Age of Mythology: Retold is out today, and it's one of the rare remakes that is superior to the original

Age of Mythology: Retold is out now worldwide, and the highly anticipated remake of the classic RTS delivers not only a fun time but also striking visuals, a major new god, remastered soundtracks, and the ability to use God powers over and over again to your liking – and your favour, of course, depending on how much you got.

After being announced earlier in the summer and conducting a closed Beta in July, I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Premium version, which allowed me Advanced Access to the game. Boy, I spent 20 hours gaming through the incredible campaign story and haven’t finished it yet.

With that time, I came to an honest (and honestly, biased, considering I’ve been a fan of the game for almost 20 years) conclusion: Age of Mythology: Retold is one of those rare remakes that is not only as good as the original but, in many ways, better.

First, the new visuals are breathtaking: you’ll need to zoom in to see all the beautiful details of the units, heroes, and myth creatures. I finally know what a chimaera looks like. The best thing is that they don’t take away the magic of the original game. It still feels like the Age of Mythology, with the battles’ hyperrealistic effects and grandiose scale.

The developers also made sure to retain the magic of the original soundtrack—the tracks are all the same—but remastered it with an orchestra: it sounds majestic and lively.

I haven’t managed to finish all of the campaigns. Still, I’m close to finishing the Fall of the Trident story, in which Arkantos embarks on a journey to experience all of the three original mythologies: Greek, Egyptian, and Norse, and Age of Mythology: Retold doesn’t change anything. The maps of the missions are the same as in the original game, and you have many difficulty options to choose from. I went with Moderate, the perfect mix of challenge and fun.

One of the best new changes of the Age of Mythology: Retold is the ability to use god powers more than once. The game lets you use them on a cooldown, considering you have enough favour. The first time is free of favour; subsequent times will cost a certain amount of favour. Fortunately, this mythic resource no longer has a cap limit, and you can gather as much as you want now.

Speaking about god powers, the folks over at AgeMythologyFans have concluded that the best God Power you can use to start a game is Sentinel, and I have to agree. You experience it in one mission (I won’t spoil it), and it’s so effective at defending you from attacks that it might be a wonder if the devs won’t nerf it.

Another big change is the addition of a new major god: the Norse God Freyr, which comes with its own set of sub-gods and talent trees to choose from. While this addition might not seem big, it is important, as it lays out the foundation for experimenting with other similar additions, possibly giving Age of Mythology: Retold a longer life, multiple expansions, official campaigns, and so on.

The studios behind the game promised more expansions in the months to come, and if you purchase the Premium Edition, available on Steam now, you’ll get the first two expansions. So that’s a lot of hope for more expansions coming to Age of Mythology: Retold.

It’s worth mentioning that the game is available not only on PC but also on Xbox Series S and X, and Age of Mythology: Retold might renew interest in RTS games with this decision.

Ultimately, coming from a die-hard fan who’s been playing the original game countless times, Age of Mythology: Retold won’t disappoint you. And it feels good to have a remake of a beloved game that not only meets my expectations but exceeds them.

You can get it on Steam or Xbox Store.