Sid Meier's Civilization VII
Sid Meier's Civilization VII
Game
Game2021
Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition
Developer World's Edge, Relic Entertainment, Forgotten Empires
Age of Empires IV is a 2021 real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment in partnership with World's Edge and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is the fourth installment of the Age of Empires series, the second set during the Middle Ages after Age of Empires II, and the first installment not developed by Ensemble Studios. The game was released on October 28, 2021 for Windows, August 22, 2023 for… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
421 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
69
Fresh
253 positive · 114 negative
95% range 64–73%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 253 | 114 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 11 | 2 | 26 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
31,490 of 36,763 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
70% recommend · 175 yes, 75 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 250 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (82,334 of 96,085 positive).
Many players praise the game's historical campaigns and immersive single-player experience. [1][2][3] Some reviewers criticize balance issues, lack of casual-friendly features, and problematic updates. [4][5][6] A few players report technical problems like crashes and missing reconnection features. [7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [3]
Base game campaign is phenomenal, worth the price. The DLC is garbage and a total waste of money, enough to warrant a bad review overall to warn people not to waste their money. Half the achievements are bugged/impossible even though the game is years old, and despite cumulatively costing more than the base game, the DLC storylines are poorly made and boring. The Sultans Ascend DLC is particularly bad, its bias slop …
- [8]
Have to withdraw my recommendation for the game, since the latest DLC introduced severe crashing issues for a broad suite of players on different hardware and Windows versions. Avoid for the time being. Devs are unresponsive to the issues, so check in Discussions or the AOE4 reddit to see if the issues have been corrected before buying. Suggest coming back after New Year's.
- [12]
My dad passed away back in May of 2024. We used to play this game together all the time. It was his favorite game to play. We were both excited when the 4th game launched and played online together against the AI all the time. He mained as the English and I mained as the French. My dad was retired at the time and pretty much played this game up to the day he went to the hospital. Sadly, we lost him about a month …
- [1]
I don’t play multiplayer at all, so the campaign is everything for me, and honestly, it’s more than enough. It feels like taking a history class, but in the most enjoyable and engaging way possible. The missions are fun, the storytelling is great, and the extra documentary-style videos are a fantastic touch that make the whole experience even richer. For someone who just wants a strong single-player journey, this …
- [4]
If you ask me whether this is a good game, I’d honestly say yes. But if you ask me whether I recommend it… absolutely not. The only way I’d recommend Age of Empires IV is if you’ve already finished Age 1, 2, and 3 and just want more Age content. But if you’re a new player trying to get into the fantastic world of RTS games, I’d strongly tell you to stay away from this one and go play Age of Empires II instead. Why? …
Summarised from 34 of the 298 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition sits at 69% positive across 367 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 82% of critics. IGN summed up their review by saying "Age of Empires 4 is an enjoyable RTS throwback that often plays it too safe, but excels when it doesn't." Rachel Weber of GamesRadar+ praised the variety of the civilizations, writing, "each has been meticulously designed to offer different gameplay experiences". Game Informer liked the history videos between missions, but criticized how the game didn't seem to innovate on the formula of its predecessor, feeling that Age of Empires IV "lacks…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 421 · most liked firstMy dad passed away back in May of 2024. We used to play this game together all the time. It was his favorite game to play. We were both excited when the 4th game launched and played online together against the AI all the time. He mained as the English and I mained as the French. My dad was retired at the time and pretty much played this game up to the day he went to the hospital. Sadly, we lost him about a month later due to cancer... He had over 600+ hours logged on this game. I still play…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Base game campaign is phenomenal, worth the price. The DLC is garbage and a total waste of money, enough to warrant a bad review overall to warn people not to waste their money. Half the achievements are bugged/impossible even though the game is years old, and despite cumulatively costing more than the base game, the DLC storylines are poorly made and boring. The Sultans Ascend DLC is particularly bad, its bias slop that is nowhere near the standard of the base-game campaigns. It's…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Donald Trump Reverses All Tariffs After Playing Age of Empires IV on Xbox Game Pass hard-drive.net/hd/video-gam...
