The next major expansion coming to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Chronicles: Battle for Greece, is more than just a mouthful to say. In previous weeks, the development team CaptureAge has already revealed details on the new naval battle mechanics and visual overhauls that are being introduced to the classic real-time strategy game. Today, the studio dropped another dev blog, this time revealing features like animated cutscenes, deep historical characters, and crafted cinematic moments.
The expansion"s animated cutscenes, the first for the game, are more than just an aesthetically pleasing addition, according to the developer. They will let players get accurate summaries of historical events that also won"t need to last as long as purely narrated options.
The style of the cutscenes will change depending on the section of the campaign the player is currently playing. "In the Achaemenid section of the campaign, these cutscenes are styled like Persian rock reliefs, while in the Athenian and Spartan sections of the campaign, they’re styled like Greek vase paintings," explains the developer.
The developer is also teasing a mysterious voice actor for the expansion"s narrator, who will provide "even more of the historical and cultural flavor of the time period."
Moreover, the 21-scenario campaign will offer vastly different narratives, characters, as well as objectives to go after, which, according to Capture Age, will let players experience "carefully-crafted cinematic moments, from epic charges to city festivals to grand military parades."
"Each scenario has gameplay fitting the narrative and characters featured in them," the developer continues. "When playing as the politician Pericles, for instance, players will have to maintain popularity with the people of Athens, while numerous scenarios featuring the vicious general Lysander have mechanics which reward violence and destruction."
With the final dev blog out of the way, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition — Chronicles: Battle for Greece expansion launches next week on November 14. It"s available for pre-order on Steam as well as Microsoft Store for PC and Xbox console players.