The closed beta of Age of Empires 4 has started and unsurprisingly, despite the secrecy clause, the first leaks with new info on the game are surfacing.
That was fast: Only a few hours after the start of the closed beta for Age of Empires 4, the first gameplay has been leaked on Youtube. The video is almost 45 minutes long and comes from a person unknown to us who was apparently selected for the closed beta.
Actually, Microsoft has imposed an absolute embargo on the beta, which prohibits the publication of any gameplay scenes. Anyone who has access is not allowed to say or write anything about these impressions. That’s why the video has disappeared in the meantime. But we all know how well the internet forgets.
Of course, we have also seen the material and discussed whether we should report on it. But at the end of the day, it’s our job to keep you up to date on all available Age of Empires 4 info.
So read on in the knowledge that this is info from a leak, including potential spoilers, and not anything we’ve played ourselves. Of course, a lot can still happen before the release or the next official preview version. But experience shows that campaign missions are already relatively final three months before the release.
Here you can find official gameplay again
What can be seen in the video
The leaked video shows the complete tutorial mission of the beta. This is not the first mission of one of the four campaigns, but an independent tutorial for the basics of the game. In the mission we play on the side of the English and build up a village. The mission is over when the second age is completed.
Until now, Microsoft has never released a longer video in which minutes of coherent gameplay could be seen. So the leaked footage is the first to give us an almost uncoloured impression of Age of Empires 4. However, as the tutorial is very short, does not introduce all the mechanics and also only highlights the English, there are few deeper insights into the gameplay.
A home for Age 2 fans
One thing is immediately apparent in this video, though: Age of Empires 4 feels extremely like Age of Empires 2 in it. The two games really are extraordinarily close. Judging by these (very limited) gameplay scenes, you could almost think of Age 4 as a 3D remake of Age 2. We also already know from previous developer interviews that they are treating Age 4 more like a spiritual successor to Age 2 than to AoE 3.
At its core, there is quite a lot of what we know from Age 2 (or even other offshoots of the series).
– The sounds: Every Age 2 player will first notice the sound effects. It all sounds very much like the old days. When a new villager is trained, there is again a clearly audible … um, exhale? This sound here. The voices of the units, speaking in their ancient language, also immediately exude Age atmosphere.
– Collecting food: The first thing to do is to collect food. To do this, the villagers run to a nearby berry bush and carry the harvest to the village centre. Later, the villagers build a mill. The best place is near the bushes. The second source of food is small fields. Wild boars or other hunting prey is not seen in the tutorial.
– Collecting resources: Besides food, the other three resources are of great importance. For this purpose, villagers are sent out individually to cut down trees or to build a mining camp near gold veins. Stone seems rather unimportant for the first buildings. At least no stone can be mined in the tutorial and is not needed by any building.
– Population limit: After some time the village needs more inhabitants than can live there. The population limit is initially ten. Each new house increases the limit by another ten points.
– Train soldiers: The goings-on do not remain peaceful. In the course of the tutorial, new units are always being trained. Spearmen are created in barracks, light horsemen in stables and shooting ranges are built for archers. This is where familiar weaknesses and strengths come into play. Spearmen bring down horsemen, archers slay infantry, horsemen overrun archers.
– Ages: Advancing is a little different, but somehow also the same. Because to get to the next age, we still need food and gold. Only now special buildings are additionally created here. For the English, this is the White Tower for the Knight Age. Although this is a castle, no stone is needed for it either.
But of course the tutorial only highlights the absolute basics. Basics that we probably expect in any Age of Empires. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see how close Age 4 is to Age 2 not only in theory, but also in played practice.
