Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition"s next expansion is moving in a new direction, taking players to the ancient world for a brand-new single-player campaign set in a fresh time period. Developed by CaptureAge, a team of Age of Empires veterans that have previously worked on supporting the series, Chronicles: Battle for Greece expansion will be the first of the new line of DLC coming to the strategy game "dedicated to narrative and historical immersion."
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Chronicles: Battle for Greece is delivering a campaign spamming 21 scenarios featuring three new civilizations (Athenians, Spartans, and Achaemenids), a brand-new naval combat system, animated cut scenes, and more.
It seems Chronicles will be a new form of DLC coming to the game from now, focused on delivering historical campaigns with its own set of features and civilizations that won"t affect the base game or its multiplayer.
"Campaigns have always been central to Age of Empires, and fans of the series continue to hunger for more," says the CaptureAge team in a blog post. "We therefore decided to make campaign content central to Chronicles – and we’re approaching campaigns in our own unique way, with a strong narrative focus, a new presentation style, and an exciting variety of gameplay styles. Together, the Chronicles DLCs will tell a unified story spanning the ancient world!"
Here"s a taste of some of the new additions this expansion will bring:
- New graphical models: including 55 new land units, 19 new naval units, and 85 new buildings
- A 21-scenario campaign covering over a century of history
- A fresh approach to storytelling with animated cutscenes, new music, and voice acting
- Three ancient civilizations: Achaemenids, Athenians and Spartans (not available in ranked play)
- Overhaul of naval combat: with six military ship types, including ramming and catapult ships
- Unique civilization mechanics, including customizable Town Centers and government policies
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition—Chronicles: Battle for Greece launches November 14 on Steam, Microsoft Store, and Xbox for PC and console players.