Quite a round-up we have this week, with the reveal of an up-and-coming Turn-Based Star Wars showcase on the horizon, a lot of great news for Age of Empires fans, and a first look at the innovative civilizations that’ll populate Endless Legend 2.
Turn-Based Tactics Star Wars Game Teased
EA has announced that a new Star Wars game will be revealed at the Star Wars Celebration 2025. We still don’t have a title, but we know that the studio behind it is Bit Reactor, a studio composed of ex-Firaxis Games and XCOM talent. Hopefully, we will get the Star Wars XCOM I’ve been wanting for quite a while now! We will know more about it on April 19th, 2025.
Age of Empires 2: Definitie Edition Releases The Biggest Update Ever
Age of Empires 2 is such an incredible game that even 25 years after it first came out, it’s still getting huge updates. In fact, the latest one is the biggest one today, and it’s going to touch on pretty much every aspect of the game. Stability and performance increases, graphical fixes, and UI improvements are just the tip of the spear. There are 25 new castle visuals, one for each civilization. New unique visuals for elite unique units. Unique visuals for monks. Animation attacks are now synchronized with the actual attack of the unit. This update is wrapped up by two new random maps, Glade and Fortified, as well as the real-world-inspired Great Wall. If you’re an Age of Empires 2 fan, you can give the page a read, here.
The Templars Come To Age of Empires IV In New Knights of Cross and Rose DLC
Age of Empires players are eating well right now. After the announcement of the massive Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition update, Age of Empires IV is getting a new paid DLC called Knights of Cross and Rose. This DLC is expanding the concept of civilizations by including two new variants, the Templars, and the House of Lancaster, for the French and English, respectively. With these new variants come a treasure trove of new weapons and strategies. The new DLC will add some new historical battles based on the Templars and the Lancasters, such as Monte Gisardo, Towton and Agincourt. It’s an alright DLC, but I would like to see the team expand Age of Empires IV with brand-new civilizations, instead of variants of existing ones. Bring Portugal back!
This new DLC is coming out on April 8th, 2025.
Endless Legend II Is One Of The Most Antecipated Games Of 2025
Endless Legend 2 is set to release sometime in 2025, and Amplitude Studios recently started a deep-dive series going over some of their civilizations. First, we have a look at Kin of Sheredyn, a defensive faction focusing on building and turtling, meaning it’s perfect for me. In all seriousness, if their factions are as original as the first Endless Legend, their 4X classic, we are in for a treat.
The Cataclismo Is Now Out, Causing Strategic Cataclismic Events
Hooded Horse and Digital Sun’s Cataclismo has left Early Access. Described as a mix between Stronghold and They Are Billions, Cataclismo is a horde-defence strategy game where you build your own defences, brick by brick, quite literally. Each stone of every wall can be placed individually, which can lead to some very interesting, wild, and very unsafe defensive structures. But hey, at least they’ll fall down, kill your men and the enemy too! Having played a couple of hours of it, I enjoyed it, but the building aspect is a bit too much for me, but the game is currently sitting at a Very Positive Steam rating of 91%, so it might be worth a look!
Thronefall Last Update
The indie tower-defence hit, Thronefall announced its last update, putting up the lip on further development. However, their last update added a treasure trove of new features, including 12 new mini-modes, a true endless mode, and a reverse siege mode where you’re no longer defending, and instead, you are the one attacking. This doesn’t mean that big fixes and urgent issues will go unsolved, but it means that no new content is coming. The team is moving on to create a new, yet-to-be-announced, title.
92% Of PC Gamers Really Love Older Titles
According to the market intelligence company Newzoo, there are now over 907 million pc players in the world, a massive number compared to the 650 million console users. Do you want to know the funny part? It’s that 67% spend their time on games that are six or more years old, 25% on a game that’s two to five, and only 8% spend their time playing games that are less than two years old. Absolute wild statistics on the surface, but if you think about, the amount of people playing live-service titles, Early Access games that have been out for years, and the fact that you can play new games but always go back to older ones you timelessly enjoy, these numbers start to make a lot of sense.
New Critical Moves Episode Lists Civilization VII Alternatives
In Episode 21 of Critical Moves, the team skips the Civilization VII complaints (they covered that in Episode 18) and gets straight to the better alternatives. If Civilization VII isn’t cutting it for you, we’ve got a list of strategy games that deliver a more in-depth, fun, and satisfying experience.
Wargame Design Studio – Sword & Siege Out Now
Games who are looking for a new strategy experience can now look towards Wargame Design Studio for an alternative to Field of Glory II, Crusader Kings and Medieval: Total War, in the form of Crusades Book I: Sword & Siege. I’ve reviewed the game recently and thought it to be rather good, as long as you can deal with WDS’s ageing UI, and don’t mind clicking around a bit too much. If you enjoy medieval military history and have a particular fondness for the Crusades, Sword & Siege might be right up your alley. If you’re still unsure, you can read my review.
Sins of a Solar Empire 2 – Paths to Power DLC
Sins of a Solar Empire II, the best Real-Time Strategy (RTS) of 2024 is getting it’s first DLC called Paths to Power. This downloadable content includes 10 new scenario mission maps. These range from the king of the hill style ones, to seek and destroy, and horde-defence, like in the trailer above.
Phatom Brigade Keeps Getting Better and Better
The criminally underrated Phantom Brigade is still getting new iterations, and the team recently teased a new update. While there are very few details, it is known from a previous developer update that they’re working on Pilot Traits and Progression, as well as revamping the gameplay on the world map to better balance the campaign experience, and avoid frustrating experiences like fighting the same enemies over and over again, missing mission types, or just run out of things to fight. With that being said, I suspect we are nearing the end of Phantom Brigade development with the team saying that “The design explorations and large systemic changes are largely done, and we are currently focused on stability, quality and content variety”.
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