian, Norse, and Atlantean—remain beautifully distinct, each offering unique units, economy styles, and god power trees that encourage diverse playstyles. The extensive campaign content from the original and its expansions, including The Golden Gift and New Atlantis, is faithfully preserved and enhanced, delivering more than 50 missions rich in narrative and challenge. Although the highly anticipated Chinese civilization from Tale of the Dragon is absent at launch, plans for its addition signal ongoing support and content growth that fans can look forward to. Audio enhancements complement the visual overhaul, featuring a fully re-orchestrated soundtrack that heightens the mythic atmosphere and vibrant, context-sensitive sound effects. The voice acting, however, receives mixed feedback, with some performances lacking the emotional depth and consistency that made the original cutscenes memorable. Multiplayer sees welcome improvements as well, with seamless cross-platform play between PC and Xbox and continued support for modding and custom map creation, sustaining the community-driven longevity of the franchise. In summary, Age of Mythology: Retold stands as a shining example of how to modernize a cherished classic without losing its heart. It successfully balances nostalgia with innovation, offering refined mechanics, stunning visuals, and expanded content that together create a rich, engaging real-time strategy experience. While not without minor flaws, this remaster is a must-play for both longtime fans longing to revisit their favorite mythological battlegrounds and newcomers eager to discover one of the genre’s most inventive and enduring titles. Rating: 9/10

A true fan of AOM will not be disappointed here. The old one retains the charm of "old time's sake". This one expands properly upon it, and in great volume. Even the Chinese are better here than the original. If you like AOM, get it. It's worth it.

a series of utterly horrible patches has left the game in an all but unplayable state. The online lobby is completely dead, meaning you have to wait 5-7 minutes for a game to start, only for the outcome to be all but predetermined by the completely stratified civilization power levels, Egypt has been broken for months, followed by China, Greek Norse and Atlantean is just unplayable. Even if you decide to stick it out, every game immediately devolves into a miserable turtle defensive spam snooze fest. Want to play any other style? Even playing the most broken civs wont save you from your opponents machine gun static defense. The previous patch wasn't much better, their complete lack of knowledge of how to make a good map meant that every match was a desperate attempt to control the middle in a king of the hill style game, because every gold mine spawns relatively within that space, no back or side mines, meaning the civ that's stronger at taking map control automatically wins while the opponent gets to sit there and not play the game. this is NOT the way to make players want to move out onto the map, it just creates an unfun, poorly balanced mess, now it's the same thing, but instead of 50 broken spearmen auto winning against their counter units, it's 5 broken migdols and 40 spearmen At this point I would far rather play the original on the old Voobly servers, was it imbalanced, sure, but at least there was multiple play styles, every game didn't feel exactly the same If your buying this game to play against the computer or campaign, I would recommend it, you can force the computers to play in a way that is actually fun and there bad enough that terrible civ design doesnt determine the outcome of every game before it even begins, if your wanting a multiplayer experience, play literally any other RTS, this game will be dead before the next expansion even drops and I would be shocked if they released more than 1 or two more token patches to fix Japan before completely abandoning the game, I have 0 faith the devs even know how to fix any of this, every patch is them blindly chasing community feedback that doesn't make sense or doesn't actually make a fun game

Grepolis made me buy this and I love it. Best of the AoE games since SW Battlegrounds and AoE II.

They respected the classic game, a few people do this lately, one of the best RTS games I have ever played.

The game from my childhood, with all its imperfections removed

Okayish RTS. Lacking a lot of quality of life and it has not aged that well. Movement speed of a group determined by its slowest member. Oh you selected a bunch of units? well the will move with the speed of a snail now. Better spend 2min to fix this mess now. Fun for a couple of coop rounds. Arena of the gods is a rather low effort game mode. Most games are exactly the same. For whatever reason you are forced to play as gaia mostly instead of having the freedom to pick any faction. Most boni are boring. Better coop RTS: Godsworn, northguard, conan unconquered, age of darkness.

gameplay improved but voice acting in campaign is a bit worse

it is relaxing and i enjoy it very much as single player gamewith all the new stuff in it

Great reboot of the Age of Mythology series. I hope they eventually make an Age of Mythology based on the Age of Empires 4 engine. The graphics are definitely improved, but still very dated compared to modern RTS games.

