As part of a series of 20th anniversary announcements and celebrations, the entirely browser-based experience invites users to ponder major news stories, antiquated commercials and a selection of personal stats.

The original Xbox launched on 15 November 2001. Over the subsequent 20 years, the video game brand owned by Microsoft has released four more consoles. In recent years, Xbox has decentralised its hardware from its branding in favour of game and service initiatives like Xbox Game Pass and cloud gaming.

The museum is an exercise in flexing the Xbox brand while providing an intriguing example of a virtual museum that is browser-based and on the subject of video games. (Virtual museums aren’t entirely novel.) Players can navigate the virtual space and learn about different aspects of Xbox’s past.

The museum is split into sections devoted to the stories and games relating to each console. There are 3D models from games like Halo and Gears of War, while Halo itself has its own virtual space. Meanwhile the Xbox 360 area alludes to the infamous ‘Red Ring of Death’ error which caused widespread failures.

Each player has a personal museum with stats relating to their most-played game, when they first signed into Xbox Live and on what console. It invites players to indulge in nostalgia by reminding them of the first game they played while signed in to Xbox Live, and their first achievement.

The Mexico civilization is a new faction for the game inspired by the nascent Mexican nation. It is distinct from the Aztec civilization already in the game. Instead, it’s similar to the playable United States faction in that it advances through the ages by choosing from different federal states, with each unique state adding new cards to Age of Empires III’s deck feature.

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition

Image Credit: Xbox Game Studios

New dynamism

The developers emphasize the dynamism of the new Mexico faction. Rather than plumping for one game-changing Revolt, players can access different revolutions in each age. Electing for a revolution limits player options while emphasizing certain advantages. With Mexico, players can reverse their revolution and return to the typical age-up line of progression.

The DLC introduces new units to the game. They include the general, who can construct forts and inspire nearby combat units such as the soldato, a grenade and musket-wielding infantry unit; the saltador, a skirmisher available from the commerce age who can peek through fog of war; and the lance-wielding chinaco.

The cathedral houses new technologies, while the hacienda is a unique economic building that replaces the mill, estate and livestock pen. This can be toggled to produce food or coin automatically. It can also be garrisoned and upgraded, transforming it into a significant part of an economy.

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition

Image Credit: Xbox Game Studios

Historical battles

The expansion also adds a new Historical Battles scenario focused on the Cry of Dolores (Grito de Delores):

As the Bourbon Reforms granted the Spanish elite more power and diminished that of the church, resentment grew among the rural Mexican population. When news of Napoleon Bonaparte’s conquest of Spain reached the Americas, the words of a Catholic priest ignited the sparks of revolution.

Owners of the United States civilisation receive The Burning of USS Philadelphia scenario even if they don’t purchase the Mexico expansion, while owners of both the United States and Mexico DLCs receive The Battle of Queenston Heights historical battle.

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition

Image Credit: Xbox Game Studios

In a post on the Age of Empires website, the developers explained some of the historical inspiration for the new Mexico civilization. The historical figure Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla served as an inspiration for the priest character in the Cry of Dolores historical battle, while Ignacio Allende y Unzaga informs the general figure.

Because the Mexican flag is trademarked, the developers created their own flag using the official colours, inspired by the flag of the Army of the Three Guarantees.

The new entry in the franchise has attracted competitors from a range of different game communities. The $20,000 Genesis competition, hosted by Elite Gaming Channel between 13-14 November, featured players prominent in other Age of Empires titles, as well as Warcraft and Starcraft. However it was TheViper, often considered the best AoE2 player of all time, that won the grand prize.

The Norwegian player defeated the Greek Age of Mythology player Themistoklis “TheMista” Bonidis in the final. He previously scored wins against the British Age of Empires Online player RecoN and Pedro “LucifroN” Durán, a Spanish former professional Warcraft III and Starcraft II player. TheViper won despite a persistent wrist injury.

512 players participated in the open qualifier of the Genesis tournament, which ended with eight players continuing to the main event. They included well known Age of Empires II players Hera and Kasva as well as LucifroN’s younger brother Juan “VortiX” Durán.

The tournament’s rules meant that each player could not use a civilization that they had previously won with in the same series. This meant that players could not anchor themselves to a particular favoured civ. The deciding match of the series between TheViper and TheMista had them playing as the Abbasid Dynasty and the French.

