Because of this, I ended up using the controller shortcuts for unit selection much more liberally—a tap of a D-pad direction to select a single villager or hero, for instance, or holding down another direction to auto-select all military units. Combining the left trigger with the D-pad to instantly select specific types of military units also quickly became second nature and a simple way to manage multiple small groups at once.
Managing unit groups without these built-in shortcuts, on the other hand, is a bit more laborious. First, you have to select a group of units by holding down the A button, creating a slowly expanding selection circle to encompass your desired group. Then, you hold down both shoulder triggers, tilt the analog stick, and tap X simultaneously to assign that group to a specific direction on a radial menu.
Microsoft
A single radial menu is not enough here; note the “Find Units” page change button and the d-pad options on the sides.
Microsoft
I hope you like radial menus, because you’ll be looking at a lot of them.
I hope you like radial menus, because you’ll be looking at a lot of them.
Microsoft
I found myself using controller shortcuts rather than bringing up this Command Menu most of the time.
Microsoft
I hope you like radial menus, because you’ll be looking at a lot of them.
I found myself using controller shortcuts rather than bringing up this Command Menu most of the time.
Microsoft
Creating and switching between separate groups of units is a finger-contorting and cumbersome exercise.
Microsoft
That’s just as cumbersome as it sounds, as is switching between those groups after they’ve been assigned. Going from one selected group to another requires five distinct controller actions—hold down both shoulder buttons, tilt the joystick to the desired group, tap A, then let go of the shoulders and tap B to get back to the main game map.
It works, but…
Yes, it all technically works, but it’s a lot of thumb and finger movement to keep track of for such a key action. And that feeling that there’s a lot for my fingers to keep track of never really went away in general when using a controller on Age of Mythology: Retold.
Even with a few hours of practice, I was often fumbling for a second or two to remember just what specific combination of buttons would lead to a desired in-game action. And while the game’s interface does a good job popping up reminders of which buttons do what at a glance, I was still leaning on those reminders just a bit too much even after significant controller experience.
All in all, I was surprised at just how playable Age of Mythology was with a standard Xbox control pad. The experience is functional enough that I feel like Xbox owners playing on the couch and Steam Deck owners (or Xbox streamers) playing on a handheld can now get a “complete” experience with this classic game. Still, the annoyances associated with mapping an RTS like this to a controller remain large enough that I can’t recommend a controller to anyone with access to a mouse and keyboard on their gaming rig.
