Age of Empires [official site] turns twenty this year and Microsoft are celebrating by releasing a Definitive Version of the game, with fancy new 4K graphics, all sixteen civilisations, including those from the Rise of Rome expansion, ten campaigns, and a host of other adjustments. It's coming later this year and you can sign up for closed beta access right now.
Age of Empires Definitive Edition gameplay trailer Watch on YouTube
Like a disappointed dad seeing the onset of teen gloom, I'm frowning at the new graphics. They're tidier, sure, but they look a bit drab next to the original look. That'll be included as well, in an authentic 1997 mode.
More impressive than the visual overhaul is a completely re-recorded soundtrack. There'll be more info at Gamescom, with a hint that it'll be more information about Age of Empires as a franchise rather than this definitive edition of the first game specifically. While we wait to see what that's all about, take a look at the beta signup info right now (if the website has recovered from the hammering it's been getting since the announcement).
