Age of Mythology is a spin-off of the Age of Empires franchise, focusing on mythological creatures and deities, in contrast to the more realistic approach of the main games. In this game, you can control one of four different civilizations, five if you have the DLC, and each civilization has its own major and minor gods to further diversify gameplay.

The four base civilizations are the Greek, Norse, Egyptian and Atlantean civilizations. The last one was added to the original game with the Titans expansion, though only with this Extended Edition was I able to try them out, as I never got the expansion for the original game. As I said above, beyond picking a civilization, you also get to pick a major god; think of this as a sub-civilization with its own bonuses and such. Besides that, gameplay remains mostly similar to what you'd expect from an Age of Empires game: you need to build your economy, train troops, advance ages and such. However, one of the key differences is that when advancing ages, you get to pick one of two minor deities; this feels like a precursor to Age of Empires III age-up mechanic, as each minor god offers specific bonuses. There's also god powers, one for each age, that can aid you in battle or in regards to your economy.

The game has several singleplayer campaigns; while it originally launched with a single one, the Fall of the Trident campaign, this Extended Edition includes the ones that were added later on through expansions, which are the Golden Gift campaign, and New Atlantis. The first campaign is rather extensive, featuring over 30 scenarios, and taking you through all major civs. It also makes use of cutscenes (rendered in-engine), which add a more cinematic feel compared to earlier games in the franchise. Personally, I enjoyed them all, though there's a few minor bugs here and there.

Beyond the campaign, you can play skirmish against the AI or online with other players. There's a couple of different game modes, from Supremacy, which is basically a traditional skirmish, to Deathmatch (starts with high resources and the map revealed), and even Treaty mode, which adds a timer where you can't attack, so you can build up your economy first. There's also a scenario editor so you can make up your own maps either for skirmish, or for a custom campaign.

Now, talking about the graphics, well, it has some enhancements as an "Extended Edition" compared to the original game, but it's still an early 2000s game at its core; don't expect anything ultra realistic, but at least compared to Age of Empires II, units and buildings are no longer simple sprites, but actual 3D models. The soundtrack is very nice, and each civilization gets its own theme that plays at the start of a match.

All in all, it was nice revisiting this classic from my childhood/teenage years after so long. I can recommend it, although with Retold in the horizon, you might want to wait for that one.

Age of Mythology is a spin-off of the Age of Empires franchise, focusing on mythological creatures and deities, in contrast to the more realistic approach of the main games. In this game, you can control one of four different civilizations, five if you have the DLC, and each civilization has its own major and minor gods to further diversify gameplay. The four base civilizations are the Greek, Norse, Egyptian and Atlantean civilizations. The last one was added to the original game with the Titans expansion, though only with this Extended Edition was I able to try them out, as I never got the expansion for the original game. As I said above, beyond picking a civilization, you also get to pick a major god; think of this as a sub-civilization with its own bonuses and such. Besides that, gameplay remains mostly similar to what you'd expect from an Age of Empires game: you need to build your economy, train troops, advance ages and such. However, one of the key differences is that when advancing ages, you get to pick one of two minor deities; this feels like a precursor to Age of Empires III age-up mechanic, as each minor god offers specific bonuses. There's also god powers, one for each age, that can aid you in battle or in regards to your economy. The game has several singleplayer campaigns; while it originally launched with a single one, the Fall of the Trident campaign, this Extended Edition includes the ones that were added later on through expansions, which are the Golden Gift campaign, and New Atlantis. The first campaign is rather extensive, featuring over 30 scenarios, and taking you through all major civs. It also makes use of cutscenes (rendered in-engine), which add a more cinematic feel compared to earlier games in the franchise. Personally, I enjoyed them all, though there's a few minor bugs here and there. Beyond the campaign, you can play skirmish against the AI or online with other players. There's a couple of different game modes, from Supremacy, which is basically a traditional skirmish, to Deathmatch (starts with high resources and the map revealed), and even Treaty mode, which adds a timer where you can't attack, so you can build up your economy first. There's also a scenario editor so you can make up your own maps either for skirmish, or for a custom campaign. Now, talking about the graphics, well, it has some enhancements as an "Extended Edition" compared to the original game, but it's still an early 2000s game at its core; don't expect anything ultra realistic, but at least compared to Age of Empires II, units and buildings are no longer simple sprites, but actual 3D models. The soundtrack is very nice, and each civilization gets its own theme that plays at the start of a match. All in all, it was nice revisiting this classic from my childhood/teenage years after so long. I can recommend it, although with Retold in the horizon, you might want to wait for that one.