Age of Mythology: Retold

Release Date: 2024

Platforms: Xbox Series X/S, PC

I am very much not an RTS person, so perhaps I won’t do Age of Mythology: Retold justice, and for that, I’m sorry. But even I can understand the excitement around Retold’s release, as it’s finally bringing back a 22-year-old RTS classic with modern graphics, improved mechanics, and a chance to fight through Greek, Norse, Egyptian, and Atlantean pantheons. And instead of having just swords, shields, spears, and other typical classic RTS weapons to fight with, you’ll get some sick powers as well: Zeus’ lightning, a barrage of meteors, dragons, centaurs, crocodiles, cyclops—you name it, Age of Mythology: Retold probably has it.

During my playthrough, I quickly picked up on some of the hotkeys to make this RTS really sing, like selecting the entirety of my troops in one click so I could direct them to destroy an enemy stronghold, or pressing F3 to heal everyone in the vicinity. There is a zen-like appeal to RTS games that my hands-on has allowed me to understand, and I zone out almost immediately. Before I know it, the preview is over. A rep for the dev team said that the goal with Age of Mythology: Retold was to attract non-RTS players, and it could very well do that—it’s available day one on Xbox Game Pass for the Series X/S and PC. — Alyssa