Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is less a remaster and more an overhaul that makes a deeply flawed game significantly better without fundamentally changing the parts of it that worked. Rather than view Age of Empires III’s shortcomings as a problem, however, developers Forgotten Empires and Tantalus Media seem to have viewed it as a challenge.

Even Ensemble knew this: they tried to change the game’s name before release. Age of Empires III isn’t bad – but it never felt like Age of Empires. Part of it was the setting: the colonial era just didn’t feel as interesting as the middle ages the Home City mechanics, while good in theory, never really felt good putting deck building into an RTS was weird maps were smaller there were fewer campaigns and civilizations the addition of firearms made melee units almost worthless and while Age of Empires II followed real historical figures like Joan of Arc and El Cid through real battles, Age of Empires III’s campaigns were historical fiction. But when you go from a masterpiece to just fine, disappointment is bound to follow. Part of it was expectation: Age of Empires II is a masterpiece and remains one of the best RTS games ever made. I should know I still have an original copy. When it released in 2005, Age of Empires III was considered something of a disappointment.

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