Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is the second game in the Age Of Empires real-time strategy game series developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft. Age of Kings was released in 1999 for Windows and Macintosh. Set in the Middle Ages, the game contains thirteen playable civilizations and 5 campaigns.
Overview
As Mel Brooks put it in History of the World Part 1, 'It’s good to be the King!' Now everyone can grow up to be the king. Watch out, though, because you could also become a lowly trampled serf. Age of Kings is a masterful sequel to Age of Empires.
- Age of Empires II: Age of Kings Demo Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is the sequel to the award-winning, best-selling real-time strategy game Age of Empires. Age of Empires II spans a thousand years, from the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages in which players lead one of.
- Age of Empires 2 is the second instalment of the well-known real-time strategy game, based on the battles of the Middle Ages.This second instalment is set just after the fall of the Roman Empire and leaves mankind's destiny in our hands, from the barbarian invasions to the end of the Middle Ages.
- Age of Empires, the pivotal RTS that launched a 20-year legacy returns in definitive form for Windows 10 PCs. Bringing together all of the officially released content with modernized gameplay, all-new visuals and a host of other new features, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is the complete RTS package.
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition celebrates the 20th anniversary of one of the most popular strategy games ever with stunning 4K Ultra HD graphics, a new and fully remastered soundtrack, and brand-new content, “The Last Khans” with 3 new campaigns and 4 new civilizations.
Age of Kings starts where Age of Empires Expansion: Rise of Rome leaves off. It begins in the Dark Ages after the fall of Rome and progresses through the Feudal Age, Castle Age, and -- if you live long enough to spend the resources -- Imperial Age. The campaigns are based on historical people and events. There are five campaign levels: The William Wallace learning campaign has seven scenarios. The Joan of Arc, Saladin, Genghis Khan, and Barbarossa campaigns each have six scenarios. Each of these will give even the most experienced players a run for their money, especially if played on the most difficult settings. They are ranked and increase in difficulty level as you move on to the next scenario and on to the next level. A random map is always good for some skill building and pure 'Kingdom Building/Kingdom Bashing.' There are 13 civilizations to choose from and each has one unique unit that can only be built by that civilization (with the exception of the Vikings who have two unique units). To be able to build your unique units you must get to Castle Age and build a castle. The unique unit’s special skills give you an edge, so build your castle as soon as you can and beat your opponent to the punch. Below is the list of each civilization and the unique unit that they have.
The Britons have the Longbowman.
The Byzantines have the Cataphract.
The Celts have the Woad Raider.
The Chinese have Chu Ko Nu.
The Franks have a Throwing Axeman.
The Goths have a Huskarl.
The Japanese have the Samurai.
The Mongols have Manguoai.
The Persians have the War Elephant.
The Saracens have the Mameluke.
The Teutons have the Teutonic Knight.
The Turks have the Janissary.
The Vikings have the Berserk & the Longboat.
Gameplay, Controls, Interface
It is wonderful to be able to play with either keystrokes or the mouse or a combination of the two to navigate and rule your kingdom. If you know how to play Age of Empires, then you already know how to navigate in this game. Even if you have never played Age of Empires (is there anyone out there who falls into that category?), you will find the learning curve short and you will be able to get the basics down quickly.
There are lots of new features and things to research. One of the things that is both exciting and discouraging is the number of things that you can research. It is next to impossible to come up with enough resources in order to research all that is available, so pick and choose what you need for the way you play. In Age of Empires I did get to the point where there was nothing left to research but I have not yet had this problem in Age of Kings.
One of the nicest new features is the town bell you can ring to call all your villagers to garrison the town center, protecting your town center and villagers from those unscrupulous raids on your economy. I guess if you played that way in the previous games you will have to come up with a new strategy. There is also a very nice feature that allows you to find your loafing villagers and get the freeloaders back to work. One of the biggest challenges is to keep all your villagers working, as they like to take breaks and stop contributing. Now you can click on the idle villager button or press the period key (.) and it will take you to the next loafing villager; the comma (,) takes you to the next idle military unit. The map view allows you to easily monitor your progress and yet it does not detract from the gameplay.
