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[fizzelopeguss]

Serious flashbacks here.

Zeus was always my favourite impressions title.

 

[Funky Papa]

I was about to say that the general look resembles a jazzed up version of the old RTS from the 90's.

A Warcraft game with a similar style would be the fucking shit.

 

[verbum]

AOEO is doing nothing for me.

Sign up for the beta, be part of the process, let them know your opinions. It can't hurt.

 

[suplex]

wooo new empires

i also prefer the old artstyle, but this still looks pretty damn good.

 

[Krev]

Beautiful artstyle for the new AoE. As has been said, very 90s RTS, and also very endearing and painterly.

 

[Hari Seldon]

Is the Beta easy to get in or highly selective?

Although I'm much more excited about a new Flight Sim!!!!!! MS, you are earning some PC love back. Just fix GFWL for the love of baby jesus.

 

[butsomuch]

Off-Screen Gameplay Footage

 

[sweetvar26]

Serious flashbacks here.

Zeus was always my favourite impressions title.

I like Pharaoh as well, I even played it couple of years ago, still a good game.

 

[Aesius]

Wow - I thought Age of Empires was dead. How glad I am to be wrong.

Love the new artstyle!

 

[derFeef]

Off-Screen Gameplay Footage

That looks really nice and there seems to be a lot of stuff to do on that hub map.

 

[Katana_Strikes]

Is AOE Online single player too?

DO want if so.

 

[butsomuch]

http://flashofsteel.com/index.php/2010/08/17/age-of-empires-online-2/

The big differences?

1) This is Ensemble (sort of) and they have earned my faith.

2) There are quests, both solo and co-op, which means you have things to do that don’t just involved saving up for that next building

3) They are starting with one Civilization but promising others post-release. So more varied game play and experiences will be available.

4) The battles look like battles, so there is going to be some real online RTS stuff here and not just shuffling a certain number of spearmen around and waiting.

5) Villagers “pick berries, chop wood, and construct the buildings you use to train your army. Their upgrades let them carry more resources and move and build faster.” An econ heavy online RTS?

 

[Sipowicz]

stunning. definitely check it out

hope it's not a BOHICA shitfest like battlefield heroes though

 

[Caesar III]

I like the serious game vibe this game has. If it's as complex and satisfying as Stronghold Kingdoms I'm all for it. And I LOVE the artstyle already.

 

[Veritas_]

http://flashofsteel.com/index.php/2010/08/17/age-of-empires-online-2/

3) They are starting with one Civilization but promising others post-release. So more varied game play and experiences will be available.

The fuck? Age of Empire.

 

[Nemo]

Serious flashbacks here.

Zeus was always my favourite impressions title.

ONE OF THE BEST MOTHERFUCKING PC GAMES EVER


With that said, I dunno what to think about it. It's either going to be love it or hate it entirely

 

[Azih]

Microtransaction for more Empire probablys . What about my longbows?

 

[Polk]

My guess is MSF will be part of the push towards DX11.

Why? They pushed DX10 because of Vista. DX11 doesn't generate income for them.

 

[Ceebs]

Please let Flight be an actual flight sim and not casual city.

 

[Dead Prince]

signed up for the beta. i like the style. looks cute ;3

 

[Malio]

Is Microsoft suffering from a bipolar disorder?

MS in 2009: We hate PC games. Let's close Ensemble Studios and ACES Game Studio and stop development of all 360 to PC ports. Sorry, no Fable II on PC.

MS in 2010: PC gaming? Love it. Let's have another Age of Empires and Flight Simulator game. Yay for Fable III on PC!

If you are ever confused as to the reason of something involving a business, here's your answer; money.

 

[erpg]

Looks great! Not seeing the Ensemble logo makes me a sad man, however.

 

[Woakes]

It's about time flight simulator used microsoft earth streaming with enhancments on disc for textures and hieghtmaps, and an mmo-ish flight experience. It's the logical step to take and I think it'd be epic.

Here's hoping.

 

[wolfmat]

Why? They pushed DX10 because of Vista. DX11 doesn't generate income for them.

Whatever, I'm not a marketing guru. But if they ever wanted to push DX11, MSF would be a good opportunity.

 

[blitz64]

All these free to play online games seems to have the same cartoony art style.

Battlefield heroes and League of legends have a cartoony feel to it.

This is defintely great news. I loved Age of Empires 1.

 

[obonicus]

Shitcan Ensemble, then immediately offer them a publishing deal if they start an independent studio. Result: Fewer liabilities on your payroll, no obligation to support to the company when they work on pitches that you turn down, and you still get the exact same games.

I was under the impression that most, if not all of the designers people actually heard about didn't join Robot.

