One of the most meaningful changes comes in how the Native American tribes are represented. It's not the same as dedicated campaigns but being able to take on the Spanish at Algiers and undergo other fights meant the mainline campaign's focus is no longer as jarring and is actually fairly enjoyable. Meanwhile, Historical Battles provide fully-narrated and voiced scenarios with nice production values. The Art of War challenge missions from Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition make a welcome return here. With every setting to max at 1080p, a GTX 780 Ti and I7-4930k easily averaged 60 FPS, with some drops into the mid-40s when multiple large armies clashed. On my Samsung 850 EVO solid-state drive, the different story missions, custom multiplayer battles, and other modes never took more than about six or seven seconds to load, which meant flowing from one engagement to the next could be done with ease. Meanwhile, the Swedes take a while to get going but become a downright frightening force in the endgame, cranking out artillery and hiring mercenaries with mechanized perfection. The Incas feel suited to midgame rushes, with the ability to quickly speed unit production, while the Incan Priestess can convert enemy units (Wololo!). I specifically focused a lot of my time in custom matches with these two newcomers, and both feel like solid, balanced additions. With the addition of the Swedes and the Incas, there are now 16 civilizations to play. The entire Home City mechanic has mercifully been reworked.

When combined with the addition of dedicated servers, I expect players will be a lot happier with the multiplayer scene. Just being able to focus on choosing shipments during a match felt like a huge relief.

Now, if you're beginning to explore multiplayer, you won't be at a disadvantage playing against somehow who has hundreds of hours under their belt. All cards are unlocked from the start for everyone. The entire Home City mechanic has mercifully been reworked outside of the singleplayer campaigns.

Age of empires 3 youtube