This is great game ! been playing since original ! question for you guys does anyone remember the Aztec civilisation mod that was fan created? my hopes with this post is to get the devs to look at bringing that mod over into retold and having it one day be full integrated. The mod was complete and had a very unique style of game play I think would help grow the community.

So Far I have loved the updates to this classic game. I still play the original but have enjoyed this game thus far.

Absolutely amazing game and recommend it to any strategy fan! The myth units and the God powers are so fun to use and add so much flair and personality to the game. The civilizations are so varied which makes for exciting and engaging gameplay, the campaigns are a blast to complete. Overall the game is fun, exciting and basically every match feels like an spectacle!

The remake is solid, fans of the OG will find a satisfying game in the new version. The campaign storylines are very simple, but the core gameplay loop is solid, I had a great time playing through the campaigns on hard mode.

Played the old version first and instantly enjoyed playing it. It has a lot of content and can spend hours playing it.

They didn’t just slap new textures on a classic. They resurrected it like a proper myth. Retold brings back all the childhood nostalgia of summoning lightning and hurling minotaurs, but now it looks like your memories think it looked. God Powers recharge, myth units actually do something, and the Wonder Age is a big-brain way to win without face-smashing every Titan on the map. Plus, you can finally automate villagers instead of babysitting them like ancient toddlers. Still the same chaotic, divine nonsense. Just shinier, smarter, and with better pathfinding (mostly). If you loved the original, Retold is like seeing your old favorite in 4K with a gym membership.

This game is every bit the classic age of mythology with some valuable updates that make it a very enjoyable experience. Looking forward to future development of it like AOE2.

This is an absolute next AOM. Feels great, has the spirit of AOE2 and the great five level balance of AOM most rts wont event try to do. fantastic game and has a great wonder age upgrade

Good game (when it works ; don't expect much stability over updates if you play on linux). However, for those who have played the original game, or its extended edition, this will feel like a dimmer, sketchier version. Hence my negative review. Dimmer, because, well : the original game was colorful, illustrations of powers, gods, techs, environments and light works, were colorful and evocative. Retold replaced all that with what i would at times almost call grimdark fantasy, or at the very least very generic, maybe dull, and sometimes off-topic. The overall feeling is like the game wants to be edgy/serious, instead of being what it is, ie fun and lighted. Even in the overall environments and game assets, i feel a tone down of color that also makes reading difficult. The sketchy part comes from a, much, much more demanding game engine that will just provide you with higher quality graphics showing lower quality art (again, dimmer, duller). It is to me all but a good tradeoff. Original game and extended edition worked better on my 20 years old windows 7 computer, than Retold on my 1080 GTX-based gaming setup.

Retold is amazing, even better than the original. Quite simply, this is the greatest RTS ever made. Not only is it fun, it has enough depth to make you think about which upgrades to take and which deities you want to play. So much versatility. Great care has been taken with unit design as well; the flavour and spirit is all there. Fantastic game. 10/10

Fun campain and I like the added quality of life improvements in retold.

Great adaptation of a childhood game to more modern standards. Enjoying the nostalgia of replaying the campaign and actually now understanding what I'm doing and how all to build God synergies between the ages!

Fantastic game, and recent fortifications update made it a lot more enjoyable!

A nostalgic game that I really loved playing in the distant past and I really enjoy playing it again. Things have changed for the better and I really like the different stages in the campaigns that exist. The different strategies and tactics. Highly recommend to anyone who hasn't had the chance to play.