Overland trading with trade carts (which can be created at the market) has been added to the game, something that helps a lot with resources in land-based games. In Age of Empires you needed water to be able to trade. You can still trade on the seas but you are not restricted to this supply channel. You can convert almost any resource into gold through your market, but use it wisely since the trade rate gets worse each time you use this option. There are also new sources of food with wild animals and sheep as well as deer, farms, and fishing.
Working gates for your walls now means you do not have to leave a hole and try to defend it any more. Just make sure you monitor the gate because the enemy can walk through when your people open it.
A good source of obtaining 'free' gold is collecting artifacts and depositing them in your monastery where your monks will exchange them for gold. If you destroy a monastery with artifacts in it you can take them back home to your own monastery. In one game, I received almost 3,000 gold just from the artifacts. It is well worth the risk of losing a monk to get all the gold you can. Go for the gold.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer mode is my favorite part of the game. The computer opponents are smart and the artificial intelligence is better in Age of Kings, but there is no substitute for a live opponent (even if that opponent is only your very computer-savvy six-year-old). There is an advanced mode and a simple map mode. If you do not have enough information use the advanced mode, if it is too complicated go to the basic display.
Graphics
The screenshots just do not do this game justice. To get the full experience you need to see the graphics and animation in action. The depth and detail is great and the scale of the buildings to the people is one of the biggest improvements over the original. There is a very nice addition to finding those lost workers on the map. If a villager gets behind a building or a natural obstruction like a tree you will see an outline glowing through the building or through the forest. The animation is crisp and quite fluid, a real treat for so much going on at the same time.
Audio
The audio is up to the high standards of Age of Empires. There are unique sounds that alert you when there is something that needs your attention. I turn off the background music in most games, but I actually like the music in Age of Kings -- it stays in the background where it should be. Too many games now center the game on the music in an attempt to make up for the lack of content. Do not play this game without sound support; you will not be able to keep up effectively without the warnings and alert sounds. More games should learn from Age of Kings on the proper use of sound that contributes to gameplay and stop using it as filler.
System Requirements
I am impressed with how well this game runs on the minimum system. The minimum requirements state that you will need a multimedia PC with Pentium 166MHz or higher processor, Microsoft Windows 95, 98 or NT with Service Pack 5 for the OS. You will also need 32 MB RAM, 200 MB hard disk space and 100 MB free for the swap file, a SuperVGA monitor supporting 800X600, 256-color resolution and 2 MB VRAM and a quad-speed CD-ROM drive. You will need a mouse, 28.8 modem or higher for Internet or head-to-head play, and a sound card with speakers or headphones. By today’s standards this is a pretty low-end machine, and yet the game plays very well on a PC equipped this way. I did play on my old 166MHz PC for testing purposes and it performed quite well. A large game with large population limit would be too much for the minimum PC, but with computer prices as they are today, I do not see this as an issue. There are a lot of inferior games that require a lot more PC to play.
Documentation
The documentation is up to the usual high standards Age players have come to expect. The manual is very nice and quite complete. The quick reference card is wonderful and is also available online, so now if you do not have a card handy, you can look it up in the online help. I find the printed card and book refreshing to see provided and I would gladly pay a little extra to have these sorts of items included in all the games I buy. Thanks for not skimping, guys. The readme.doc file on the CD is very complete -- be sure to read it for late-breaking civilization changes and information on possible hardware conflicts.
Bottom Line
The only reason I did not give this game 100 out of 100, as great as it is, is that it is a sequel. It is not a totally new idea with groundbreaking creativity and originality. Don’t get me wrong, I love this game and it already has my vote for Game of the Year. Even if another game happens to get a higher score this year, Age of Kings will still get my vote because it has staying power and I cannot say that for too many games these days. Sure, some games are fun when they first come out, but I find myself losing interest fast with most of them. Age of Kings, Age of Empires, and the Rise of Rome Expansion Pack are all timeless and they will stay through the 'Ages' installed on my computer for many years. The suggested retail price is $54.95 and it is worth the full price. I am already looking forward to an expansion pack for Age of Kings. It will be hard, however, to find things that they left out and can improve or expand upon, but I hope they do. It is rare to find a sequel that is better than the original game it is based upon, especially when the original game was so good. My hat is off to Ensemble Studios and Microsoft for a job well done.
