Age Of Empires Mobile Preview - A mobile adaptation in work with a lot of heart and soul (Final Trial)

Age Of Empires Mobile is co-developed by TiMi Studio Group and World's Edge an Xbox Games Studio. It is being published by Level Infinite. Much like old wine in a new bottle, Age Of Empires Mobile brings an age-old legacy game to mobile devices, that can now be played anywhere. Much like the original title, you take control of a humble village and advance through the ages to find glory and etch your name in the annals of history.

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Age Of Empires Mobile: First impressions and gameplay

When I was offered hands-on access to Age Of Empires Mobile, I expected an RTS game brought to life for mobile devices. However, I was shocked to see just how complex it would be. When I think of Age Of Empires Mobile, I think of rudimentary mechanics and features, but to my surprise, it was everything including the kitchen sink, and then some.

Suffice it to say, I was shocked, overjoyed, and just outright flabbergasted by the amount of content that has been packed into the game. Regrettably, over time, I just got overwhelmed. Is it a bad thing? No, it's not, but there's just so much going on at any given time. I should be clear that this is not the final version of the game, and changes may be implemented before release. That said, let's jump into a hands-on preview.

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Gameplay Mechanics

Battles are fun, but well, shortlived (Image via Level Infinite)

Since there's quite a bit to go over, let's start at the basics: Gameplay mechanics. What made Age Of Empires stand out is your ability to control units and group them into a rudimentary formation. From there on out, you can sally onward into battle and attack/retreat at your convenience. That is not present here.

In Age Of Empires Mobile, everything is automatic. You build your army comprising different units, and you can partake in different types of battles, both the multiplayer mode and single-player mode. But it just didn't feel the same. Sure, seeing your heroes lead your forces to victory is always a good feeling, there are a few rewards as well, but it doesn't feel satisfying.

To be fair, I expected at least some individual troop control or grouping of units, that I would be able to control at my command. None of that exists here. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, there are limitations on what can be done on mobile, but it sort of felt out of place.

Not much strategy (Image via Level Infinite)

Coming to Heroes, they can be upgraded in various ways to bolster and buff troops. There are quite a few to pick and choose from different cultures and ethnicities. It's a great selection to be fair, as there is something for everyone. However, in battle, they don't stand out as Heroes in the true sense. They feel more like a part of the army instead of its leader.

To be honest, it threw me off in certain ways, but again, I understand the limitations due to it being a mobile game. Still, what I did see and experience was fun. I just wish I had more direct control in battles. Seeing them auto-resolve was odd, and it made it feel like an overseer rather than a conqueror.

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Resource Management and City Building

Advance to unlock units and buildings (Image via Level Infinite)

If nothing else, the resource management part in Age Of Empires Mobile felt very familiar. You have Food, Wood, Gold, and Stone. Classic resources. What's more, is that the building associated with each resource can be placed as per your choice, which is fun.

Now, unlike classic AOE, in Age Of Empires Mobile, you need to upgrade buildings to increase resource production. This has its challenges as well as prerequisites that include time duration. In short, once you collect resources, you will have to start an upgrade and wait for it to finish. Unfortunately, the time needed to upgrade past a certain point is eyewatering. Although there are ways to circumvent it, it will not come for free.

Build those Walls strong (Image via Level Infinite)

Aside from the basic resources, there are a few others that have their unique functions. These can earned through various quests and other methods. It's not too bad collecting different types of resources and tokens, but it can get rather tedious.

Nevertheless, organizing and planning my city was fun. I will admit I moved things about a bit too much to have some semblance of a symmetrical layout. And watching the city expand, with buildings getting a makeout whenever I advanced through the ages. All in all, I did have fun playing the game and I am eager to experience the full version of it when it releases on October 17, 2024.

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Performance and sound

Age Of Empires Mobile was provided by Level Infinite and played on an iPhone 15 Plus. During the time I spent playing it, the game did not hard crash, nor were there any noticeable lags. In fact, it works like a charm, even for long durations (45 minutes and upward). Coming to sound, Age Of Empires Mobile has this locked down. Every sound you hear is crisp and fits into the game like a charm.

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In Conclusion

Into the fray once more, Josephine (Image via Level Infinite)

Age Of Empires Mobile has a lot of potential, but there are a few things I would like to see done differently. Is it a bad game, something that you shouldn't play? Absolutely not. As a person who enjoys CoC and even DomiNations, Age Of Empires Mobile has great potential.

The graphics are amazing and the mechanics work as intended. There are no complaints there. However, I would love to see myself being able to command individual units rather than auto-resolve battles.

That being said, as I played during the Final Trial Event, I will not be rating the game. I will wait until the final release to jot down my thoughts in more detail, which includes talking about things such as microtransactions and the complexity of certain mechanics.

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Age Of Empires Mobile

Reviewed on: iOS (Preview code provided by Level Infinite)

Platform: Android/iOS

Developer: TiMi Studio Group and World's Edge

Publisher: Level Infinite

Release: October 17, 2024