Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings - PC

If you enjoy action and strategy, Age of Empires 2 is a must-have game that makes huge advances on its predecessor. Graphics are a nice improvement, but most important is that everything seems more in scale. The unique units and varied architectures associated with the different civilisations allow you to quickly change the character of the game by selecting different options; likewise, varying the map changes the face of the game.Most welcome are settings allowing you to take maximum advantage of very high performance PCs, while scaling back graphics and number of units controlled to enable the program to run on older Pentium's as well. This is key, and Microsoft does it better than other makers of entertainment software.Gameplay is first rate. You can assign numbers to groups of units and control them quite easily, specifying formation types (close, wide, flank, etc.) A mini-map in the lower right alerts you to units engaged in combat, construction completed and other events that require your attention.In general, success comes down to matching the right units against the appropriate enemy unit types, while constructing fortifications in a way that is defensible. At the same time you must run the economy -- gathering resources in anticipation of need. You will build and deploy units, construct and repair structures and advance technologies. Sound easy? Well...There is a learning campaign, so that you can get up to speed on game controls and shortcuts before taking on the computer or real opponents online. While you can play immediately and have a great time, I agree with several other reviewers that it will take a lot of time to master every aspect of AOE II, but that's part of the fun.Also part of the learning: there are definite advantages to some civilisations, and diplomacy can be extremely important. On the downside: the elaborate screen allows a pretty limited display of the battlefield map, so there can be a LOT happening in the periphery and you must pay attention. This is a small concession to the enhanced graphics of AOE II when compared to the original AOE.Overall, very highly recommended for both strategy and action gamers. The random map generator and variety of civilsations and maps lets AOE II continue to seem new and challenging every time you play.

Llegó a tiempo el envío, solo que el disco llegó con un poco de pelos, algo maltratado y usado, esperare que sirva y no se averie pronto.

Could not figure out how to get it to work on my computer. Seems to only work on older systems

Came sealed just like advertised. Brought some of the anticipated nostalgia back to my free time.

The worst

When I was younger, my brother and I would play this game all day. We would sign in to our MSN accounts and play against friends and each other. Unfortunately, my CD was lost in shipment when I moved to the states. My brother recently found his and suggested we played another round, so I bought this game again. I was so excited when it arrived and the condition was great. It plays like a charm and I forgot how informative the history is within the game. I bet I would have been able to pass my high school courses with higher grades if I didn't lose this game. Overall, a wonderful game with great history lessons and a great strategy game.

I loved this game, and bought it after all these years based on the answers saying that it works on Windows 7. It does not work. It installs but when I try to play nothing happens. I've switched compatibility mode to 2000, XP, 98, you name it. It doesn't play.

I bought Age of Empires II because of the glowing reviews in PC Games magazine, and right here on Amazon. I was tremendously excited; I loved the Warcraft series, and so this seemed like a perfect game for me. Sadly, I was wrong.The game so closely resembles Warcraft, it ought to pay licensing fees to it. This is not necessarily a bad thing, especially since the graphics are markedly better. They are breathtaking, in fact; I spent the first few minutes of game playing just marveling at them. I also was impressed with the tutorial mission, which teaches you the basics of game play. It did an excellent job of showing the ropes to impatient people like me who hate to read manuals (although I did, later, and was impressed by its comprehensiveness).Then the problems began. I played the first real campaign, Joan of Arc, and was hopelessly board. The first two missions in the campaign were mind-numbingly dull: I was supposed to "escort" the French Tart all over creation. Get her from one place to another without getting her killed and you win. Fail and you lose. There appeared to be only one usable path, so strategy didn't enter into it. The only way to win was to play each scenario once, die, and learn where the ambushes are placed (they were always in the same locations). I gave up when the third mission appeared to be more of the same. I couldn't understand why the tutorial had gone through all that time and effort to teach you skills like building and foraging only to give a campaign that required none of those skills.Despairing of the campaign, I attempted a "random map" scenario, in which the computer generates a map and turns you lose on some computer opponents. That is when the huge problems in the game play became evident.In warcraft, your peasants (or peons, if you were an Orc) could do three things: build, cut trees, or mine gold. In Age of Empires, your peasants can do the following: build, cut trees, mine gold, hunt animals, herd and slaughter sheep, hew stone, build walls, farm crops. Sound fun? Not when you have to micromanage the entire affair. In Wafcraft, you could usually set your peons to work and forget about them. In Age of Empires, you are constantly running out of sheep, and having farms go fallow. I was so busy trying to occupy myself with peasant affairs that I didn't have time to muster and march m army. "But it's more realistic," you may say. I disagree; you're a TYRANT, for crying out loud! You don't tell peasants where to farm; you demand your tribute and leave them alone! I also started getting lost in the building options; there were simply too many buildings.The first few times I played, I kept getting overrun by the computer's armies. I simply didn't prepare properly because I was too busy building mines and monasteries. The third time, I managed to get my army gathered, and marched them into enemy territory, prepared for glory. I was thrilled with the anticipation of a bloody victory. I was happy with the formation options, that let you choose your marching formation. I chose the square, which put my weaker units in the middle, for protection.Too bad it didn't work. Enemy soldiers would simply charge through my front lines, directly to the weaker units, and slaughter them before my army had a chance to respond. Are you really going to tell me that an army regiment has such slow reaction time that they can't close ranks when an enemy soldier charges in? It was another frustrating element to the game, and made me ultimate shut off my computer in annoyance.There are some wonderful reviews of this game. Maybe I am missing something. I must be missing an awful lot, though, because the primary emotions I felt with this game were boredom and annoyance. Get Warcraft II instead. Or do your laundry. Either way, I think you'd have more fun than playing Age of Empires II.