My Review of Age of Empires: World Domination

If you’re anything like me, you spent countless hours as a kid playing Age of Empires. From time to time, I find myself thinking about the game, eagerly awaiting the day I can play it once again. I always had faith that the franchise wasn’t dead yet.

There have been rumors about an Age of Empires game for mobile devices for a few years now. While Microsoft did release Age of Empires: Castle Siege for iOS, many of us knew that it wasn’t the Age of Empires game we had been hoping for.

That game has just been launched, though it seems to only be available in Singapore and the Philippines for now. However, it’s almost certain that it will be released worldwide in the near future. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the game and check if it lives up to my childhood dreams.

Design

When you first open the game, you will go through the usual mobile game process. Signing up, choosing a name, downloading additional files, and so on. After that, you’ll go through a lengthy training period to learn the ins and outs of the game.

Let me make one thing clear: if you’re expecting to play the classic Age of Empires games on your mobile device, you’ll be disappointed. It’s just not the same game. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s important to know.

The menus and main screen are pretty easy to get used to, especially after a few days. The game doesn’t rely heavily on graphics, but they’re actually quite good for the type of game it is.

Gameplay

While the game looks good, unfortunately, it’s quite confusing. Allow me to try to explain things below, although I might end up confusing myself in the process.

In Age of Empires: World Domination, just like in previous Age of Empires games, you start by building different supply centers. These centers automatically collect wood, gold, ore, food, and gems for you. No need to send villagers to gather supplies like in the old games. These supplies are used for tasks like building and upgrading buildings, and training soldiers. Gems can also be purchased with real-world money to speed up upgrades and training.

There are four types of soldiers: militia, spearman, scout cavalry, and archer. Each type of soldier is assigned to different heroes, with certain heroes having advantages when paired with the right kind of army. You’ll also build structures related to each type of army, with different buildings training different soldiers.

The building of your town, training and assigning armies, and collecting supplies all happen on one screen, while battles take place on another.

As in many other games, you’ll travel to different areas on a map to conquer them and progress through the game world.

Battles

During battles, you’ll start with your garrison, which is your main building where you can send out heroes and their associated armies. Armies can be assigned to different modes. For example, at the start of a battle, the battleground is usually covered in darkness, and armies need to explore to find the enemy and suitable land for building.

The objective of most battles is simply to destroy the enemy garrison within ten minutes. If you run out of time or if your garrison is destroyed by the enemy, you lose.

After a battle, you’ll receive rewards such as extra supplies, gems, and other items that can help you advance your civilization. You’ll also gain experience points, which will level you up. After reaching a certain level, you can trade supplies to advance to a new “age.” Advancing through ages is the main goal of the game and unlocks better performing buildings, increased capacities, and overall progress as a player.

Conclusions

Did I confuse you enough? In reality, it’s not too difficult. After an hour or so of playing, you’ll get the hang of the game and understand the different aspects and supplies.

All in all, Age of Empires: World Domination is a commendable attempt at a mobile version of Age of Empires. I would love to see the original games ported to iOS and Android, but it’s understandable why that may never happen. The game manages to appeal to both long-time Age of Empires fans and newcomers, despite initial confusion about how it works. Plus, the game is free to play, with optional in-game purchases.

If you’re an Android user, you can download the game from the Google Play Store, and if you’re an iOS user, head to the App Store. If you can’t find the game yet, it probably hasn’t been released in your country. Don’t worry if your device isn’t compatible right now – just keep checking back!