Microsoft are all set to release a new title in the Age of Empires franchise.
But before you get all excited about it, allow me to tell you it will be a freemium, i.e, a free to play game.
So yes, it will have IAPs (In App Purchases) for in game items. And it will only be available for Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1.
With that bit of disappointing information out of our way, let’s take a look at what else the game has to offer.
The game will weigh just 168 MB to download, and has 6 different civilizations to choose from:
Britons
Byzantines
Franks
Kievan Rus
Saracens
Teutonic Order
These civilizations reminds us of Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings, doesn’t it? In fact it has heroes from the classic game too, including Richard the Lionheart and Charlemagne.
Each civilization has six or more unique units, cavalry and trebuchets. The game also features historical battles, such as the Siege of Marienburg and the Fall of Constantinople. This suggests it may have single player mode as well.
But the game has rather cartoony graphics which you can see in the screenshots below:
Official Video Trailer:
You start out with a castle, which you will have to expand into a city with walls, and build an army to defend against marauders. You will have to gather resources to manage your empire.
The game uses a swipe control system for touchscreen devices, as seen in the trailer video.
Besides support for Xbox Live, the game also uses cross platform play for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 devices. It is unclear whether the game will be released for Android, iOS and Mac devices.
We have a few Windows 8.1 PCs and a Lumia 1320, eagerly waiting for the game’s launch, so we will test it as soon as it is released. You can visit the game’s official webpage for more information.
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