Hilarious in Hindsight: The hardcover artbook◊ that comes with the Collector's Edition of III showed artwork for a IV and a V, the former depicting a Vietnam-era American soldier, and the latter depicting a Space Marine. Ensemble Studios later developed Halo Wars, featuring SPARTAN supersoldiers that bear resemblance to the said space marine. After the closure of Ensemble Studios, in 2017 it was announced that the real 4th entry would be developed by Relic Entertainment, who develop the Dawn of War games, which is a license of Warhammer 40,000, one of the most prominent depictions of the space marine genre.
Inverted with Age of Empires Online: it was frequently accused of this, despite the development team involving a lot of ex-Ensemble staff.
During the early days of the HD version of II and its expansions, a faction of purists (especially on the competitive scene) stuck only to the original Conquerors.
Subverted with the Relic-developed IV, whose main criticism is that It's the Same, Now It Sucks! regarding II, however this didn't made a dent in the game's popularity.
◊ that comes with the Collector's Edition of III showed artwork for a IV and a V, the former depicting a Vietnam-era American soldier, and the latter depicting a Space Marine. Ensemble Studios later developed Halo Wars, featuring SPARTAN supersoldiers that bear resemblance to the said space marine. After the closure of Ensemble Studios, in 2017 it was announced that the real 4th entry would be developed by Relic Entertainment, who develop the Dawn of War games, which is a license of Warhammer 40,000, one of the most prominent depictions of the space marine genre.