TheViper’s achievement in the tournament establishes his status in Age of Empires IV against a host of new challengers. Meanwhile he remains the preeminent Age of Empires II player, recently achieving victory in the History Hit Open.

Timed just right for the 955th anniversary of the battle, Louee and Luke explore the strategy and tactics of the two generals on the day, Duke William of Normandy and Harold Godwinson, recently crowned king of Anglo-Saxon England.

In the video they go through the background to the battle, the composition of the armies and the key moments that decided the day. “This battle completely transformed English society,” says Louee, “it paved the way for the Norman conquest, swept away centuries of Anglo-Saxon rule and, of course, it’s the reason everyone remembers the year 1066.”

Referencing the Bayeux Tapestry and primary sources like William of Poitiers, the first episode of Battlefield Replays highlights aspects of medieval warfare as well as the mystery of Harold Godwinson’s alleged arrow in the eye. The new series also marks the relaunch of the History Hit YouTube channel.

In its interpretation of early medieval Britain, A Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia incorporates Gaelic clans, early English kingdoms and Viking settlers in a vast, turn-based campaign punctuated by exciting real-time battles. The depth of detail and the scale of the battles in Total War make it a perfect candidate for the Battlefield Replays series.

Though the series uses the Total War games, it is not endorsed by SEGA or the Creative Assembly in any way. The Battlefield Replays series has been in the works in the background for a little while now, and it’s excellent to see it fully realized. If you haven’t already, you should head over and subscribe to the channel.

A Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia

Image Credit: SEGA

USS Kidd is a guided-missile destroyer in the United States Navy named after Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who perished on board the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbour. It was laid down in 2005 and is part of Destroyer Squadron 23 of Carrier Strike Group 9. Age of Empires is a beloved 24 year-old strategy game with a 2D isometric perspective.

“The official Facebook page for USS Kidd (DDG 100) was hacked,” Navy spokesperson Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman told Task & Purpose. “We are currently working with Facebook technical support to resolve the issue.”

The first gameplay video was accompanied by the caption: “Hahahahaha.” Following videos featured captions including “play game”, “hi everyone”, “hi guys”, while the Navy’s official page description was edited to read “Gaming video creator”. Despite the length of the livestreams, the player never makes it past the Stone Age.

The most recent video had 11,000 views by 7 October. Comments on the videos ranged in content from the puzzled responses of relatives of serving crew, to criticisms of the player’s idle villagers.

“When my son comes home tomorrow he’s not going to [be] able to live this down if it’s one of his FC’s [fire controlman],” said one commenter. “Somebody teach this guy how to play,” said another.

First released in 1997, the real-time strategy game was developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft. It spawned a franchise that remains popular today, with its sequel, in particular, the subject of competitive tournaments.

In 2012, Kidd rescued the crew of the vessel Al Molai from Somali pirates. In 2014, Kidd joined the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. In the summer of 2019, Kidd was reportedly swarmed by mysterious “drones”, which prompted high-level inquiries in the Navy and the FBI.

The free House of Galencourt update for Chivalry 2 adds two new maps, a 3 vs 3 Arena mode, and an arrow camera feature that first debuted in the original Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. There’s also some 60+ new customization options.

Hold the door

Chivalry 2

Image Credit: Tripwire Interactive

The two new maps include the team objective map The Desecration of Galencourt. As the besieging Mason Order, attacking players are expected to take control of the walls of the prosperous “Great Walled City of Galencourt”.

In the game’s fiction, it’s the religious seat of the faction of Agatha. Defenders are charged with stopping the nasty red team from blowing up the ships in the city’s harbour and desecrating the relics inside the city.

Arena mode

Chivalry 2

Image Credit: Tripwire Interactive

Meanwhile The Betrayal of Courtyard is a general map for team deathmatch, free-for-all and arena. Speaking of which, the arena mode is a new addition, encouraging smaller-scale battles with an emphasis on teamwork. The best of five rounds of 3 vs 3 team combat determines the victor of each match.

Arena mode can be played on this new Courtyard map, as well as modified versions of the existing maps Tournament Grounds and Fighting Pits. There’s also a new Player Profile Screen to track stats, a new teamkill forgiveness prompt and a whole lot of customization options including more female armour skins.

