Ex Ensembler’s thoughts on AOE 2 HD and AOM:EE

If you’re a Steam user you have have seen for a while prominent features of Age of Empires 2 HD and Age of Mythology Extended Edition available to play on Steam. Its great to see these classic Ensemble titles back in the game for purchase. Joining Age of Empires 3 which is also available for purchase on Steam there are now three major games in Ensemble’s legacy in the modern day Steam store and audiences both old and new can enjoy these great games.

But what do some Ex-Ensembler’s think about the HD and Extended Editions of their games? Julian Benson over at PC Games N has spoken to a few Ensemblites, Eric Best, Ian Fischer and Jerome Jones who are now working diligently at Robot Entertainment on Orcs Must Die! Unchained. Their article said:

I asked them whether they’d seen the new Extended Edition, HD remakes of their games.

“I was one of the designers on Age of Mythology,” Jerome explains. “That was a good game, of all the Age games. We went to the extended edition’s booth at PAX, talked to the guys who are putting it out there. Me and Ian went over there, Ian was a designer on Age of Empires, too. Him and I went over there and talked to some of those guys who never really worked on the game – they’re enhancing the game, right – and they were like ‘Hey, do you guys want to see the game?’ and we were like ‘Nah, we’ve seen it a lot.’

“I think it’s one of the best selling games on Steam,” Eric says.

“It was fine as it was, says Jerome. “It sold 4 or 5 million copies. They’re just making it look more… clearer maybe? That’s not fair, they’ve added some things that we didn’t put in. Global map stuff. It didn’t seem necessary for me.

It seems like they might not be too fussed about the re-release. From my own personal perspective I think its great to see these titles available on a platform like Steam and it gives these great games the chance to be played again on newer systems and reach new audiences. At the same time I dont think a huge amount of investment has been made and there could have been alot more done, I can understand where Jerome is coming from.

Be sure to check out the full article over at PC Games N.