neutral · AI labelView post →So I haven't played much recently. I have been playing AOE for almost 25 years. I have loved every game, and every expansion. I was stoked when this was announced. But I can no longer recommend AOE4 to anyone. They are forcing every player to play like pros do instead of letting them goof around like us players have for years. I hop on, again after months of being away, only to find that I basically can't build walls anywhere. They were already pretty worthless in this game, along with…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →With the new update, any game session that includes a handheld device, the game is limited to 4 players and micro/small maps. WHAT ON EARTH. My friend and I have played for years with zero problem. No latency or performance issues. Why implement this now out of no where. I petition to change it back.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Been having a blast setting up a new gaming site. ageoftitus.com HUGO on Cloudflare Pages - Uses cloudflare workers for twitch API - Has Python scripts that scrapes Age of Empires IV games I've played and put them on the Games page. - Working on doing automated scraping for timestamps to each game.
positive · AI labelView post →Have to withdraw my recommendation for the game, since the latest DLC introduced severe crashing issues for a broad suite of players on different hardware and Windows versions. Avoid for the time being. Devs are unresponsive to the issues, so check in Discussions or the AOE4 reddit to see if the issues have been corrected before buying. Suggest coming back after New Year's.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don’t play multiplayer at all, so the campaign is everything for me, and honestly, it’s more than enough. It feels like taking a history class, but in the most enjoyable and engaging way possible. The missions are fun, the storytelling is great, and the extra documentary-style videos are a fantastic touch that make the whole experience even richer. For someone who just wants a strong single-player journey, this delivers exactly what I hoped for.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have never encountered a game with such a toxic community, where veteran players display such a strong sense of superiority. I just started playing and was still learning the ropes in multiplayer matches. I remained silent throughout, never said a word in the public chat, and didn't even interact with anyone. Yet, after losing, I was publicly mocked and verbally attacked out of nowhere. A few casual complaints would have been fine, but this person hurled a barrage of insults in over a dozen…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Every RTS fan or historical fan or parents who dont want their childern playing mindless games should buy this game. Ive been playing the franchise my entire life and my daughter has just started playing too, so excited to bond over this together while crushing the enemy civs. Dont forget to que more villagers ;)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its a fun game to play. But the subscription model is bad. I paid 40$ to play six campaigns. Then I have to pay more money to play more. Age of Empires Two offers several dozen campaigns for the base price. When did creating a product become about making millions? Fire your marketing/accounting staff and give your customers what they want. I dont care what some person who has a degree and zero life experience/empathy towards anyone thinks about "creating a brand". "We can make more…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've spent longer thinking about AOE IV than playing AOE IV at this point, mostly in trying to deduce why it is that I'm just not enjoying it despite my heavy involvement in RTS games since they got started. Not only that, but as one of many thousands of players who hold AOE II as their favourite game of all time, I was long looking forward to the next generation after AOE III. And while this is technically is that game, there's more to delivering a sequel than simply incrementing the title's…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →With every patch, the game becomes less fun for casual players. It feels more and more like a different flavor instance soup experience. Every cool, unique mechanic gets ruined in the balancing process. On the one hand, I get it, those mechanics are hard to balance in PvP, so it’s easier to just remove them entirely, but for me, that destroys what I used to enjoy about the game, especially when playing co-op with friends. One of the worst experiences was a fellow player who had played the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Singleplayer perspective Age of empires IV is a good game, but maybe just too "safe" for prolonged fun. Why do I think that? Take AoE III for example. First, there were points of interest on map and explorer to harvest them. Sometimes it was a free villager, sometimes resources or scouts and so on. It was fun to explore map and get "that" before other civs do. Now, map exploring has only tactical value (as it always did). Second point were home town and shipments. You could make a deck of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you're like me and want to know whats AO4 compared to AO2, to have some enhanced nostalgia, i explain the game just like this : AOE2 + strategy rebalanced + great physic + good immersion + civilization completely different one to another = very good game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It’s a good game, but please add the RECONNECT feature for multiplayer.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Age of Empires IV sold over 4 Million copies. Also available with Xbox Game Pass. via @bogorad222
