Age of Empires 4 Impressive on PlayStation 5
Microsoft has quickly shifted it’s software focus within the last year, and more and more first party titles are starting to arrive on rival platforms. Probably one game that isn’t getting a lot of buzz is Age of Empires 4, which joins Age of Mythology: Retold and Age of Empires 2 on Sony’s flagship console.
We reviewed the console version of Age of Empires 4 when it launched on the Xbox Series X in 2021, and were really impressed with how the game ran. While we suggest you give that read to understand our fuller thoughts on the game after dozens of hours, here is a snippet of what we had to say in that review:
Overall, I would give the game a 9/10, with the only major problem being the lack of civilizations to play as. I had no game breaking bugs, or issues with the game. It looks similar to Age of Empires 3, and plays as a mixture of that and Age of Empires 2. Having a choice at aging up is similar to 3, while unit productions, and the economy are similar to 2. But from top to bottom, it is a solidly polished title with lots of upside!
The game has come a long way since 2021, with tons of civilizations to play as, unique opportunities within each civilization, and more. This all runs brilliantly and looks phenomenal on PlayStation 5 as well. The button controls on the Dual Sense controller just make sense, and while I was apprehensive about playing with the controller, it made for a very comfy couch experience. That said, when more series I definitely hooked up a wireless mouse and keyboard and play that way instead, which I think is still my preferred way to play. If you don’t have that option, though, the controller is perfectly fine!
You’ll use a combination of radial wheels to select military buildings, economic buildings, and so on, and then use a sub-wheel to select the specific buildings you want. Holding down a trigger will allow you to do some multi-placing (great for houses). Moving units around the map is easy as well, holding down buttons to grap a bunch of units, and having the ability to assign units to groups, something I didn’t expect to see here. I liked all the user interface as well. You can quickly toggle your idle villagers, grab all your military units, and even decide what type of economy you want to run, which auto sends your villagers to work based on your resource needs. These are smart changes to a tried and tested formula that just make the entire experience so much more enjoyable. More time spent on strategy, less time moving villagers from A to B to C.
New DLC has launched for Age of Empires 4 since we reviewed the game before, and it brings in new scenarios and civilizations to play as. This alleviates some of our concerns with the game when it first launched, and quickly pivots Age of Empires 4 into our top 2 or 3 real time strategy games of all time. The AI difficulty spikes we mentioned when the game first launched still seem to be here, which makes playing single player a bit more frustrating than I want it to be, but perhaps with more time and skill I can overcome those hurtles.
This is a fantastic package, and it being available on the PlayStation 5 just provides more people the opportunity to play. We cannot recommend this experience, and all of the Age of Empires franchise on PlayStation 5, enough!
Article By Adam
