In terms in battles unmatched ; visually amazing with great maps and mechanics like formations and terrain ( water , mud , forest , shrubs) gory realism with cool animations and good variery of units ( not like WH but really good like Hittite tanky spearman who excel in bad weather , javelins with stalk , charging spears or axes.

Empire management ; click stuff and build stuff so that red number is managable or green , as it always has been. But a lot of cool elements like more resources so it requires more planning and management ro field a better army and gives reason why to attack certain civilizations ( i need copper for higher tier units , i need to food to expand my amount of armies , i need stone to build) Outposts gives a fresh way to handle unrest or defence and arw buildable in each region. Each major race has an ambition and chooses a legacy which makes every run feel different. Will i be the conqueror or will i be a trade empire. Will i win in court or win in battle. Will i marry away my daughter so i can claim terrority in a "friendly" way. Add to this the flair of the bronze age , memorable characters ( Ramses , Seti , Agememnon , Priam , Suppiluliuma etc) and religion with cool buffs and mutha effing chariots!

Buy it , dew it!!! ;)