Currently, paying players who have access to Commander advisors will be able to use elite units like the Hetairoi, and even if two players are evenly matched, it’s difficult to see what upgrades the enemy has equipped, adding an unpredictability that makes countering enemy units difficult. At the very highest level, elite items can make innocuous units incredibly powerful.

So PvP will likely be tough for players who haven’t paid, but otherwise you can theoretically hit the level 40 cap without spending anything. There are no microtransactions in AoEO. You buy civilisation packs to gain access to the best loot, or campaign packs for more missions. There are plans to add Celtic and Persian factions.

Age of Empires Online feels perfect for a casual, (Age of Empires Online Gold)occasional fling. If you want to build a great big army and thoroughly stomp an enemy then it delivers. It’s a beautiful game, packed with personality. The Hetairoi charge proudly, siege towers waddle comically and farmland burns convincingly, but even in the throes of my toughest battle I found myself clicking around, looking for more to do. As my forces overran the city walls, I collected all the cows on the map. I herded them into my base to form a bovine defence force, and suddenly realised just how bored I was. Until the battles become more challenging, all that city-building is just meaningless fiddling.