Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition Reviews

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is ranked in the 79th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
PC Gamer
Top Critic
70 / 100
Oct 16, 2020

A modest remaster of a fun but flawed RTS that's stuck in the ever-lengthening shadow of its predecessor.

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Jonathan Bolding
Top Critic
6 / 10.0
Oct 15, 2020

Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition preserves for posterity the core of this weirdest 00s RTS experiments while making some much-needed changes. Love it or hate it, the definitive edition is Age of Empires 3 amplified.

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88 / 100
Oct 14, 2020

If you didn't like the original, you probably won't like this one either, but it is a spectacular RTS that improves in graphics and details such as the balance between the factions and the historical representation. And it's included in Game Pass.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8.8 / 10.0
Oct 16, 2020

Xbox Games Studios is back in charge with a great adaptation of one of the world's most iconic installments of strategy loaded with new features in one of the best remasters remembered in today's landscape

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8 / 10
Oct 15, 2020

Age of Empires III Definitive Edition is a lovingly reworked classic of the RTS genre that modernises in all the right ways. It also serves as the perfect way to prepare for next year's long awaited Age of Empires IV.

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7.5 / 10.0
Oct 14, 2020

Not the best in the series but still fun and engaging, that comes with a few new gameplay modes, two civilizations and restored graphics.

Review in Italian | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Oct 14, 2020

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is a fantastic job of remastering and enhancing the original. Graphics, historical representation, gameplay ... Only some problems in the AI ​​take us back to ancient times.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Oct 14, 2020

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is a great remake, packing in loads of new content and addressing some issues that other developers might simply have swept under the rug.

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Oct 14, 2020

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition still possesses some of the original game's flaws, but also builds on a lot of its charms in ambitious and satisfying ways.

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75 / 100
Oct 14, 2020

Microsoft has finally brought Age of Empires 3 out of the dark ages and fans are able to return to the game that they know and love. There's a lot of quality of life changes to be found with the Definitive Edition, but at the same time there's essentially the same amount of content to be experienced. Returning players may find that they're effectively paying for a 15 year old game, but are now able to view it in 4K.

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Oct 15, 2020

All in all, Age Of Empires 3: Definitive Edition is still a solid game. Its single-player content will last you over a dozen hours, and its multiplayer matches will last you several dozen more. While there is no longer that drive to farm XP for updates your Home City, the game itself is good enough that you'll be coming back for rematches time after time.

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Oct 14, 2020

Smart and much-needed changes bring Age of Empires III to a new level, providing a quality strategy experience newcomers and lifelong fans are both likely to enjoy.

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75 / 100
Oct 26, 2020

If you’ve got fond memories of this series, then the Definitive Edition of AoE 3 will hook you good. This new model looks and sounds great, there’s a ton of new battlefields to conquer, and new ways to do that conquering.

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8 / 10
Oct 20, 2020

No matter how you felt about undoubtedly polarizing Age of Empires 3 before, the dev teams at Tantalus Media and Forgotten Empires gave us a chance to relive nostalgic days that already long gone. Now this classic game feels a lot more expansive, prettier and acceptable.

Review in Russian | Read full review

Chris Wray
Top Critic
8.5 / 10.0
Oct 15, 2020

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is an undeniable and great improvement on the original. Featuring a huge amount of content, including some brand-new game modes, as well as a revamped and improved portion of the original campaign, there's a lot on offer. The AI is improved, though does have a few niggles here and there. Particularly so with pathfinding. This issue is overwhelmed by the amount of content on offer, great improvements to the aesthetics of the game, improvements to multiplayer as well as changes to the home city system outside of the campaign. While not as outright fantastic as Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, this is still a brilliant release and comes in at a very low price.

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Gameblog
Top Critic
7 / 10
Oct 26, 2020

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is still a good strategy game. The developers filled the title's content with historical battles, tutorials on their gameplay mechanics and two new factions, as well as trying to bring the graphics up to date. Try, because even if it is visually pleasing, it remains quite far from the current standards. Despite the 4K and revised textures, the I.A. behaves strangely at times and is not famous at all.

Review in French | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Oct 14, 2020

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is a package with clear and eloquent perspectives. It is a generous reproposition, in which functional filings intersect in the management of playful mechanics and an important aesthetic modernization. The solidity of the transaction is crowned by important content additions, which extend an already powerful offer.

Review in Italian | Read full review

90 / 100
Oct 14, 2020

The work tantalums Media and Forgotten Empires have done is impressive. Not only do they manage to capture the essence of the original work, but somehow give us a title that more closely resembles the memories we have than the original game. Every visual and sound aspect is exactly as we remember it, even if our memory sometimes sold us an experience somewhat away from reality.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

3.5 / 5.0
Oct 14, 2020

That being said, Age of Empires III Definitive Edition is a fantastic trip down memory lane, and the goosebumps I felt hearing that title theme again were very real. But without that nostalgia factor driving you onward, I just wonder how a player completely new to the series would fare.

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Oct 14, 2020

It's not a complete overhaul like other recent remakes, but with a new Age of Empires game to release in the future, it's more than enough to get players old and new on board with Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition.

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