Century: Age of Ashes Review - A Great Start with Potential to Soar
It is now possible to take to the skies and fight from the backs of dragons in Playwing's high-flying, PvP, free-to-play adventure, Century: Age of Ashes. In Century: Age of Ashes, players can take to the skies as the Marauder, Windguard, or Phantom classes and battle opposing players using their dragon's unique abilities. Dragons can breathe fire, shoot ice projectiles, create clouds of opaque and damaging gas, or fire blasts of electricity at opponents.
Century: Age of Ashes launched with three primary game modes: PvP, Co-op, and Free Flight. PvP includes ranked and unranked 3-on-3 or 6-on-6 matches. The co-op modes include Spoils of War, Carnage, and Gates of Fire. Each has teams working together to complete a common goal over three rounds. Free Flight mode allows players to just ride their dragon and try the different class powers without opponents or obstacles. Each of these game modes is well-designed, with gorgeous graphics, a sweeping score, and thrilling mechanics, and each one offers a new avenue for Century: Age of Ashes to grow and achieve greater longevity long after launch day.
In addition to the standard dragon designs, players can hatch dragons from eggs in Century: Age of Ashes. Similar to hatching and evolving Pokémon, baby dragons only hatch and grow if their egg is equipped and certain challenges are completed, and they do not introduce new powers to the main three classes; they are simply cosmetic enhancements players can optionally choose to use to customize their characters. This is the only place where microtransactions factor into the game, so it is entirely possible for players to enjoy Century: Age of Ashes and win without spending money.
By far the biggest highlights of Century: Age of Ashes are the unranked co-op matches. Spoils of War has players individually collecting gold and jewels to bring back to their team's coffers and preventing the other team from gathering more treasure. Carnage places teams of players in a brawl to secure the most kills and places bounties on players who have secured multiple kills. Like Hazard Zone in Battlefield 2042, Century: Age of Ashes' Gates of Fire is a capture the flag style game that requires a player from one team to carry a single flag through multiple "goals" to secure a win. Each match is fast-paced and gives players a clear, team-based objective.
There is a lot of room in each of the co-op game modes for players to get creative with their methods of protecting teammates or hunting opposing teammates, and players can strategize if they are playing with friends to better coordinate the match. Matches are the perfect length (apart from matchmaking time), never lasting too long or going by too quickly to be enjoyable. Most game modes have timed matches to ensure hopping on for a quick game or two really is quick.
The game is not entirely perfect, however. There is a lot going on, and the UI is extremely busy, which can make it difficult for players to pay attention and keep track of everything around them. This can lead to a large learning curve. There is currently no disconnect penalty, which can be off-putting and annoying for players who frequently experience disconnecting teammates. Games take place on one of four possible stages, or variations of these stages, which can become repetitive after a while. Matchmaking seems somewhat random, with beginners often finding themselves paired with higher-level players and struggling to succeed at first. Finally, the game is prone to crashes. However, all of these feel like opportunities for Century: Age of Ashes to grow now that it has gone live. Future updates should focus on resolving these issues as soon as possible.
In its current state, Century: Age of Ashes is a gorgeous game with a solid concept and premise that is unbelievably fun to play, and developers at Playwing have set it up with plenty of room to grow. The different match types are high-energy, with tight and exciting combat to suit a variety of playstyles. Co-op game modes like Spoils of War and Gates of Fire are clear standouts with their focus on more cooperative play and clearer objectives for teams beyond killing opponents. The microtransactions that are present allow players to pay to look cool and collect new gear and dragon styles, but not to win, which is a breath of fresh air given the state of most free-to-play online gaming models. Century: Age of Ashes deserves to be recognized for its polish and stellar execution from day one and is definitely a game that fans of fast-paced and energetic PvP should keep an eye on.
Century: Age of Ashes is free-to-play now on PC with plans to launch on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, iOS, and Android in 2022. A Founders Pack Steam code was provided to Screen Rant for the purpose of this review.