It's likes stepping into a time machine back to my childhood. It's so true to the original but unique in its own right.

The vanilla Age of Mythology was, in my opinion, the best strategy game of all time. The same can be said for Age of Mythology: Retold. Simply outstanding.

There's a well known graphics bug that has been introduced with a patch about 6 + months ago. It renders most icons unrecognizable with random boxes and sometimes covers like 1/4 of your screen in a random color. It has not been fixed. It is not getting fixed. They do not care. Congrats on ruining a game that was running perfectly fine. Do not buy until this is fixed

If you loved the original you will be blown away by the remake. It's pretty much the exact same game just with improved graphics and improvements on bugs that drove us crazy in the original with some minor changes and more customization.

I have hundreds of hours playing the orginial AOM, and Retold is better in every way.

So played this on gamepass for a plethora of hours then decided to buy on steam. Great RTS, Worlds edge IMO is keeping the RTS genre alive. I'm still waiting over here to see if Starcraft will be revived for a 3rd game now that MS owns Activision. Great Game better to pick up on sale if you are able.

I was a fan of the original release- so I already liked the game. I'm likely to not be the only person, so the very high rating is likely skewed due to only those who liked the game are going to re-purchase the game in the first place. That being said- AoM is my favourite age of empire game period, and so I'm giving this a positive review. If you're new: This is the best way to play the goated AoM- and it's a good game with a long campaign. Can't talk about multiplayer because I've never really been into that. Only problems: The new god portraits do look like trash- but otherwise the game is good. The fact it's behind a paywall is just wack. I wish I switch the graphics between old and new- but oh well I bought the game and still have the original release copy so i can revisit it if I want. The china DLC: The new Chinese faction is neat- the campaign is quite short however. The mythical units do have the staples~ such as dragons. But alot of the new units are actually really unique and neat. I don't know if I can recommend it, but If you want more AoM, then go ahead.

Pretty cool, cant wait for new additions into the game, and maybe a buff to Norse. They kinda suck.

I really enjoy this game the only problem for me is probably optimization because when you get into a lobby with a bunch of players if they have the Greek God at age 4 that gives you resources for his special building to me it seems the game is trying to calculate everyone's resources when they're up in the 100,000 for each resource so the connection issue goes to hell late stage I personally have had a game with three human players and 3 defender AI late stage it with legs so bad that there is a two minute delay when selecting anything in game or commanding troops

I think it takes a little bit of time to get use to the new game but it really has better visuals and some quite good enhancements that makes sense now (like the fact that the Rock needs to land first to gather the people and then fly) and more boosts. I recommend it!

This is an outstanding update to a classic game. Solid graphics for an RTS, excellent UI, and tons of little extras that give you the freedom to make the game what you want it to be (highly customizable skirmish options, many unique civilizations and maps, photo mode, etc.) If you are a fan of RTS games, this is one to pick up! They did a great job incorporating fantasy elements with the various gods and their unique god powers. I do wish you could customize the tech trees for the gods, but that is my only minor criticism of the game. Well done!

Alright, basically TLDR: I love what they changed in visuals and AI enhancements and other gameplay tweaks..... except the voice acting. The new voice acting is actually trash. Luckily, there is a mod to go back to original voice acting (thank goodness). ***************************** I absolutely love almost everything they changed in Age of Mythology Retold. The visuals are gorgeous, the UI is much better, the new cheat codes are hilarious, and all the tweaks to the gameplay feel fantastic. They really put a lot of love into updating this classic, and it shows in almost every area. But oh boy, the voice acting… The new voice acting is actually trash. There is no other way to put it nicely. It sounds flat, lifeless, and painfully generic compared to the original, which had so much character and personality. I honestly have no idea how this made it through any sort of quality control when everything else got such a thoughtful upgrade. It feels like they blew the budget on visuals and then phoned in the VO at the last minute. Luckily, there is a mod to bring back the original voices (thank goodness), because without it I don’t think I could have played this with a straight face. I have high hopes for the upcoming Japan campaign, but I am praying the voice acting is better, or I will be very sad.

