Age of Empires Online’s gameplay will be similar to Age of Mythology/Age of Empires 3 as the game uses the upgraded version of the Genie Engine. The visuals however will be cartoon-ish visuals (kind of like Team Fortress mashed with Warcraft 3,or Farmville). The game offers single/co-op Quests as well as Player vs Player (PVP), unfortunately PVP is limited to 1v1 and 2v2. Hopefully 3v3, 4v4 and Free For All (FFA) will also be added later on. AoE:O will run through it’s own dedicated client, promising better performance and Visuals.
The game has a blend of City Building as well as Combat. Between missions, players get to build their city, make armies and research upgrades (resource gathering, unit upgrades etc) after which the player can pit his army against other players. Players can interact with other Players’ cities;form alliances, trade, etc but cannot interact with an Offline Player (This way the enemy player cannot raid and destroy the other player’s city) Despite it’s similarities, GPG denies the game being inspired from Farmville and to make it clear; the game starts off easy but as you progress the game gains more depth as you have to balance the need of the city as well as upgrade your army.
The game, along with having free content (bought with in-game currency) also relies on one-time paid content which includes Premium units, buildings and upgrades. Unfortunately,the Premium Units/Buildings cannot be unlocked later in the game with the in-game currency. Aside from the Premium Content, the game has no subscription fee or microtransactions. The game lacks matchmaking so it could be a problem for Low tier Players when they are pitted against High tier/Premium Players.
A Retail version will also be available in Stores which includes the Premium Content. More Premium Packs will be released which will add new units,buildings as well as Quests.
The Retail version includes:
- Rare items (Unit upgrades)
- Advisers (Egyptian Hero Units)
- Hotkey quick-reference card
- Limited Edition Posters and Advisor Cards
- Instructions to download the Free to Play version of AoEO
A Booster Pack,which will be available on launch will add Defense of Crete mission where the player has to defeat wave after wave of enemies from destroying Crete. Another Premium Pack called Empire Extras includes Embellishments (Used in City Building segment of the game) for both Factions.
Age of Empires Online is developed by Gas Powered Games (Makers of Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander) and will be open to the public on August 16, 2011.
