izigame.me

I had high hopes for this DLC, so much so I preordered it, something I've never done before. I only played a single skirmish match and was left feeling disappointed. There are a number of reasons for this.
I will begin with the positives:
- I enjoyed some of the quality of life changes that were added, which is a byproduct of AoE1 being added to the AoE2 engine.
- I liked how faithful the DLC is to the original AoE1 DE. I felt like I was playing the exact same game, but with the exception of some quality of life improvements (formations was a much needed addition), balancing (removing the Sacrafice technology and replacing it with Theocracy) and improved graphics (whilst also maintaining the original art style). Having said all that, I felt like if some more of AoE2 mechanics were implemented, if could have enhanced the overall experience (I explain further down).
- The soundtrack was familiar, although I felt like it lacked the punch of the original soundtrack.
- The sound effects were also familiar, but again lacked the punch of the original game.
Negatives:
- None of the original campaigns have been ported to this DLC. From what I read from the marketing, I expected the original campaigns to be there. I was surprised to find that they weren't. If you're going to make AoE1 DE obsolete, then you need to make sure all of the campaigns are available.
- The balancing is really, really bad. I played on easiest difficulty (I wanted to test each difficulty), and it was by far not easy. The AI completely maxed out their population, researched every technology, and spawned huge armies. Their bases were very difficult to get a foothold in due to the sheer number of opposing forces. I then built a wonder. Worst mistake I made, because all three AI players sent their entire armies, and it only took 5 swordsman to destroy my wonder in 20 seconds. The AI should not be this difficult on the easiest setting, neither should a wonder take 20 or less seconds to be destroyed by a handful of swordsman.
- The performance is not good. I was suffering from bad frame rate drops when my wonder was being destroyed. I never had this issue with AoE2 before, and I use an RTX 3070ti, so, yeah, that needs sorting.
- I feel like more of AoE2's mechanics could have been implemented here. Like AoE1 could have their own version of a castle, and each civ's castle allows them to research technologies and recruit units unique to their civ. AoE1 as a game and as a DLC just feels inferior to AoE2, so I feel its important to fix a lot of the issues in AoE1 and update it so it plays much like AoE2, but with some unique difference to set them apart. Either that, or you include the civs into the actual AoE2 game with their own civs, and not as a expansion (which Return to Rome is). Yes, it wouldn't make sense at times to have a skirmish match between Ancient Egyptians and the Spanish, but... who cares. Balance it, make it work and we'll have a jolly good time.
- The whole thing lacked polish. Even the menu feels off. I can't put my finger on why, but it just feels off.
- Not played the new campaigns, but I've not heard good things about them. Apparently they're poor quality and were made by modders who were outsources, because apparently Forgotten Empires hasn't got enough time to make a quality DLC. Makes me concerned for Age of Mythology: Retold.
- Units sometimes felt unresponsive and weren't attacking when they should, or auto attacking. Their animations look clunky, especially when in formation with other units.
- Some of the technology icons look like unit icons, so I got confused a couple of times on what was a technology and what was a unit without reading the description.
EDIT
- Units do not follow orders properly and get trapped behind walls and buildings.
- Since the last update, the performance has been abysmal with FPS drops 20 minutes into a match. Never been an issue before.
Not going to refund as I got this for £7, and there are some good, fun things about this DLC. But this felt incomplete. I'm sick and tired to games and DLCs being released half finished. This should be illegal and I really thing legal regulation needs to be put into effect to stop companies releasing trash. I hope that they update this and add the campaigns and fix the issues, but I also hope they get a grip and ensure every release from now onwards is complete and polished to the best of their ability. Feel like AAA companies are becoming scammers. I cannot recommend this game to anyone. I will not change my review if the DLC is improved upon through updates because it should never have been released in this state in the first place.
EDIT: Played a bit of the campaign. Yeah, not good. Quality is lacking. Pop limit 50-75. I also want to correct an inaccuracy with something I mentioned above. I stated that from what I read from the marketing, I expected the old campaigns to be ported over. I was wrong to state this. After rereading the marketing, they never mentioned anything about porting over the old campaigns (this is something other reviewers have highlighted, and they're accurate). I must've assumed that it would have been done regardless. I'm sorry for the misleading information I provided above. Having said that, I still stand by my comment regarding why would they not port over the campaigns if they're going to make AoE DE obsolete. I think it's a pretty major negative that they have not included the campaigns, and therefore my opinion on this DLC has not changed. Reviewers who are correcting the record on whether or not the marketing promised old campaigns are recommending the DLC, and I cannot begin to imagine why. It's broken. It's inferior. It's unbalanced. It's a half measure. It's a money grab. Stop enabling companies by recommending a DLC that is clearly not up to standard. They need to be held to account.