Age of Empires will follow in the path of the Call of Duty series
Each game in the AOE series gradually moves forward in time period. The AOE series is usually set in historical periods. Eventually the AOE will have a game set in the modern day and like the Call of Duty series, never return to making games based in its original historical periods. They might even make several games based in the near future.- Considering the studio that makes the games has shut down, this one is likely jossed...
- Double jossed. Age of Empires IV has been announced and Relic Entertainment is taking care of it.
- And Call of Duty is returning to World War II.
- Considering the back of the Collector's Edition
◊ of Age of Empires III predating the announcement of the new game for more than a decade, it's definitively a possibility.
If they ever make Age of Empires 4, the game would be set in the time between the start of the American Civil War and the end of the First World War
- Because the American Civil War is where the tech levels of AOE 3 end around; the first 2 ages would represent the industrial age, the third age would represent the tech at the beginning of the First World War, and the fourth age would represent tech from near the end.
- Jossed with the announcement video. The X019 teaser has the Mongols laying siege to a medieval European city.
The remaining civilizations for Age of Empires IV on release
So far, they have revealed four civilizations: the Chinese, the English, the Delhi Sultanate and the Mongols, and it is stated that there will be eight empires on release.- The Abbasid Caliphate: Emphasis on hit and run tactics and piety.
- Confirmed!
- The Byzantines: THE defensive civilization.
- The Holy Roman Empire: Brute force and piety.
- Confirmed!
- The Norse: Infantry and raiding, with an additional naval emphasis.
The reason for the switch to a documentary focus is not so much to make it educational, but to downplay the sense of personal responsibility for the various tides of the war.
Having a narrator explain everything changes the tone. For instance, after the second Norman campaign mission, we're told "William's retribution against the North killed 100,000 people." Interesting, and a lot easier to take than "Congratulations, you just killed 100,000 people!"Possible new DLC civilizations
- The Byzantines: As stated above, they could be heavily focused on defense.
- The Ottoman Empire
- Confirmed as free DLC for the game anniversary
- Since they are not included as the umbrella civilization "Turks" as in Age of Empires 2, is it possible to have a separate civilization of The Seljuks.
- The Spanish
- The Japanese
- The Vikings
- The Magyars
- The Poles
- The Koreans
- The Khmer
- Majapahit
- The Chola empire
- The Ethiopians
- As "Sarracens" does not exist as a umbrella civilization for medieval arab muslims like in Age of Empires 2, it is possible to have a more diverse set of civilizations like:
- Egyptian Mamluk sultanate
- Al-Andalus
- Ayyubid Sultanate
- The Swahili
- The Timurid Empire
- The Lombards (umbrella civilization for medieval italians)
- Venice
The Cistern of the First Hill landmark of the Byzantines is a Fountain of Youth
The water from the Cistern can heal Byzantine units for inexplicable reason, so perhaps the Historical Fantasy single-player campaign of 3 is canon to 4 and the Cistern has magical property. Perhaps the reason why the Turks in 3 are so hellbent on destroying the Fountain of Youth in America is that they already have their own in Istanbul, and don't want any competition.