Sure, it now leans on its 2019 remaster, but it’s incredible to think that Age of Empires 2 is still going super strong 25 years on from when it first graced our PCs. It is undisputable strategy game royalty and expansions are still arriving thick and fast for it. In an exciting new announcement World’s Edge has revealed AoE2’s next expansion – however, it’s unlike anything we’ve seen before, and it’s not even World’s Edge that’s making it.
So, what’s going down in one of the best strategy games ever? Well, the new expansion for Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition is called Chronicles: Battle for Greece, and as you’d expect it is set in ancient Greece, covering roughly a century of history from the Ionian Revolt all the way through to the end of the Peloponnesian Wars. This is a lengthy narrative expansion with a 21-scenario campaign that is peppered with some gorgeous-looking animated cutscenes.
Gameplay-wise, it’s pretty transformational too. There are three new civilizations to play (the Athenians, Spartans, and Achaemenids) and a grand total of 74 new units. 55 of these are ground units, and a further 19 are naval units that feed into a new naval combat system that’s unique to Battle for Greece. The new civilizations too have some fresh, experimental mechanics for you to enjoy, but in a surprise twist, they won’t be added to Ranked.
“In the case of Chronicles: Battle for Greece, we really wanted to try some unconventional things with gameplay, play around with the Tech Tree, and try some new things with Naval that weren’t going to harmonize with the balance in Ranked,” the developers explain in an announcement post.
The devs do reassure players that this is not the end of expansions adding new civilizations that can be used competitively. However, Battle for Greece sits as a single-player narrative DLC that looks to push gameplay boundaries.
So that’s one reason why it’s a very unique expansion, and I’m about to give you another. Battle for Greece has not been created by World’s Edge. Instead, it’s the team over at CaptureAge that has crafted the entire experience. CaptureAge was previously a fan-made spectator tool for Age of Empires 2, but the team was brought in as an actual support studio for AoE a few years back. Having recently recently bolstered its ranks with some veteran Age of Empires modders and developers with experience working on AAA games, this once small community team is now responsible for an entire AoE2 expansion. Pretty cool.
Battle for Greece is also the first in a series of similar expansions that will arrive in the future, all with the Chronicles subtitle. They will be “dedicated to narrative and historical immersion, primarily with a single-player focus.”
Chronicles: Battle for Greece hits Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition on Thursday November 14, and there’s currently a 15% discount on the expansion if you pre-order on Steam. You can grab that deal, and read the full announcement post about the expansion, right here.
Until then, why not check out some other contenders for the best RTS games on PC right now? Or, you can take a look at what else is dropping for the remainder of 2024 with our list of upcoming PC games.
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