My experience with the Age of Empires series begins and ends with the faint scent of Nutra-Grain on a promotional disc and wasting at least 40 cents in local calls for modem play with a friend who decided humiliating me was more fun that teaching me how to play the game, and the last RTS I played competitively had a – craft suffix with no number following. If you are looking for a deep analysis of Age of Empires 4’s chops as a competitive real time strategy (RTS) game or a comparison to its impressive lineage, you are in the wrong place my friend. You don’t want to spend years of your life praising Genghis Khan without the context of, you know, all the genocide, and you should know where I’m coming from before taking my opinion here as if it were preached from the pulpit of Westminster Abbey. Much like when analysing the great battles of history, context is important when devoting ten minutes of the precious little time you will spend on this mortal coil to reading a video game review. Sticks and stones may break my bones but a horse can do it faster.