neutral · AI labelView post →I've been playing the series since AOE, now I spend 1-2 hours a day in AOE 2 DE. I don't play this AOE4 game anymore because there's no tactical pause or casual speed. And without that, everything is too fast for me. I don't enjoy it, I don't have time to think. I only play the single player with bots. And then there's an easy difficulty level - the enemy doesn't do anything at all, but at the next difficulty level enemy comes 3-4 minutes after the game starts and kills you. Every time. A game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a former StarCraft 2 player, this game is so much fun. Much more relaxing to play casually and exciting to play competitively, but from all the things that stand out the most to me for what makes this game so great is its immersion, which is not something you expect out of an RTS. Not only are the graphics nice, but I absolutely love all of the decorative elements that generate (ie. small yards next to houses) that make the landscape constantly dynamic and interesting. From an immersion…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I miss the character-driven stories from AoE II and III, I find very little engagement with a narrator talking over the gameplay in the past tense. It's also ridiculous that there's no longer a tactical pause option. I don't want to feel rushed and pressured when multiple things are going on at once, if I wanted to feel rushed and pressured I'd go to work rather than playing video games.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game to the series. Doesn't top age of empires II though in my opinion that is still my favorite, probably since i grew with it. The graphics in this one are pleasing. I think players newer to the series would prefer this one.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Age of Empires IV really shines in how different each civilization feels. Every civ (and sometimes its variants) has its own theme, mechanics, visuals, and playstyle. This can be a bit overwhelming to learn at first, but thematically I think it’s the best Age of Empires game ever. The strategic depth is very different from AoE II. For example, you can’t fully block your base with buildings anymore, since there’s a one-tile gap between them. This forces you to invest in walls and spend more…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just do not buy the game as the current state as it is unless you plan to play with only human player vs human player. The Ai is completely broken which should have been the easiest thing to discover if they had actually tested the patch. But the single fact that such a error was not discovered before the patch is out show a bigger problem, the studio have no QA. The fact that the studio just had a major layoff for cost cutting. Well this is clearly what's those cost cutting mean.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has an incredible amount of potential. I've put a couple of hours into this game here and there and after all of this time i can confidently say that the only thing holding this Game back is its management. A lack of QoL and hands on active development as well as a certain "tone deafness" to feedback from its community dampens what could otherwise be the uncontested King of RTS, which could have sparked a revival in the RTS genre that competitors so far have failed to achieve. Do i…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game but filled with hackers and devs don't do anything about it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The camera in this game really ruins what could have been an innovative upgrade in the Age of Empires series. There are other decisions which dampen the experience like no auto scout, but the fact the camera is so zoomed in really makes it hard to play properly. It brings genuine improvements to the series and honestly most of the previous left out features and negative features could be forgiven if the camera wasn't so far up our empire's arse. Get AoE2 if you want the better AoE experience,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Age of Empires IV gets a fix for Steam Deck / Linux online play desyncs https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/01/age-of-empires-iv-gets-a-fix-for-steam-deck-linux-online-play-desyncs/ #AgeofEmpiresIV #SteamDeck #Linux #AgeofEmpires
neutral · AI labelView post →Great RTS, probably the most polished release since Starcraft 2. It's essentially Age of Empires 2 but better. Civs are no longer carbon copies of each other and have unique elements to their playstyles (unlike Age 2 where every Civ was more or less the same with some units replaced with a unique unit). Generic unit models and buildings are also unique for civs which adds so much to the flavor of the game. For example, the generic archer has a unique model across the Mongols, Chinese, French,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →8/10. I would give this game a perfect 10/10 if: 1. They give engineers for all siege engines like in Age of Empires 3 2. No predatory micro transactions
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Highly recommend, great game, very deep and engaging. Lots of strategy involved, great civilisation variety, prolific playerbase. Lots of different ways to play, in classic 1v1 ranked, various multiplayer formats (including 8-player free-for-all), really nice campaigns and challenging scenarios vs AI. I've played 2k hours and not going to stop!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Microsoft is surprise releasing Age of Empires IV on Xbox and Xbox Game Pass today. It's available for Xbox Series S / X and Xbox One consoles. Details here: www.theverge.com/2023/8/22/23...
