Century: Age of Ashes has a very odd and, admittedly, misleading name. Is this age of ashes a century long? Do the events transpire in a single century during the age of ashes? Am I completely missing the mark on how these words in this order are supposed to be perceived? To be honest, none of that matters. What matters is that Century: Age of Ashes revolves around one very important idea: dragon battles.
I was extremely disappointed that BioWare didn’t show Dragon Age 4 at Gamescom, which is largely why I was so happy to see that at least one trailer packed with fire-breathing lizards made the cut. In case it isn’t clear, I like dragons – a lot. Dragons rule. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by these incredible mythological creatures. How can you not love the idea of knocking about the skies while your draconic pal spits sweltering blazes into the clouds, lighting up the sub-stratosphere in a sea of frenzied flames. I genuinely had dragon encyclopedias as a kid. Yes, even my family thought it was a bit, er… odd.
Related: The Oral History Of Dragon Age: Origins
What’s so special about Century: Age of Ashes is that it essentially revolves around a kind of team deathmatch-style concept typical of what you might expect to find in an FPS, except instead of guns and grenades and grifter-riddled voice lobbies, it’s all about dragons talon-boxing each other in the sky. It is, despite being relatively niche and probably on the edge of the vast majority of people’s radars, an excellent and enticing premise that could – and should – do remarkably well.
It’s basically the exact game I’ve wanted ever since I played Eragon on PSP, which was objectively a pretty poor game, but one I loved dearly as an idiot, dragon-loving 11-year-old. Side note: Eragon also rules. I could be looking back through rose-tinted glasses, but that’s not important to my argument here – even if my view of the adapted-for-PSP version of Christopher Paolini’s YA dragon fest is skewed, I am 100 percent convinced that I am on the right side of history here. Once I took to the skies midway through Eragon and started to bombard bosses with barrages of blaze, all I thought was, “Imagine doing this, but against other players.” Who needs Galbatorix when you can play against Gary down the road, eh?
Century: Age of Ashes is capitalising on a concept that, in hindsight, probably should have existed over ten years ago. It is novel despite the fact that it absolutely shouldn’t be, and I really hope more people start talking about it. It seems ludicrous that a game about literally fighting dragons – which is just around the corner! – has made such small waves in the games community. Like, is this not something that should be way up so many people’s alleys? Do you like fantasy? Do you like spitting fireballs at people? Am I just an eejit who is completely misunderstanding what makes a genuinely cool video game concept? No, I think not – it is the people who are ignoring this game who are in desperate need of learning.
If you missed Century: Age of Ashes earlier this week, that’s pretty understandable. It didn’t get primetime slots at any of the showcases this year, including Gamescom ONL where it was sandwiched between Xbox’s Game Pass showcase and a weird football sim that was not, in fact, eFootball – but now you’re reading this, I’d urge you to go check it out. Look at the trailer, tell your friends – hell, pre-order it if you can. This is a game that will do well and achieve real longevity if it attracts a sufficiently sizable playerbase. I haven’t had a go of it yet, but our own Eric Switzer has and he reckons it’s the dragon’s bollocks.
I mean, come on – we’re getting a game about aerial dragon wars. I think we should all collectively be making much more noise about it to ensure it gets the acclaim, attention, and lifespan it deserves. If you disagree – if you’re a filthy little dragon hater – then why have you read this far? I think you secretly love dragons, don’t you. Haha. Got you. Checkmate.
Century: Age of Ashes launches for PC this November. Please play it so I can actually find a match. Cheers.
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