The last week of August saw a surge of new games being released. And as we approach the final few months of the year, there's no sign of that momentum stopping. For gamers trying to keep up to speed, what new titles are there to play this week?
It's an exciting time for real-time strategy fans, as a classic hit remerges after a two-decade slumber. We also have another brand new shooter game with big ambitions – but can it survive the already saturated genre?
Age of Mythology: Retold
The original Age of Mythology was released in 2002 and easily defined a generation of gamers. It was an era of dial-up internet and fan-made strategy guides, as players duked it out relentlessly for years in a game almost everyone has the fondest of memories of playing.
Age of Mythology Retold is a stunning remake of that era. It may have taken two decades to get to this point, but the wait has been worth it. Prepare to become obsessed with ancient civilisations all over again, as everyone from Centaur, Krakens and Frost Giants return to duke it out to the backdrop of meteors, lightning storms, and locust swarms.
In Retold, virtually everything you love about the base game has been brought into the modern era. The graphics are utterly transformative. As soon as you enter a match, you'll feel a sense of nostalgia and wonder. Like some sort of virtual archaeologist, you'll inspect everything for new details and find plenty has been done to make every unit unique and distinct-looking.
The original campaign will probably be your first port of call to experience the game and dust off the muscle memory. Players will once again guide heroes Arkantos, Ajax, Amanra and more across 50 missions. Yes, you know the plot. Sure, the same challenges are the same. But it all feels eerily new.
New character art, cut scenes, and voice acting delicately inject new life into the classic experience. And as you relive iconic legends like the Trojan War, the battle between Osiris and Set, and survive Ragnarok, you'll think of just one thing – Age of Mythology is back.
But let's be real – it's the multiplayer in which most players will find a permanent home. And in this mode, Retold is still your classic real-time strategy experience. Newcomers to the game shouldn't worry too much – it is as simple or sophisticated as you want it to be.
Classic real-time gameplay receives a modern face-lift
In every match, you start with a handle of villagers and must slowly grow your humble town centre into a thriving empire, gathering food, wood and gold to advance through the ages. But you're living in an age of myth and superstition, so earning favour from the Gods is key to your success, too.
You choose a main deity to play as, covering all the big wigs from the Greek, Egyptian, Norse and Atlantean pantheons. Each God promises their own unique playstyle, strengths and weaknesses. Norse Gods are naturally aggressive and favour early skirmishes to build an advantage. Egyptians are more defensive, while Greek and Atlantean can be a mixture of the two.
Over time, you'll build up resources and establish core infrastructure like temples, markets, and fortresses, allowing you to advance to new ages and grow stronger armies. All the while, you'll keep an eye on your opponent, see what they're doing, and either build up your defences in response or plan a daring rush to level their city before it has a chance to begin.
It's here that the creativity of Retold emerges. With each advancement, you can choose a Minor God to worship, each with specialised myth units, technology, and God powers. Early powers can be situational, like casting a forest fire to burn an advancing fortress or summoning a small plague of serpents to defend a small territory. But late-game, unlocked powers can defy everything. We're talking meteor showers, earthquakes, and unleashing black holes.
In a major change from the original, Retold allows you to recast these powers throughout the match. It is as fun and chaotic as it sounds, opening up new strategies across the length of a game, as opponents will constantly wonder when and where your powers will suddenly resurface. A new 'Wonder Age' can also be researched in the latter parts of games, reserved for the final showdown.
An old game with a bright future
As well as honouring its past, Retold is just as ambitious with the future. Players with the Premium version can explore the new Norse deity, Freyr. He comes with three new minor gods, Ullr, Aegir, and Vidar, each promising even more mythology to discover. It's an exciting time for fans of the game, as no doubt we can expect even more Gods, myth units and epic stories to be released in the coming time.
And even though the game has just been released, there is already a thriving Mods page with user-generated maps, campaigns, and more to keep us all well-fed. A well-tuned editor mode is also the perfect playground to create your own stories, and have a tinker with game development.
Ultimately, Age of Mythology Retold brings back the timeless magic of the original. For newcomers with even the slightest interest in history, it is a must-play experience. Slight changes to core gameplay and a fresh lick of paint will surely reignite a love for the real-time strategy genre.
I honestly feel that in another two decades, we'll look back at Retold with the same love and admiration as we have for the original AoM in 2002.
Age of Mythology: Retold is available to play on Xbox Series S/X and PC.
Concord
The idea behind hero shooters is that they 'become your game'. Your weekend skirmish with friends. The go-to when you've just ten spare minutes during the day. As with live-service games, the condition is that you play the game on a continuous basis, all the while enjoying consistently new updates, characters, and maps.
But for that kind of symbiosis between gamer and developer to thrive, the game needs an audience. And here is the crux of where the new game Concord finds itself. Despite slick action and presentation, the game hasn't stuck its landing, and a player base is still out of reach.
Set in a unique sci-fi universe, Concord sees you play as the crew of the Northstar, a rag-band team of outlaws, misfits and mercenaries looking for their next adventurers. As guns-for-hire, this serves as the backdrop for high-octane space-age mercenary work.
Games are 5vs5, and you have a diverse roster of 16 starting characters. It's a sizeable amount from the offset, with each character fulfilling various strategic roles. From Duchess, an elderly mystic who uses a short-ranged submachine gun, to knife-throwing fashionista Bazz, to stealthy spy robot Kyps, characters are zany and approachable.
Each one has unique abilities that can change the fate of any game. Short cooldowns mean you're never penalised for too long in relying on your character's strengths. Picking a squad of characters allows you to carry over game-changing buffs among them between rounds. This new take on the synergy incentivises players to think about what characters pair well together.
Variants are an exciting part of the game, too. These are unique versions of characters that modify abilities and weapons and will no doubt be instrumental in shaping the competitive scene.
Six game modes have been released so far, and this is perhaps where accusations the game is stale are made. They're more of the same as we know from other games. Staples like Deathmatch and King of the Hill are present and accounted for. Some do feature no-respawn rules, which certainly can add drama to matches, but not enough for players to stay for any stretch of time, not alone pay for the privilege.
Ultimately, Concord is a game that doesn't sparkle as much as it probably should. It has great intentions and a list of characters that should interest everyone. But, the hero shooter market is oversaturated, made worse by the fact that the big hitters like Overwatch 2 and Valorant are free-to-play. Concord must try something revolutionary to turn its sci-fi adventure into a mainstream reality.
Concord is available to play on PlayStation 5 and PC.
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