The original Age of Mythology hit shelves over 20 years ago, on October 31, 2002. Now with the release of its remaster, Age of Mythology: Retold, on September 4, 2024, fans might be wondering what’s different . Here’s a look at all the changes so you’re not caught off guard when you jump back in.
The differences between Age of Mythology and Age of Mythology: Retold
This remastering brings some exciting changes that fans will want to know about. Understanding these updates will help you get right into the action as soon as the game is downloaded, as long as you already know about the different Pantheons in the game.
From revamped attack commands to an expanded list of ships, Age of Mythology: Retold has many improvements and new features. You’ll find changes in how you manage your Units, how naval battles play out, and even how your buildings look and function. Let’s break down these changes so you’re ready to experience the game’s new and improved features.
#1 A more reactive attack command
You no longer have to manually right click on each of your enemies to fight them. Simply direct your army to a single objective, and they will continue to fight until every member of the opposition in that area is downed.
If you want to split up your army so you don’t get too close, just click and drag over your fighters and send them out as a separate group.
It may look a bit chaotic, but
#2 More ships for sailors
Back in the original Age of Mythology, arrow ships were the only ones available in the Classical Age. In Age of Mythology: Retold, players can enjoy having all three types of attack ships.
Docks are far too time consuming for foot soldiers to try to take out. Where possible, try to use ships to attack your enemy’s docks and ships.
Naval Myth Units are no longer tied to minor gods. As you advance your city through the Ages, you will receive the appropriate Mythic Units.
Naval units can travel in shallow water in Age of Mythology: Retold, which is something they couldn’t do in the OG game.
#3 Using Divine Powers
In Age of Mythology: Retold, you are welcome use your God Powers multiple timesas long as you have the favor needed to reuse it.
There is a countdown that helps keep the game balanced, but you should be able to throw out a few different Divine Powers as you fight your enemies if you have enough villagers worshiping at a Temple to power them up.
#4 Auto Scout feature
Auto Scout lets the AI take control of a Unit so they can automatically scout the map for the player.
In Age of Mythology: Retold, all scout units have auto-scout ability. Each civilization has its own scouts:
- Atlanteans: Oracle, Oracle (Hero).
- Egyptians: priest, Baboon of Set.
- Greeks: Kataskopos, Pegasus, Hippocampus.
- Norse: Madman, Crow.
When automatically scouting, Oracles will pause at key locations to maximize their Line of Sight before moving on.
#5 Visual effects for buildings
Buildings now have visual effects based on the land on which they are located:
- Burnt Terrain – Buildings look charred and weathered.
- Swampy dirt terrain – Structures appear covered in mud.
- Swampy terrain – Structures appear earthy, and are covered in mold and moss.
- Sandy terrain – Buildings are dusted with a light layer of sand.
- Snow/ice terrain – a thin layer of snow covers the buildings.
#6 New Campaign Relics
13 new relics were added to Age of Mythology: Retold that did not exist in the original game. These campaign Relics are:
- Crown of Hera – One use of the Lightning Storm God Power.
- Cup of Dionysus – One use of the Bronze God Power.
- Fafnir’s Golden Mailcoat – Reduces the piercing vulnerability of human soldiers and heroes by 5%.
- Glaucus’s Book of Prophecies – Increases fish collection rate by 30%.
- Golden Camel Statue – Increases Osiris Piece Chariot’s movement speed by one.
- Prow of the Argo – Increases battle points by 20%.
- Relic of Ancestors – One use of the Ancestors God Power.
- Relic of Bronze – One use of the Bronze God Power.
- Relic of Earthquake – One use of the Earthquake God Power.
- Relic of Prosperity – One use of the Prosperity God Power.
- Relic of Tornado – One use of the Tornado God Power.
- Shield of Athena – One use of the Restoration Divine Power.
- Zeus’ Thunderbolts – Place this in the Temple of Zeus to defeat your enemies.
#7 Villager Priority feature
Villager Priority in Age of Mythology: Retold helps distribute workers across resources like food, wood, and gold without having to assign them individually. While it’s not as efficient as following a perfected build order, it does offer a quick way to manage villagers.
