Since its release on Sept. 4, 2024, Age of Mythology: Retold has breathed much-needed life into the RTS genre. Serving as a remaster of the beloved Age of Mythology from 2002, Retold has not only updated the title for modern audiences but has continued to introduce quality-of-life improvements and new content. Immortal Pillars, the first official expansion for Age of Mythology: Retold, offers a substantial amount of new content for both long-time players and newcomers to dive into.
The expansion introduces a host of new features, including the Chinese Pantheon, which adds 12 new gods, an array of new human and mythical units, a unique favoured land mechanic, and a variety of new buildings and powers to take into battle. Also included is the Pillars of the Gods campaign, a nine-level story spread across seven new biomes, ready to be explored and conquered.
Without diving into spoilers, the story is steeped in rich Chinese mythology and takes the player across many unique regions. Along the way, you’ll meet a host of new and familiar faces. While the narrative doesn’t necessarily contain any spectacular plot twists, it is nonetheless a solid story that creates tension for each mission. Throughout the playthrough, each story beat moves the narrative along at a brisk but enjoyable pace.
“Age of Mythology: Retold – Immortal Pillars is an excellent addition to an already superb remaster.”
The story unfolds through a series of in-game cutscenes and voice-overs during missions. The voice acting is solid and well-presented, never feeling corny or overacted. All of this works together to produce a well-constructed, if somewhat generic, story that serves its purpose effectively.
Realistically, while enjoyable, the story feels more like a vessel to provide context for the many new features Immortal Pillars has to offer. With 12 new gods, a host of new units and buildings, and the new favoured land mechanic, there is a lot to love about Immortal Pillars.
The developers have done an excellent job of capturing the essence of ancient Chinese architecture in Immortal Pillars. The buildings feel distinct from the other pantheons found in Age of Mythology: Retold and are spectacular to see on display. Each element works together to create a stunning infrastructure that stands apart from all the others.
Leaning into ancient Chinese ingenuity and engineering prowess, Age of Mythology: Retold introduces a unique building mechanic for this new pantheon: favoured land. Anchored to the town centre, favoured land spreads from building to building when placed adjacent to an existing structure. While buildings can still be placed anywhere on the map, the bonuses received from favoured land encourage players to design their cities in a daisy-chain pattern so that each structure benefits from the buff.
The buff itself depends entirely on the gods chosen during the mission, allowing for a customized playthrough experience each time a new map is loaded. In some ways, it functions like Zerg creep from StarCraft, but without the restriction of having to build on it. It’s a smart system that introduces meaningful gameplay impact and provides players with fresh ways to build and expand their cities.
The new gods likewise offer players unique ways to buff units and engage the enemy. As a player who enjoys building large cities, I found Fuxi to be my god of choice, thanks to his economy-focused powerset, which allowed me to place resource spawn points. This resulted in quick and easy stockpiling, enabling faster city-building. Other gods provide a range of buffs and abilities, with many focused on elemental attacks or enhancements for the player.
“I was happy to see that Immortal Pillars was more than a simple reskin of existing Age of Mythology: Retold units and abilities.”
Another new element of the expansion that I thoroughly enjoyed was the new myth units introduced with Immortal Pillars. Everything from giant sea turtles that could traverse both sea and land to a tiger-like creature that could heal offered some great moments of play during my time with the expansion. I was happy to see that Immortal Pillars was more than a simple reskin of existing Age of Mythology: Retold units and abilities. Instead, I was greeted by a truly unique and wonderful new civilization to play and explore.
Age of Mythology: Retold – Immortal Pillars is an excellent addition to an already superb remaster. Immortal Pillars offers an impressive lineup of new units, abilities and mechanics that help the new Chinese pantheon stand out in the crowd and encourages players to dive in and explore everything it has to offer. While the story isn’t anything out of the standard fair, Immortal Pillars, nonetheless, offers an excellent new experience for Age of Mythology: Reloaded players and one that I would highly recommend.
