In most online RPGs you play as a single hero. In free-toplay Age of Empires Online, you’re a city. You start out as either a Greek or Egyptian township, and must expand to become a sprawling metropolis capable of training the most powerful units your chosen civilisation has to offer. 

In most online RPGs you play as a single hero. In free-toplay Age of Empires Online, you’re a city. You start out as either a Greek or Egyptian township, and must expand to become a sprawling metropolis capable of training the most powerful units your chosen civilisation has to offer.

To do so, you accept missions from beardy quest-givers loitering under giant yellow exclamation marks on the streets of your capital. They’ll point out nearby enemy towns ripe for pillage. Stolen materials can be combined with blueprints to build more structures, which in turn can be upgraded to boost the strength of your units.

When you jump into a quest, you’re transported from your capital city view to a separate battlefield. Here AoEO morphs into a traditional RTS that will be semi-recognisable to fans of the old games. You build a base, send out a mounted scout, set your villagers foraging, throw up barracks, (Age of Empires Online Gold)train an enormous army, then roll out as one angry mass and burn everything.

Take out the town centre for a quick win.

At one stage my Greek civilisation was at level five, and I was taking on a nearby tribe. My army was on autopilot and averaging about one war crime a minute. The enemy town centre was about to crumble. Their huts were aflame, my soldiers had stamped their farmland into useless dirt. A lone villager dashed away clutching a basket of fruit. An archer took aim and felled her with a shot in the back.

The gorgeous cartoon visuals didn’t soften the blow. I felt a twinge of guilt. The yellow exclamation marks made me do it, but it wasn’t their fault. The problem was that for the entire duration of our battle, the enemy village I had razed had never launched a single attack on my base. When provoked, they defended themselves, but were crushed by sheer force of numbers.

It was a sign of things to come. Sometimes I’d have to rescue a group of kidnapped tribesmen, or defend friendly bases from attack, or destroy a barricade designed to stop and annihilate fleeing friendly NPCs. Irrespective of the mission, every battle adhered to the same formula. I would build up my base, train a few dozen warriors, then roll out and destroy all enemy forces safe in the knowledge that the lethargic AI would never respond to my actions.