You can access Village Priority with a button near the divine powers interface. It does not include Favor Collection for the Greeks and will not build new resource drops, but enabling “Allow Farm Construction” lets villagers build Farms to improve food gathering.
#8 Standard victory conditions
Only specific buildings and units count for survival: Town Centers, Temples, Fortress-type structures, and all units except Caravans.
If a player loses all of these, they are defeated, even if other buildings such as Archery Ranges or Markets remain.
#9 Ranged Unit accuracy changes
Ranged Units, such as archers, now have lower accuracy against moving targets, similar to Age of Empires II. To improve accuracy when firing at moving units, players should research the Ballistic technology at the Armory.
Town Centers, Village Centers and Citadels automatically come with the Ballistic effect, so they don’t need the upgrade.
#10 The Wonder Age
Although the Titan Age was removed, the Marvel Age took its place.
This stage is reached when a A wonder is built and lost if the Wonder is destroyed. During Amazing era, rechargeable divine powers cost 75% less favor, and their cooldowns are reduced by 75%.
At this stage, Mythical Units and Titans receive significant improvements: they gain 100% more hit points, 100% increased damage (including damage over time), and a 20% boost to movement speed. In addition, they become larger in appearance.
The Titan Gate can now be rebuilt during Wonder Age. A new Titan Gate can be built every 10 in-game minutes. The first new gate costs 400 favor, with the cost increasing by 400 favor for each subsequent gate.
#11 Other general changes
- A Divine damage type was added. Several Units have divine attack by default (such as the Myrmidon) while others can gain it from specific myth upgrades.
- Huntable animals no longer automatically attack the player’s Units unless attacked first.
- Some minor items and Units from the original game, including the Golden Fleece and the Giant Duck-Billed Platypus, were taken.
- Favor’s cap has been removed.
- The population limit was increased to 1000.
- When you place a resource drop, a nearby inactive Villager will automatically start building it.
#12 All map changes
New maps:
- Arena
- Air
- Giza
- Elysium
- Gold rush
- iron wood
- Kerlaugar
- A mirage
- Mirkwood
- Mount Olympus
- Muspellheim
- Nile Shallows
- little one
King of the Hill, Regicide, and Sudden Death maps have been removed. These are now available as Skirmish game modes for any map.
Changes to existing maps:
- Alfheim got autumn oaks and natural light instead of pines and eerie golden light. Greek-style pillars were swapped for Nordic ones, and the Ruins item was removed.
- Anatolia has a grass terrain with snow instead of sand and snow.
- An archipelago generates mountains both on land and in the sea.
- The Black Sea has a grass terrain with snow instead of sand and snow.
- Erebus now spawns small lava pits rather than long rivers. The rare River Styx water variant has been removed, and statues of Hades now appear near Relics instead of Pillars and Ruins.
- Highland now has a mix of grass and dirt terrain instead of lush grass, with slightly wider rivers.
- Megalopolis has a barren sandy terrain with patches of green grass under berry bushes, and palm forests instead of the original mix of palm, oak, and acacia trees.
- Marsh has mostly muddy grass around the wetlands, replacing the lush grass.
- Nomad now spawns as a complete island, similar to its Age of Empires versions, with a new Greek biome variant in addition to the Egyptian biome.
- River Nile has grass banks.
- Sea of Worms features autumn oaks instead of pine, tundra terrain instead of snow and sand, and players no longer start with a Fortress, Migdol Stronghold, Hill Fort, or Palace instead of Watchtowers.
- Team Migration has starting islands covered in sand instead of grass.
- Tundra has more permafrost terrain and no longer features falling snow.
- Valley of Kings no longer has Bandit Migdols guarding gold; shrines near remains, now purely decorative, replace them.
- Vinlandsaga no longer includes Skraelings, because they were removed from the game.
It was hundreds of minor changes made to Age of Mythology: Retold that made it a game that received such positive feedback from its players. If you’d like to read the rest of the many small changes, you can find them on the Age of Empires Wiki under Update 17.18697.
Want to read more about Age of Mythology: Retold at Pro Game Guides? Check out our beginner friendly Age of Mythology Retold Tier List – All Gods Ranked.
