I just saw a lot of negativity here and wanted to give an alternative viewpoint.
Will Age of Empires 4 be the best game ever? Probably not but most games aren't, will it be the best new RTS game in like 10 years? I think so! (Not that that's a hard thing)
I think comparing it to one of the great games of all time (age2) is a mistake by that logic 99.9% of games are trash instead we should look at what the alternatives are for people that want to play a new game because they finished all the aoe2 campaigs played it online for many hundreds of hours and just want something different to mix it up like me. Not every game needs to be the next eSports mega hit people play for 30 years it's fine to buy a game play it for 300-400 hours and then move on.
So far my experience with the beta has been overwhelmingly positive, the game runs stable and fast on my 5 year old GTX 970, it offers interesting new challenges with each civ that are significantly different from age2 without losing the connection and core gameplay we like and it's still every bit as challenging as any other RTS game.
Yes the Town centre bell is a meme and the new camera angle will take some getting used to but overall this was the most polished beta I have ever played in and I am sure it will be even better when it comes out. One year from now people will still be playing it and have fun with a game that will be even better with even more civs. You like Age of Empires 2 better? Well so do I but at this point I could definitely use something new to mix it up for a year or two.
Will Age of Empires 4 be the best game ever? Probably not but most games aren't, will it be the best new RTS game in like 10 years? I think so! (Not that that's a hard thing)
I think comparing it to one of the great games of all time (age2) is a mistake by that logic 99.9% of games are trash instead we should look at what the alternatives are for people that want to play a new game because they finished all the aoe2 campaigs played it online for many hundreds of hours and just want something different to mix it up like me. Not every game needs to be the next eSports mega hit people play for 30 years it's fine to buy a game play it for 300-400 hours and then move on.
So far my experience with the beta has been overwhelmingly positive, the game runs stable and fast on my 5 year old GTX 970, it offers interesting new challenges with each civ that are significantly different from age2 without losing the connection and core gameplay we like and it's still every bit as challenging as any other RTS game.
Yes the Town centre bell is a meme and the new camera angle will take some getting used to but overall this was the most polished beta I have ever played in and I am sure it will be even better when it comes out. One year from now people will still be playing it and have fun with a game that will be even better with even more civs. You like Age of Empires 2 better? Well so do I but at this point I could definitely use something new to mix it up for a year or two.