Chivalry 2 is a first-person medieval fighting game inspired by the romance of epic cinema. Chivalry 2 was released in April 2021 and is available on the Epic Games Store on PC, as well as PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Announced on the official Age of Empires website, the event will let players get a hold of profile icons, an Amazon Archer visual replacement for the Arbalester unit, and a new trebuchet projectile.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Image Credit: Xbox Game Studios

As an aside, I recently listened to Age of Empires co-creator Bruce Shelley discussing the trebuchet on a 2015 episode of the Designer Notes podcast. Shelley actually came up with the idea to include one in the game.

“It turned out to be a really cool thing,” he says. “The guys did a fantastic job of creating one. It had a great sound, it was a devastating weapon. I’m really proud of the fact that maybe there’s millions of people around the world who now know what a trebuchet is because they played Age.”

Jungle Summer Vacation challenges

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Image Credit: Xbox Game Studios

Players will have to login to Xbox Live in order to save any of the rewards unlocked during the event, and automatically unlocks the “Swinging Rattan Archer” player icon. The different challenges also have to be unlocked in order, on separate days of the event. These are the challenges, which players can unlock at their leisure:

• Day 1: Play a Skirmish or Multiplayer match on the “Amazon Tunnel” map. Reward: Replaces all birds with Macaws.
• Day 2: Play a Skirmish or Multiplayer match as the Burmese, Khmer, Malay or Vietnamese. Reward: Unlocks the Snake profile icon.
• Day 3: Construct 6 Trebuchets in any one game. Reward: Trebuchet projectiles replaced with Bunches of Bananas.
• Day 4: Reach the Feudal Age in 14 minutes or faster in any one game. Reward: Unlocks the Boar Wearing Sunglasses profile icon.
• Day 5: Play a Skirmish or Multiplayer match as the Aztecs, Incas or Mayans. Reward: Visually replaces the Arbalester with the Amazon Archer.

He sets out the three pillars that drive Company of Heroes 3’s art vision, which together cover the inspiration, the style and the subjects of the game’s art. He’s explicit about the cinematic influence drawn from films such as Fury and Dunkirk, and illuminates some of the challenges posed for a game striving for authenticity.

Pretty and gritty

Company of Heroes 3 screenshot

Image Credit: SEGA

Brett explains that the first pillar, “Life at War”, represents the main artistic inspiration for Company of Heroes 3. The contrast of “Pretty and Gritty” is central to the game, simultaneously capturing the romanticism and charm of the Mediterranean and making the game’s iconic destruction feel all the more spectacular.

Cinematic realism

Company of Heroes 3 screenshot

Image Credit: SEGA

The second pillar is “Cinematic Realism”. This represents “the style and the how” of the game’s art. It covers both the influence from World War Two films and the “Cultural Texture” of the settings in the game, as well as Relic’s bespoke Essence Engine and the objective of gameplay clarity.

While the series’ progenitor drew heavy (and often barely disguised) influence from films like Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan, and Company of Heroes 2 from Enemy at the Gates, the third iteration labels Fury, Inglorious Basterds and Dunkirk as its touchstones.

Brett notes the impression of authenticity that reverberates around the hull of the Brad Pitt-starring tank flick, the “attitude” of Basterds and the “human storylines” of Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and the 1968 film The Devil’s Brigade. He also mentions the inspiration from recent colour documentaries (notably Peter Jackson’s They Shall Not Grow Old).

Texture mapping

Company of Heroes 3

Image Credit: SEGA

As Brett explains, the art team behind Company of Heroes 3 use the term “cultural texture” to describe the audio and visual cues used to define cultures and locations in the game. This involves the layout of towns in addition to the ways people, both civilians and soldiers, and their environments are differentiated.

Two large collages, linked here and here, help to illustrate the research and conceptualization of the visuals. There’s some interesting details here, with concepts ranging from Roman ruins to different shaders on vehicles.

Of the Essence (Engine 5)

Company of Heroes 3

Image Credit: SEGA

All the impressive physics in Company of Heroes 3 come down to Relic’s Essence Engine. This is the technology that makes possible new graphical features and the next development of the game’s 3D destruction system, “Destruction 2.0”.

