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Age of Empires II (PC)

GENERAL INFORMATION

GENRE/STYLE

Strategy/2D Real-Time Strategy

RELEASE DATE

05/OCT/99

ESRB RATING

TEEN, Blood, Violence

DEVELOPER

Ensemble Studios

PUBLISHER

Microsoft Corporation

ALSO AVAILABLE ON

PlayStation 2

TRAITS (member-attributed "LIKES")

THE SETTING #USES

PLAYING AS #USES

PLAYING AGAINST #USES

HOW IT'S PLAYED #USES

GENERAL TONE #USES

tactical 189
Planning 84
epic 38

DESCRIPTION

As in the original Age of Empires, released in 1997, the ultimate goal in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is to develop a civilization from its humble beginnings to the glory years of a vast, world dominating empire. This goal can be achieved by various means including domination by military might, economic superiority, technological advances through four distinct eras, or diplomacy and trade.

You begin your empire-building task in this real-time strategy game as a small tribe on an unexplored map. By discovering resources and putting your clan to work harvesting them, your empire steadily develops. As time passes and your civilization grows, you'll expand your realm through population increases, exploitation of more resources (food, wood, stone, and gold) and specific work assignments to your villagers such as hunting, fishing, foraging, farming, lumberjacking, and mining.

As your resources, land acquisition, and knowledge grow, you'll inevitably meet other tribes or civilizations. Some will be reasonable and willing to exchange ideas and resources, while others will be determined to subjugate your realm through force. To meet these latter contingencies, you'll need to develop a military and equip it with the latest weapons technology can forge. If you seek a peaceful solution to world domination, you'll need to concentrate on building and construction as a means to develop new technologies and advance commodity trading via trade routes and alliances.

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings contains a vast number of enhancements and improvements over the original game. Just some of the new features include a choice of technology paths (over 100 nodes), building and defending Wonders of the World, and crafting military might through not only ground-based troops but naval and siege warfare as well. You can choose to play against human- or computer-controlled opponents, the latter being especially formidable due to aggressive AI programming.

The heart of the game revolves around a random map generator for both single and multiplayer modes. With no two games ever being alike, this feature allows for unlimited replay. For those wishing to immerse themselves in historical campaigns, the designers have included four fully developed campaigns based on the struggles of Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan, Frederick Barbarossa and Saladin, each consisting of a series of linear scenarios.

There are 13 playable civilizations from which to choose: Britons, Byzantines, Celts, Chinese, Franks, Goths, Japanese, Mongols, Persians, Saracens, Teutons, Turks, and Vikings. All have characteristics and attributes based on their real world existence and philosophical outlooks, proprietary weaponry and armor indigenous to their historical eras, and special bonuses based on inherent strengths.

Other enhancements to the original game include eight new map types that can be manually selected or randomly chosen by the computer, many new units ranging from demolition ships to heroes, new buildings and technologies, military formations and stances, and gathering points for newly created units. Additionally, the act of garrisoning specific buildings or locations is now available, as are new in-game accesses to an encyclopedia containing historical notes on the various civilizations and the expanded technology tree.

Nearly every setup in the game is customizable for both single and multiplayer games. Winning the game hinges on achieving various victory conditions built into each scenario. The game includes not only an option to design your own scenarios and campaigns through use of both campaign and map editors, but offers a chance to develop player scripts as well.

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings spans history from the days of the great Roman Empire to medieval times. From multiplayer game options such as Deathmatch and Regicide (players must protect their king or queen while attempting to assassinate the enemy leader) to single-player campaigns and scenarios, Age of Empires II offers the real-time strategy gamer a huge array of possibilities and deep gameplay. Multiplayer Internet action is offered free at the MSN Gaming Zone, over a LAN, or through a direct modem-to-modem connection. ~ Michael L. House, All Game Guide

Age of Empires II (PC)

GENRE/STYLE:

Strategy/2D Real-Time Strategy
RELEASE DATE:

05/OCT/99
TOP TRAITS:

RTS, RTS, tactical
DESCRIPTION:

As in the original Age of Empires, released in 1997, the ultimate goal in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is to d... more

players 2,862

followers 0

#80

POPULARITY: PC PLATFORM

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Past 14 days

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Age of Empires II (PC) by: Raltar

“I liked the setting of this game better than the original. Other than that it didn't really impress me.”

created 24/OCT/2009

5 Most Influential Games by: ruijoel

“This is a list of the video games which influenced me most. This means they were very good games and in addition contributed something to the gamer I became or to the person I became. The list of 5...”

created 17/OCT/2009

Bonemane played Age of Empires II on 07/OCT/09

“??? I don't know how this got tracked. I don't even think I had xfire on at the time neither did I play the game. I accidently launched AOE II while playing Dragonica and the game never started...”

created 08/OCT/2009

Age of Empires II (PC) by: Tjuhl

“Same as Age of Empires I, but now Medieval / Jean d'Arc / Crusade episode.”

created 13/SEP/2009

absolutlush played Age of Empires II on 08/SEP/09

“Changed my strategy some but it's hard to become aggressive. I ended up building a huge stone wall across the bridges with some defensive towers. And then rushed to the right up and back to the...”

created 09/SEP/2009

absolutlush played Age of Empires II on 06/SEP/09

“Had a real bad hankering for nostalgia and decided to install the first game in my pile o games and this was it. I powered through the tutorials and the first couple battles of the Joan of Arc...”

created 07/SEP/2009

Age of Empires II (PC) by: Kossak

“Wonderful continuation of AoE I. I love whole series, most important feature: pausing the game while still being able to give orders (executed after unpausing).”

created 03/SEP/2009

Age of Empires II (PC) by: Samine

“build your nation to the most powerful in the world and conquer the rest”

created 28/AUG/2009

Age of Empires II (PC) by: Grondhammar

“Hands-down the classic RTS, this one continues to stand the test of time and be highly played and enjoyed. Very balanced civs, with intriguing tech trees, along with the beautifully done isometric graphics make this great in single-player or MP. ”

created 20/AUG/2009

Age of Empires II (PC) by: Bonemane

“Improves on the original AOE's formula, but it loses some of its personality in the process. I think its mainly because the new races are not as grand as people like the Romans or Greeks. A fun game none the less and multiplayer is exciting.”

created 06/AUG/2009

Age of Empires II (PC) by: zennext

“If you play this, you have to get the expansion pack.”

created 24/JUL/2009

Age of Empires II (PC) by: HopeMonger

“Good co-op game, I played this with my dad a lot before EQ2 came out”

created 24/JUL/2009

Age of Empires II (PC) by: ChurchEternal

“A classic in the world of strategy, making the player having to balance economy with their military power for any hope to achieve supremacy. In my personal opinion, easily a rival to Starcraft. -Church”

created 20/JUL/2009

Age of Empires II (PC) by: searanox

“Age of Empires has always been about building empires; Age of Empires II is no different. However, I've always found them to be lacking in strategy. Simple joys in conquering the entire playing field, but campaigns and skirmishes are both bland.”

created 17/JUL/2009

Age of Empires II (PC) by: redman223

“When this game came out, nothing could touch it. I like the middle ages and this game was a great change of pace from C&C and the Warcraft games. The gameplay was excellent and multi-player was a lot of fun.”

created 15/JUL/2009