When you think of Age of Empires II, most gamers immediately think of one of the most legendary strategy games of all time. The game that defined the real-time strategy genre, nurtured a generation of players, and still has an active community of hundreds of thousands of fans today. That's why I was so excited to see it arrive on Macy's recently. Apple Silicon a great joy, because I also spent a lot of time playing this legendary strategy in the past. Perhaps that is why I was paradoxically a little worried about how the rebirth of this legend on the Mac would turn out. Ports of similarly old games can turn out in all sorts of ways. Fortunately, it turned out that in this case there is no reason to panic. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition works surprisingly well on the Mac, and after a few hours of playing, I felt as if it had always existed on this platform.
Technical details and first impressions
Behind the port stands studio Feral Interactive, which Mac owners have well-remembered thanks to the porting of a number of popular games. This time they got their hands on a real piece of gaming history and in my opinion they did a very good job.
The game runs natively on Macs with Apple Silicon and supports high resolutions including 4K. It's not just a simple re-launch of an old title on new hardware. The Definitive Edition brings reworked graphics, new animations, a remastered soundtrack, and a number of small improvements that modernize the original experience without destroying its atmosphere, which is understandable considering that for Windows The Definitive Edition was released in the fall of 2019. After just a few minutes of playing, it's clear that the creators understood very well why people fell in love with Age of Empires II. They don't try to change the working recipe at all costs. On the contrary. They keep everything essential and only remove things that seemed outdated.
Gameplay that nestarne
Although more than twenty years have passed since its original release, Age of Empires II still shows why it is still considered one of the best strategies in history. The principle remains simple, of course. You start with a few villagers, mine resources, build an economy, progress through the ages and gradually build an army to crush your opponents. But it is precisely in this apparent simplicity that incredible depth is hidden.
Each civilization plays a little differently. The Britons rely on legendary archers, the Franks on heavy cavalry, the Mongols on speed and raids. Thanks to this, the game forces you to constantly think and adapt your strategy to the specific situation. The content is also a great advantage. The base game already offers a huge number of historical campaigns, scenarios and challenges. There are also expansions that add additional civilizations, campaigns and game mechanics. If you immerse yourself fully in the game, it will easily take you tens to hundreds of hours.
This is where I think Age of Empires II shows its greatest strength. It's not a game you finish in a weekend and uninstall. It's a title you keep coming back to. One time you want to play a historical campaign, another time a quick skirmish against the AI, and a third time you try a new civilization you've ignored until now.
How did the Mac port itself turn out?
Because I played the game years ago on Windows, when Feral recently announced its arrival in a DE version on Macy's Apple Silicon, I was extremely curious to see how everything would go. After all, we are talking about a game that was originally created more than a quarter of a century ago, but its Definitive Edition already uses significantly more modern technology and can be surprisingly challenging, especially in larger battles with dozens to hundreds of units on the map. Therefore, when the opportunity came to try the game, I didn't hesitate for a minute and now I can say with a calm heart that I did the right thing. Well, how to put it - the game grabs you and doesn't let go, so you very quickly lose track of time.
I personally tested Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on MacBooku Air with an M3 chip and 8 GB of RAM, so not on any overly powerful configuration. I was even more surprised by how well the game worked. From the first launch it was clear that this was not a rushed port, but a title that was made for Apple Silicon truly optimized.
The menu responds immediately, individual campaigns load very quickly, and I practically did not encounter any significant slowdowns during gameplay, even when large armies clashed on the screen and the map was filled with buildings, units, and effects. MacBook Air Moreover, it still remained relatively cool, which is not at all a given for more demanding applications and games on a machine with passive cooling.
The battery life was also a pleasant surprise. Of course, this is not an undemanding device.ancelectrical work, so the energy consumption is higher, but I definitely didn't feel like the game could drain the laptop in a moment. On the contrary, it is clear that Apple Silicon can handle similar titles much better than we could a few years ago. MacBooku Air expected.
Gallery
Interestingly, many other players are sharing similar experiences. After the release, there was a lot of positive feedback on the game's performance on the M1, M2, M3 and M4 chips on forums and Reddit. Most players agree that the port feels very well-tuned and runs surprisingly smoothly even on machines that are not primarily intended for gaming. Of course, there were also minor technical complications. Some users reported installation problems or isolated crashes shortly after release. However, I did not notice any of this during my testing and overall the game seemed very stable to me.
After a few hours of playing, I can say that the technical processing on the Mac was one of the biggest surprises of the entire game for me. If someone had told me a few years ago that I would be playing Age of Empires II on a basic computer without any compromises, MacBooku Air, I probably wouldn't have believed him. Today it's a reality and it works surprisingly well.
However, not to just praise, there is one negative that is a bit frustrating. It is specifically multiplayer, which you are not yet able to fully use in the macOS version. The Mac version currently does not support cross-play with Windows nor consoles. In other words, Mac owners can only play with other Mac players. And this is the thing that the community criticizes most often. For a game whose multiplayer has been around for more than two decades, this is a fairly fundamental limitation. However, if you plan mainly on campaigns or playing against artificial intelligence, this lack may not bother you at all. In that case, you will get a practically complete experience without any compromises.
Summary
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is a game that beautifully demonstrates how much Apple Silicon changed the situation around gaming on Mac. Just a few years ago, we would have solved a similar title through emulators, virtualization or various unofficial methods. Today, you can start playing with just a few clicks. Moreover, the game itself has not lost any of its charm even after more than twenty years. It offers a huge amount of content, brilliantly designed strategies, a fantastic atmosphere of medieval battles and addictive gameplay that will easily deprive you of several hours of life in a single evening.
I was also very pleasantly surprised by how well it works on the basic MacBooku Air M3 with 8 GB RAM. In my opinion, this experience best proves that Mac is no longer a platform on which gaming would be only a marginal issue. Yes, the absence of cross-play freezes and the first weeks after release showed a few minor technical flaws. Nevertheless, this is one of the best strategy titles you can play on Mac today.
If you like strategy, historical battles and empire building, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is almost a must-buy. And if you once played this legend on an old computer after school, get ready for a very strong dose of nostalgia. This time, in a quality that we could not even dream of twenty years ago. The game is currently available on Steam, with its release in Mac App Store should take place later this year.
ProAre you giving a link where it's for €33, when it's for €11 directly on Steam?
Dobrý den Jane,
because it got cheaper on steam today? and the article was written a few days ago. Have a nice day.
Prothat's what he's for LSA money ;-)
I can confirm that even at the basic level Macbook Pro M1, runs great and you can even install unofficial Czech :)
Could I ask how to get the Czech language there?