Age of Empires is really a hallmark franchise for RTS gamers, with many of us enjoying a ton of childhood memories involving Age of Empires 1 and 2, and, no doubt, various cheat code shenanigans.<\/p>\n
Many, myself included, were somewhat disappointed by the much later third installment of the game, feeling it didn’t quite capture the magic of the first two. A new AoE game has since been announced, Age of Empires Online, and fans of the franchise are very curious as to how it will turn out.<\/p>\n
A recent trailer shows a very different graphical style – unlike the “true to life” graphics of the previous games, this one is a lot more stylized, with a very cartoony kind of feel – think Team Fortress 2.<\/p>\n
Mike Stout, boasting the ludicrously long job title of Group Product Manager of Xbox Product Marketing at Microsoft, has explained the new style.<\/p>\n
“The new aesthetics allow the game to perform better over the long haul – this includes faster load times and adds a new charm to the game,” said Stout. “And, while there is a technical rationale behind the decision, we also believe this art style provides a fresh face to an established franchise, a key criterion in’re-launching’ the franchise.”<\/p>\n
It doesn’t take much reading between the lines to figure out that the graphical style was largely based on performance concerns. While this may put off some fans of the franchise, let’s hope the gameplay will speak louder than the graphics.<\/p>\n