The intended realism of the game poses some challenges for the user interface. Accurately drawn and rendered objects will have the habit of blending into each other in a smoke-filled battlefield situation, so the art team created a system to ensure gameplay clarity.

The visual qualities of elements are all examined as part of this process. The contrast of light and dark helps units to stand out whether they’re in a street or in a field, while colour grading is used to draw the player’s attention to the action.

Living Battlefield

Company of Heroes 3

Image Credit: SEGA

Brett includes a lot more detail in his post on the official forums, the text of which is actually three years old. The art team will soon elaborate on the “Living Battlefield” pillar. This is the “canvas” of the game: the units, environments, and the things that are the subject of the player’s gaze, like animation and visual effects.

Future public previews

Company of Heroes 3

Image Credit: SEGA

While the first public preview event for Company of Heroes 3 has wrapped up, another is being prepared. On both Company of Heroes 3 and Age of Empires IV, Relic is using player feedback to gather feedback from players about the early state of the game.

You can check back here for more news about Company of Heroes 3, including future updates about its multiplayer and historical campaigns. Meanwhile, you can take a look at our list of the best World War Two flight games.

Dawn of the Dukes adds two new civilizations, the Bohemians and the Poles, to the 22 year-old Age of Empires II. It also introduces three new campaigns, one for each of the new civilizations and one for the Lithuanian civilization.

Bohemian principality

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Dawn of the Dukes

Image Credit: Xbox Game Studios

The new Bohemian civilization is concentrated on novel gunpowder weapons and the heavy use of monks. The Hussite Wagon is a wooden war wagon based on those used during the Hussite Wars in the 15th century. It has strong gunpowder weapons and protects units behind them.

The Houfnice is an upgrade to the Bombard Cannon, while the technologies Wagenburg Tactics and Hussite Reforms boost gunpowder units and Monks, respectively.

New Polish civilization

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Dawn of the Dukes screenshot from video

Image Credit: Xbox Game Studios

Meanwhile the Polish are oriented around cavalry, with their two unique technologies Szlachta Privileges and Lechitic Legacy providing boosts to cavalry units. As might be expected, the Polish field the Winged Hussar. It has a distinctive look, though seems to simply replace the existing Hussar upgrade common to a lot of civilizations.

Here’s a fact: at the Battle of Vienna in 1683, the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth defeated the invading Ottoman Empire in part thanks to a cavalry charge, the largest in history, led by the Polish Winged Hussars.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Dawn of the Dukes screenshot from video

Image Credit: Xbox Game Studios

The Poles also have the Obuch, an anti-armour unit with a massive hammer, and the Folkwark. This building replaces the Mill and gives a bonus to nearby farms, possibly encouraging players to arrange food production around farms from the early game. As you can see in the trailer, it’s ideally sized for aesthetic farm placement

New campaigns

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Dawn of the Dukes

Image Credit: Xbox Game Studios

Dawn of the Dukes adds three new, voice-acted campaigns which deploy the Poles and Bohemians, as well as the Lithuanians. These explore the stories of the Lithuanian Prince Algirdas, Queen Jadwiga of Poland, and the Czech national hero Jan Žižka.

Dawn of the Dukes is the second expansion of recent years to the classic RTS. Age of Empires II: DE is one of our favourite games, which you may have gathered from our announcement of the History Hit Open.

A report, published in the Irish Times and elsewhere, revealed that Tourism Ireland spent a total of €49,405 on the campaign. The Wrath of the Druids expansion for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla includes virtual interpretations of Irish locations including the Giant’s Causeway, the Hill of Tara and Dublin.

Spiking players’ curiosity

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Image Credit: Ubisoft

The tourism body collaborated with gaming streamers such as NotaBene, Kaya Yanar and Keebabb in France, Germany, Scandinavia and Britain. This was the first time Tourism Ireland worked with gaming content creators, who were briefed on Irish history for their livestreams.

The aim of the campaign was to “spike players’ curiosity about the featured locations and inspire them to come and explore them in the real world,” according to Mark Henry, Tourism Ireland’s Central Marketing Director.

In response to a Freedom of Information request, the Irish agency said that the campaign was aimed at reaching a wide audience of young people with disposable income, who like travelling and playing games. They didn’t say how much each streamer was paid, but said that Ireland related-material had gathered over 50,000 views.