Age of Empires Vs Total War Games.

[Talion 2024.]

Good morning everyone. I have a question regarding the two strategy game franchises which pride themselves on historical accuracy, game-play experience and atmosphere.

Out of the two, which would you say reigns supreme in the real-time strategy genre, Age of Empires or Total War?

I for one am new to the real time strategy game genre, and would like to get into it by first purchasing a game which is worth playing for the above-mentioned reasons.

[Marco]

I was about to open another comparison thread, but vs War and Peace by Microids (the old one from 2002, not the new one here on Steam, which is actually inspired to the board game), since I'm revisiting it these days after like 18 years.
I don't know much about Total War, but in Age of Empires 2 forums another guy compared "Total War: Rome" with AoE2DE and he said that Total War requires different skills because you control large armies of 10,000 men and also formation during battle is important as well, while "Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition" in ranked multiplayer only allows a population limit of 200 which consists of 130 villagers + 70 military units and is strictly dependant from cavalry units, which are capable of hit-and-run tactics, so you'll often see them going back and forth like clowns.
On the other hand, War and Peace has land units formed by multiple men (a unit of light infantrymen, for example, consists of 20 soldiers; an artillery unit is 3 cannons), while every ship counts as a unit, but your miltary capacity is capped at 60, land army + navy. There are no villagers, but buildings in fortified cities will produce men, gold and science points to trade with the other major nations or to make your army stronger.
In War and Peace formation is important, too: infantry moves fast only in column formation, while row or square are for combat (row is for shooting and square is for melee fights against cavalry) and they will march slowly; same for artillery, they only move in column and will shoot only when they are changed to row formation; while in row, they can't move; cavalry only uses column and can't change formation.

Originally posted by Draconis2023.:

Could it be that it has lost some of its popularity over the years?

This one, Age of Empires 1, for sure. The most popular title in the series remains Age of Empires 2. I think that even Age of Empires 3 and 4 can't compete with it.

With the previous DLC they released in april/may, developers even ported this game into AOE2 (it is called "Return of Rome"), while today they are launching a new DLC that reworks Persian civilization and adds Armenians and Georgians. Age of Empires 2, however, is set in the middle ages.

[Talion 2024.]

Noted. I myself am more into strategy games set during the classical era of history.

So I reckon Age of Empires 1 would be more for me.

[Talion 2024.]

Thanks though for the info. Much appreciated.

[Marco]

Originally posted by Draconis2023.:

Noted. I myself am more into strategy games set during the classical era of history.

So I reckon Age of Empires 1 would be more for me.

My brother also had another Rome-oriented game called Imperivm, he had like 2 cds (one was "The great battles of Rome" while I don't remember the other expansion's name; he used to buy lots of games with PC magazines back then). The game is available on Steam, perhaps you might have heard of it?

[Talion 2024.]

I believe I have. It's just a shame that there aren't more strategy games centred around the Classical era of history.

[Talion 2024.]

The majority either focus on the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution and the World Wars.

[Talion 2024.]

Why's that?

[Talion 2024.]

Originally posted by Marco - slow ass infantry:

Originally posted by Draconis2023.:

Noted. I myself am more into strategy games set during the classical era of history.

So I reckon Age of Empires 1 would be more for me.

My brother also had another Rome-oriented game called Imperivm, he had like 2 cds (one was "The great battles of Rome" while I don't remember the other expansion's name; he used to buy lots of games with PC magazines back then). The game is available on Steam, perhaps you might have heard of it?

But what about Imperator? Is is a worthy contender?

[Marco]

Originally posted by Draconis2023.:

But what about Imperator? Is is a worthy contender?

I don't have knowledge of that title, judging by the trailer on the store page and by the fact its developers are Paradox Entertainment, it looks similar to Europa Universalis (e.g. it shows Greece's map with provinces and huge soldiers fighting 1 on 1 on a city lying down their feet), so it's more into political/military management and grand strategy than real time strategy. EU, btw is another game set in early reinassance to Napoleonic wars.

I also remember Pharaoh and Caesar, but they were city construction and management, similar to The Settlers or Sim City.

Empire Earth and Rise of Nation are more akin to Age of Empires in term of gameplay, however they cover multiple eras up to WW2 or even future. But they start in prehistoric age and have some eras before the Middle Ages, like Copper and Bronze Age. Empire Earth had a nice Greek campaign starting from Hierakles until the wars against the city of Troy and the rise of Alexander The Great. I'm pretty sure its expansion (Art of Conquest) had a Roman campaign. If I can't find the cd anymore, I will get the game on GOG.

[Talion 2024.]

Noted. Thanks for the info.

[Drunk Rambo {The Dirty Dozen}]

AOE is total w-a-n-k.

[Talion 2024.]

Originally posted by Druid Rambo {HAC}:

AOE is total w-a-n-k.

You mean it sucks?

[Talion 2024.]

Originally posted by Druid Rambo {HAC}:

AOE is total w-a-n-k.

What would you consider then a good strategy game set during the Classical era of world history?

[Chariots of the Gods]

Originally posted by Draconis2023.:

Do they have any game-play features that make them stand out?

These two games are different in many ways. It depends exactly what you want really.

AoE is real time strategy. Total War is Turn based Strategy.


Aoe has alot of micromanaging things like economy and units and placement of buildings, games and things are relatively quick paced.


Total war you can plot out and take your time. Battles are also different as you manage a set use of forces you build in generals. These are then set out in battle with orders and etc. You act like a general in a way so to speak. In aoe you must build every single unit and form groups and can micro while fighting.

AoE has things like proper build orders and things like rushing or etc.


If you intend to get involved in the AoE community, especially AoE1 or AoEDE in this case, I suggest you learn to play by watching videos and learning things about what players do. The multiplayer community as you go into high elo games is not friendly and has high expectations as it is quite competitive and people enjoy a good game. Your expected to know when to rush, or boom or fast bronze or w.e other plan. Knowing what to do, where to be, what resources you may need is all expected of you as a teammate.

Total war I do not know as much, but never found it harsh in a way and find that most just wanna relax with a game. But I dont play it often at all.

So really it depends on what you want here.

[Talion 2024.]

Understood. Thanks a lot.