The sequel to AoE has already been remastered as AoE II: HD and is currently available on Steam for Rs 565. The first ever RTS game is not definitively known, as some say that even Chess and Go qualify, but AoE, alongside Warcraft, Command & Conquer and Starcraft, forms the basis of the genre. To those too young to remember, AoE pitted a dozen civilisations against each other in a race to destruction and was one of the first, history-based RTS games ever released. The game was originally developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft, but Ensemble Studios packed up shop in 2009, leaving the IP with Microsoft. You can sign up for the beta at the link here.ĪoE is, to many gamers, the very definition of the RTS genre. The Definitive Edition will debut in “later this year”, but a beta will be available in June. The Rise of Rome expansion is also included in the remaster. For a game that was release in 1997, two decades ago, that’s one hell of an upgrade. If that wasn’t enough, the game will apparently include Xbox Live and multiplayer support. Dubbed the Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, the remaster will include updated sprites, a brand new orchestral score, bug fixes and improved path finding. Microsoft’s seminal real-time strategy (RTS) game, Age of Empires (AoE), is getting a 4K remake this year.