neutral · AI labelView post →been playing AoE since I was a kid, on Windows 98. It's just a solid game. I learned a surprising amount of history playing through the campaigns. AoE IV is more like AoE II but with a lot of the mechanics ironed out. Highly recommend
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think playing 3v3/4v4 ranked, without a premade team, on random is the closest thing to self-torture that there is. And I'm loving it!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you ask me whether this is a good game, I’d honestly say yes. But if you ask me whether I recommend it… absolutely not. The only way I’d recommend Age of Empires IV is if you’ve already finished Age 1, 2, and 3 and just want more Age content. But if you’re a new player trying to get into the fantastic world of RTS games, I’d strongly tell you to stay away from this one and go play Age of Empires II instead. Why? Because this game feels broken at its core when it comes to PvP. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game, I grew up with AoE II. AoE IV lives up to the reputation of the franchise.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you liked this game because of childhood nostalgia you're in for a treat: you don't know jack about how to actually play. You will loose against easy AI. Don't even think about playing against real people. Ranked? Do your taxes instead. Or paint your fence in the heat of the day. Anything, just don't play ranked and ruin how you felt about that game at one point in time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is good, however a major issue I have is the AI how on island maps they don't try to invade your island, even on Ridiculous difficulty they just bundle on the coast of their islands so it leaves you to ALWAYS attack them, you cant do like 2v1 and defend as long as you can. you have to invade them.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really want to like this game. The core gameplay of Age of Empires IV is solid: factions are interesting, macro/micro balance is decent, and matches can be genuinely fun when they actually work. Unfortunately, the technical side completely ruins the experience. The game suffers from serious stability issues. Random crashes happen far too often — sometimes mid-game, sometimes right as a match is getting intense. These are not rare edge cases; they are frequent enough to make playing…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Excellent game that has improved a lot but cheaters do not get banned permanently and maphacking etc has become increasingly prominent especially at higher levels especially in team games. No efforts are made to fix boosting in team games either. It is a sorry state of affairs right now.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Easy to Learn, Hard to master type of game but it hits the sweet spot even though I lose most of my games XD
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Perfect example of a developer innovating without ruining the formula that made the original great. Any criticism i have of the game (and i do have one or two) are nitpicks. 5 stars.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Every civilization feels like learning a completely different game. One day you're raining arrows as the English, the next you're relocating your entire civilization as the Mongols. Winning isn't just about having the biggest army—it's about planning ahead, adapting to your opponent, and staying calm when everything is falling apart. The campaigns deserve more praise than they get. They don't just throw history at you—they make you feel like you're part of it. The documentary-style videos…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very fun, though I wish the campaigns were more like AoE2's campaigns. So basically, I wish each civ had a campaign with a story attached. It makes it feel personal instead of the historical angle they went with. Don't get me wrong, the production quality of the campaigns that we do have are great. They're accompanied by documentary-esque videos and voiceovers but I kinda prefer the campy characters from AoE2.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A new update for Age of Empires IV is now available. • New game mode: Chart a Course • Balance & Bugfixes • Civilization-Specific Changes www.ageofempires.com/news/age-of-...
