To me, the poor reviews for this DLC are a matter of differing perspectives and expectations. Some seemed to expect a complete AoE1 remake within this. I don't recall it ever being advertised as such, though that's a fair criticism if it was. If you're purely a multiplayer person, it's also fair to be upset about 1 new civ for $15. There are the old civs you can play against people with in the new mode, though that's of limited appeal to many.
However, as a primarily campaign player I look at this DLC as a fantastic deal. At the time of writing, you get 7 campaigns to play through. 3 new and 4 remade from AoE1, with more to be slowly added. That's more content than any other DLC.

To me, the poor reviews for this DLC are a matter of differing perspectives and expectations. Some seemed to expect a complete AoE1 remake within this. I don't recall it ever being advertised as such, though that's a fair criticism if it was. If you're purely a multiplayer person, it's also fair to be upset about 1 new civ for $15. There are the old civs you can play against people with in the new mode, though that's of limited appeal to many. However, as a primarily campaign player I look at this DLC as a fantastic deal. At the time of writing, you get 7 campaigns to play through. 3 new and 4 remade from AoE1, with more to be slowly added. That's more content than any other DLC.