Game looks fun, but I've never played an Age of Empires game before. What's the difference between this and a Total War game?
I haven't played IV but previous Age of Empires are more like Command & Conquer than Total War.
Mixed with a bit of Civ as the ages pass your units become more modern.
AoE2 might be your best bet if you only pick one. I've seen somewhere that 4 is most like 2.the old ones