neutral · AI labelView post →---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☐ Good ☑ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☑ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For context, I'm a 30-something year old who grew up with all kinds of obscure RTS games. I played some Starcraft 2 and AOE2 multiplayer, but I stopped playing that many years ago. I thought that I'm just getting too old for this hectic, adrenaline-driven gameplay and I turned my attention to 4x games. AOE4 got me back into the 1v1 action, which I would never guessed would ever, ever happen again. The civ variety and strategic diversity is nuts among contemporary games of the genre. The sound…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My son started playing this when he was 7 years old he is 33 now. I started a few years later. I stopped for a long time and restarted when IV came out. I love this type of game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fantastic game with many interesting factions, gameplay flow is great, matches are fun, there is good sp content for players that aren't pvp oriented and game is in a good state. Probably the best rts on the market right now.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Play one of the other franchise versions. AOE4 has too many bugs now and it's hit or miss if your matches get recognized. As of this writing my losses are recognized but my wins are only recognized if I don't have any other players (even AI). If I win solo (at Religious or Wonder) with no other players added to a skirmish it will register. And many times I get "Waiting ..." at the end of matches because it can't reach the servers. The big problem is that ALL of your stats are on the servers…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They reduced the number of factions but made them more asymetrical compared to AOE2. The assymetry is mostly in how the economy of the factions works (e.g. in one faction you might do research in a ccompletely different way), or some military relative advantage (knights an age earlier) --- what this does is that the factions all play very differently, but the gamestate as a whole remains very readable. Whatever faction you fight against, you can quickly identify which units belong to which…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A triumphant return to the golden age of RTS, polished to absolute modern perfection. Age of Empires IV is a masterclass in how to revive a legendary franchise. It had the incredibly difficult task of living up to the monumental legacy of Age of Empires II, but it managed to pull it off flawlessly. This isn't just a nostalgic cash grab; it is a genuinely brilliant, thoughtful evolution of the AoE formula we all know and love. It keeps the core gameplay loop intact—gathering resources,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Age of Empires IV is a good classic RTS. It is still fun, but feels a bit safe and not very new.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have been a bit quieter, I discovered Age of Empires IV on #Xbox Cloud. Bit nostalgic I used to love Command and Conquer as a kid, but I don’t know why I never tried this game before.
positive · AI labelView post →Yes the game is like AOE ll. I love the Ottomans so much. I think i need to play this more. I wish i was smart enough to say something smart. I will write a short paragraf here telling you that you should buy the game if you like RTS games like SC ll or Supreme Commander. The game is like a game where you play like you're playing a game that you would like to play with the friends, not the TV series, the "real life"? friends, if you've got some of those. Game: I love game/5 PS: I needed to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →AoE2-AoK was one of the very first PC games I ever played.. and it's always a game I go back to for a solid month at a time. My parents bought me the game from PC World (RIP) sometime during the late 1990s. We had just upgraded our family computer to Windows 98 from 95 and my cousin had taught me how to load the AoE2 launcher onto a floppy disc (so that I could always play it, regardless of whether I had the disc or not). Anyway.. since AoE 2 I've been waiting for a new AoE game that takes…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, would love to recommend. but there is like a 20% chance that you simply cant play the game. My friend who bought the game and a DLC to boot cant play the game anymore. this has been the case for like a year and the devs cant seem to fix it? multiple forums also confirm the issue. so again. IF you can play the game its great, i enjoy it regularly. this is a negative review out of spite for my friend!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a decent game but I would enjoy it a lot more if I hadn't played Age of Mythology Retold first. It's honestly crazy how far ahead the tech is in AoM compared to this. So many missing features like game speed in this. I still recommend it but it could be much better.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Only a few missions in on the campaign but this is amazing already. It's like playing a documentary. The cutscenes are just a straight up live action documentary. If you like history this is awesome. Now I just need to get good at RTS so I can try multiplayer.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Im not an experienced AOE player but so far ive tried every single game in the franchise and i must say that AOE4 feels like the perfect balance between a sweaty AOE game and something more casual, knowing the basics of the game its more than enough to enjoy a non ranked game with random players or your friends, also AOE4 its the second biggest player base game of the franchise so its not going to be hard to find a match for you to play, when it comes to civs, there are a ton of them, every…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The gameplay itself is fine the campaigns suck and the narrator lacks emotion. The campaign doesn't make you feel like you're the one in charge at all, it just has a narrator talking down to you over and over again. There's no character interaction at all. If you're intending to play for the campaign like you would with AoE2 and AoE3, prepare to be disappointed.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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