There is pathing issues so you have to micro manage big armies more but overall a major W remastered game!

Great game. If you are a fan of the original you will like this game. Graphics are pretty good for an RTS.

Game is super fun, better than the buggy original. Excited for the Japanese Pantheon to come out

new AI that is very... modern. aka it sucks when trying to automate anything yet the AI will rush you like you owe it money every game, so you need to manually control everything. there is no "relax, build base for fun big battle" its optimization while removing the fun. it is work and I cannot enjoy making games work. this game is trying to be age of empires 2 competitive with computer. not only is it worse at that, it is worse at being casual. this game failed at both appealing to the competitive and casual. I will say I like the balance changes, just wish there was a game mode to enjoy them in.

I love this game I just wish they would make a new game with new features like world building or 4x or whatever you wana call it. Games like "rise of nations" "Axis vs Allies" and "Crusader Kings 3". RTS mode and world Nation building. That's what the future of the genre will look like. Call to arms is a RTS with 3RD and 1ST person mode which is dope

A really good transport of an absolute classic to the 2020s; the original campaign is still one of the best in the RTS genre, additionally the solid, albeit short, addon campaign "The Titans" is included. The small bonus campaign "The Golden Gift" as well. These three campaigns alone make it a worthy buy. The "Legend" mode which was added in this version is basically just a "skirmish plus" and I'm not really the target group for that, the excuse of a story in it didn't really compell me either. What I like is the "Freyr god pack" included in the Deluxe edition; it adds a fun mission and a new major god + a few minor gods to the Norse. So while the new additions are merely an alright bonus for me, the old content, bundled together, combined with modern comfort features make it a really nice buy.

This game is a poor example of remake done wrong and also with non-existent quality control feedback. To put it bluntly, The amount of bugs may exceed the actual playable game content. Even if you are super casual, you can easily find a dozen of bugs in you first few hours of your play. If you really like the aesthetics, you maybe like me to care enough to report bugs and discuss on forum to cope that fix will come one day. Wrong. Each patch brings more unattended new bugs. However, know that the devs either don't have enough resources to fix them or don't care enough to fix a sold flawed product. This is a prime failure of multiple companies working on a same game without acknowledging accountability to paying customers. Avoid it at all(a small) cost. --------From an AOM lover since original with great patience and even greater disappointment.

I can't deal with the constant wolf howling. It adds nothing of value to the game and it's slowly making me insane. There is no way to turn it down without turning down all game sound effects, My understanding is that most long time players install a mod to disable the ambient animal noises but I don't think that should be necessary for a feature that's almost universally hated and has been present (and hated) in every previous version of the game.

Graphics is nice and still has the original design. easy to play

The best of both worlds : the original with better graphics and a few gameplay tweaks that make it more enjoyable in my opinion. Also, for those disappointed by the 2014 chinese extension, they remade it much better.

i played the original for years and it made me fall in love with mythology so seeing the game completly revised with new graphics fills my heart with joy

Co-op mode is great, as well as all the variations of troops and spells compared to age of empires

Not as good as the original version, while it has a lot good with it. a lot of it i disagree with artistically. as an atlantean i dont care for the redesigns and adjustments. The Faith Generation is an issue i have, and the change from Atlanteans being expansionist to just creating the max(10) oracles for faith generation. along with adjustments and changes artistically to the chinese pantheon. along with Wukong being missing which is sad. i miss my monkey boy ..

I loved this game as a kid, and I reallyyyyy want to love it now... but I just can't. The setting is sick, civilisations have fantastic differences, but the actual gameplay and strategy? The weaknesses/strengths of units etc? Ugh. Not good. If you're a casual or a pro, go for gold, all others? Leave it to the LAN nights if you've got no other AoE options