Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome Review (Dr.͓̇ No̜͘ (joey20100))
I don’t want to leave a negative review, but in the case of this DLC, I’d have to lie to recommend it.
One major thing I just don’t understand: Who is the target audience?
This DLC is essentially a copy of Age of Empires I with better graphics. That sounds fine in theory, but we already have Age of Empires I: Definitive Edition. So why include the same game in Age of Empires II?
I could understand if the goal was to release a remastered version of AoE I in the style of AoE II—with castles, town centers that can fire arrows (more on that later), and other improvements. But does this DLC actually justify another re-re-release of AoE I? No—quite the opposite.
It’s almost ironic: the predecessor, AoE I, gets added as DLC to its successor, AoE II, but without any effort to integrate the two in a meaningful way. The gameplay in this DLC feels far more disconnected from AoE II than even some of the wildest campaign missions, modded or unmodded.
The building choices are bizarre, and the upgrade system makes even less sense. Some upgrades are tied to completely unrelated buildings. For example, there’s a granary for food storage and a storage pit for wood, gold, and stone. Simple enough. But strangely, you can also deposit food in the storage pit.
So where do you upgrade your farms? You might assume the granary—almost! Instead, the granary is used to upgrade walls (???), while farm upgrades, along with those for wood and gold, are found in the market. And military units? They’re upgraded in the storage pit.
The entire system lacks consistency or internal logic. Why do I need a granary to upgrade walls? Is there any reason beyond Rise of Rome’s seemingly random approach to building functions? It feels like opening a present without knowing what bizarre upgrade you’ll get next.
Another oddity: The town center has a bell you can ring—just like in AoE II—but unlike in AoE II, the town center can’t fire arrows. So what’s the point? All it does is gather your villagers together, essentially delivering them straight to the enemy for an easier slaughter.
If this DLC had brought AoE I into AoE II’s framework—adding a blacksmith for upgrades, separate mining camps and lumber camps—it could have been an interesting and worthwhile addition. Players looking for a more refined version of AoE I could play this DLC, while nostalgia seekers could stick with AoE I: Definitive Edition. But as it stands, this just doesn’t make sense.
The only real reason to get this DLC is for the three new campaigns, which are decent. Beyond that, this is probably the first DLC in the entire series that feels completely skippable.