 

[AwesomeSyrup]

I will be playing this like crazy.

 

[Katana_Strikes]

No offline play? No interest.

 

[Hari Seldon]

I am embarrassed to say that even though I have been a PC gamer since the early 90s I do not recall ever playing any of the Age of Empire games. I looked on gog and none are there. Is there a way to legally play these without resorting to ebay?

 

[GWX]

Age of Empires Online looks awesome. It reminds me of Anno 1404 (Wii) art style.

 

[blitz64]

I am embarrassed to say that even though I have been a PC gamer since the early 90s I do not recall ever playing any of the Age of Empire games. I looked on gog and none are there. Is there a way to legally play these without resorting to ebay?

Age of Empires 3 are still being sold at Target, Bestbuy, everywhere. I think they are selling the new collectors bundle that includes all the expansion packs.

 

[Netrunner2k2]

I am embarrassed to say that even though I have been a PC gamer since the early 90s I do not recall ever playing any of the Age of Empire games. I looked on gog and none are there. Is there a way to legally play these without resorting to ebay?

I'm pretty sure you can find AoE2 + the expansion at Walmart and Office Max in the PC games area in those little jewel cases these days. It is like 10 bucks or something.

 

[Hari Seldon]

I'm pretty sure you can find AoE2 + the expansion at Walmart and Office Max in the PC games area in those little jewel cases these days.

Just bought AOE1 and AOE2 + all expansions for $9. I love Amazon Prime.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000J18SR2/?tag=neogaf0e-20

They have AOE3 for $35 including all expansions, is AoE3 worth it compared to the first 2?

 

[blitz64]

I wish all these free online rts games came out 2 years ago when I was looking for an active rts community.

Starcraft 2 will occupy most of time now. I suggest playing sc2 now instead of playing Age of Empire 1-3.

This game will compete with Company of Heroes Online which is coming out end of the year. They both try to capture the free to play audience.

 

[Azih]

I liked AoEII best myself. I think it might still have the best auto formations and pathfinding in RTS games. Plus Random maps!

 

[Sydle]

AoE is beautiful.

I'm glad this is happening... But man, does Microsoft ever have any idea what they're going to be doing months from any decision? Why dismantle Ensemble just to hire their talent for work not long after? What benefit was there to shutting them down?

Reduce overhead and/or eliminate people they don't want (usually senior management). I've seen this happen a couple of times in the corporate world where entire teams will be dissolved because of a handful of people at the top just aren't cutting it. The talent is retained and reassigned.

IDK, but to me it looks like the Ensemble talent got a pretty good deal by becoming an independent studio and getting straight to work on a MS funded game.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I liked AoEII best myself.

Not many people like I or III better

 

[WillyFive]

You have no idea how excited that Microsoft Flight teaser made me.

 

[Big-ass Ramp]

As a Flight Sim fan, I'm both really excited and really nervous for Microsoft Flight. I hope they don't neuter the experience too much.

 

[ZZMitch]

So good.

 

[Slayven]

I hope this leads to MS Space Simulator online.

 

[Lunchbox]

the art style looks awesome

 

[Haunted]

So if AoEO is free to play online, what kind of microtransactions can we expect so the project can pay for itself?

 

[cwmartin]

Going to attempt to hop in the beta when i get home, but i have a quick question about the LIVE ID stuff. If i dont have an Xbox Live Gamertag, but will be getting one soon, can i just make this account and then activate it on xbox live to gold and use it both on xbox and gfw?

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

I hope this leads to MS Space Simulator online.

I do not really see the need for a new one. NASA is working on their own free to play online title that will encompass space flight, as well as the exploration of the Moon and Mars.

The recently released Moonbase Alphas is only a proof of concept for something much bigger.

 

[Dascu]

So if AoEO is free to play online, what kind of microtransactions can we expect so the project can pay for itself?

Wololo taunts are paid DLC.

 

[Skilotonn]

On one hand I'm still pissed that Ensemble doesn't exist anymore by name, but it's makes me feel good to see most of them back, and making THEIR game once again, my favorite RTS by far, and one of my favourite PC games period.

I've never thought I'd see a new AoE game ever again - bot all of them as Collector's Editions, and I'll be picking this one up as well, plus I signed up for the beta early this morning.

Game looks absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Afrikan]

I hope this leads to MS Space Simulator online.

I wouldn't be surprised if Google beat them to it.

 

[enzo_gt]

Off-Screen Gameplay Footage

holy shit

 

[Varion]

New Age of Empires is awesome and the artstyle looks great, but online only and download only?

Sorry, no thanks. This does give me hope that one day there'll be another offline one though.