Minimum System Requirements
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 version 18362.0 or higher
- Processor: Intel i3-2105 @ 3.1GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 973 with an average CPU Passmark score of 3735 or better
- Memory: 8GB
- Graphics: GeForce GT 430, Radeon HD 5570, or Intel HD 4400 with an average Passmark G3D Mark of 570 or better
- VRAM: 2GB
- DirectX: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 42GB available space
Recommended
- OS: Windows 10 version 18362.0 or higher
- Processor: Intel i5-3300 @ 3.0GHz or AMD FX-8350 or equivalent with an average CPU Passmark score of 4100 or better
- Memory: 16GB
- Graphics: GeForce GTX 980 or Radeon R9 Fury or equivalent with an average Passmark G3D Mark of 9500 or better
- VRAM: 4GB
- DirectX: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 42GB available space
- Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
- Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
Includes:
Includes:
Minimum System Requirements
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 64bit
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64×2 5600+
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 420 or ATI™ Radeon™ HD 6850 or Intel® HD Graphics 3000 or better with 2 GB VRAM
- DirectX®: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 30 GB available space
Recommended:
- OS: Windows 10 64bit
- Processor: 2.4 Ghz i5 or greater or AMD equivalent
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia® GTX 650 or AMD HD 5850 or better
- DirectX®: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 30 GB available space
Lords of the West, the first new official expansion to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, is now available for pre-order and will be released with Xbox Game Pass for PC, Microsoft Store, and Steam on January 26th, 2021!
Challenge your friends with two new Civilizations that include unique units and technologies for you to explore. Battle across Western Europe and the Mediterranean with three new campaigns, and claim victory by means of sheer military might, diplomatic prowess, or through overwhelming economic power!
Minimum System Requirements
Requires Age of Empires II: Definitve Edition Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is the new, lovingly remastered version of the legendary real-time strategy game straight from the pages of history! Relive the most glorious battles of history with all-new graphics, music, sound, and more.Minimum System Requirements
- OS: 64-bit Windows 10 version 14393.0 or higher required
- Architecture: X64 required
- Processor: 1.8 Ghz+ Dual Core or greater i3, i5, or i7, or AMD equivalent
- Graphics: Intel HD 4000 or Greater (16 or more Execution Units), AMD or nVidia GPU scoring 500 or more on Passmark G3D Mark, DirectX 11 or higher Feature Level support
- Memory: 4GB (free)
- Video Memory: 1GB (free)
- Storage: 17-20GB, additional 100MB free at run time
Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome (Included with Age of Empires: Definitive Edition)
The Rise of Rome adds four new civilizations and units as well as new campaigns, now fully voice-acted in English.
Age of Empires II is the sequel to the award-winning, best-selling real-time strategy game Age of Empires. Explore new maps, multiplayer scenarios, spectator mode, user-created content from the Steam Workshop and more in the HD Edition re-release and its three expansions!Minimum System Requirements
- OS: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 Pro+
- Processor: 1.2GhZ CPU
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Hard Drive: 2 GB Space
- Direct X 9.0c Capable GPU
- DirectX® 9.0
Minimum System Requirements
- OS: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 Pro+
- Processor: 1.2GhZ CPU
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Hard Drive: 2 GB Space
- Direct X 9.0c Capable GPU
- DirectX® 9.0
Age of Empires III: The War Chiefs
Continue the saga of the Black family in an all-new campaign as they witness the birth of a new nation.
Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Three new civilizations join the fight, each with its own campaign!
Age Of Empires Demo Download
Age of Mythology is back! Choose your god and take to the battlefield in this classic RTS, upgraded with full Steamworks integration and enhanced features. Use mythological creatures like Minotaurs and Cyclopes to bolster your armies' strength. Call upon the gods for assistance in flattening enemy towns with meteors or scatter opposing troops with lightning storms!Minimum System Requirements
Age Empires 1 Full Download
- OS: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 Pro+
- Processor: 1.2GhZ CPU
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Hard Drive: 2 GB Space
- Direct X 9.0c Capable GPU
- DirectX® 9.0
Age of Mythology: The Titans (Included in Age of Mythology Extended Edition)
A new culture—the Atlanteans—joins the clash of truly epic proportions! With new units and an all-new campaign, you won't want to miss this titanic expansion.
Age of Mythology: Tale of the Dragon
Age of Mythology: Tale of the Dragon introduces gods and units from Chinese lore in this expansion to the epic game of mythological armies!