New Age of Empires 4 DLC is packed with civs and maps, but its experimental roguelike game mode is the real highlight

Age of Empires continues to be one of the strongest forces in the strategy world, and it's been a particularly exciting year for Age of Empires 4. Not only has it reached new shores with its PlayStation debut, but it's also shipped two massive DLCs - the latest, and biggest, has just arrived. Dynasties of the East, as the name suggests, focuses on Asia, with four fresh civilization variants, eight new maps, and some extremely diverse biomes. While that would likely be enough to satiate AoE 4 fans, there's one more addition that, in my eyes, trumps the rest: its new The Crucible game mode, which puts a roguelite twist on one of the best RTS games around.

Age of Empires 4 got a chunky DLC back in April. Alongside new civs, Knights of Cross and Rose introduced a single-player mode that throws you into scenarios inspired by real battles. A nice addition, but it's got nothing on the new mode arriving today with Dynasties of the East. Again, it's a single-player experience, but instead of historically accurate battles, it aims for more unpredictable, snappy runs by borrowing from the best roguelike games. The devs say "this is Age of Empires 4 like you've never played before," and they're not exaggerating.

The Crucible lets you pick a civilization and head into a series of random battles with procedurally generated objectives, modifiers, and escalating difficulty. Throughout runs, offerings of boons will be presented to you, and you'll be able to apply one to your civ. The goal is to protect a Wonder at all costs, but those procedural objectives will act as optional tasks that you can complete to earn "powerful rewards."

The longer your Wonder survives, the more perk points you'll accrue, and these can be spent on more permanent upgrades that will carry over across multiple runs. Basically, the more you play, the more your power will grow, but that'll be matched by increasingly difficult challenges and foes.

It sounds like a really fun spin on your typical Age of Empires action, and one that offers plenty of replayability if you want to experiment with different civs or become hooked on setting high scores.

As mentioned, the DLC also brings plenty of new content that can be used across all game modes. There are four new civ variants, for a start: The Golden Horde (Mongols), The Macedonian Dynasty (Byzantines), Sengoku Daimyo (Japanese), and The Tughlaq Dynasty (Delhi Sultanate). There are also eight new maps, and while most are geared towards competitive play, there are some more surprising, novel additions too - I can't wait to see "Cliffsanity" in action… Finally, six new diverse biomes hit AoE 4, including Greek islands, tropical rainforests, and black sand beaches.

Age of Empires 4 Dynasties of the East is out right now. You can grab it for $19.99 / £16.99 and learn more about those new civilizations right here.

For more, be sure to check out our list of the best strategy games. Or if you simply love the thrill of battle, our recommendations for the best war games will give you the kick you're looking for.