Product Description

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 1,000 years, from the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages, in which players control the destiny of one o

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2642 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2002-10-11
• Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows 95
• Dimensions: .35 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
When it comes to vast, kingdom-spanning ambition, you can't do better than Microsoft's Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. Microsoft went all out to create this real-time strategy game, and it fairly hums with gorgeous graphics, sophisticated AI and challenging scenarios for the novice and experienced player alike.

The point of the game is to shepherd your fledgling civilisation to world domination, using war, trade and exploration. You start with the bare minimum to get going, and you've got to balance your people's needs with your desire to be a little Napoleon. The Age of Kings gives you a ton of new units and technologies to enrich your strategic options. Each scenario is placed accurately within history, but you're also free to create your own.

The multiplayer format is robust, allowing up to nine players to share a world. When battles commence, you can take control of every aspect of your workers and soldiers, sending them running for shelter in the town centre, ordering them to defend a watchtower, or setting their combat stance to aggressive for free-for-all sword smashing fun. When you're not fighting, find your idle peasants with a mouse click and send them back to work chopping trees, rounding up sheep, fishing or mining gold and stone.

As you acquire more resources, you can improve your soldier's gear and skills, start to trade more efficiently, and make life better for everyone in your empire. You can choose from 13 groups to manage, from the Japanese to the Teutons and Franks. Each group has unique units and special characteristics, making this a game that changes every time you play it.

If all this sounds complicated, it is. New players may be intimidated by the range of choices, but the teaching scenarios are very helpful in conquering the controls. Age of Empires II is a sophisticated, gorgeous successor to the wildly popular original. It's a real feather in Microsoft's cap--a world-building game that will hold you captive. --Therese Littleton

Manufacturer's Description
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 1,000 years, from the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages, in which players control the destiny of one of thirteen civilizations. The game keeps the epic scope of Age of Empires' gameplay while evolving the combat and economic features. Developed by Ensemble Studios, Age of Empires II features the expertise of Bruce Shelley, co-designer of Age of Empires and the hit strategy game Civilization.

Customer Reviews

Age of Empire Rocks!!
This is a totally addictive game. All the family plays it from my 6 yr old daughter to my 40+ husband. You need to manage several different strands simultaneously and be able to anticipate and react. I love the range of different scenarios and random maps which give the game almost infinite playability - talk about value for money.
Sell you TV - you won't be watching it for several months to come.

Highly recommended strategy game!
As other reviewers have said, I got this game as a demo that came free with my computer when I was about 10. From the first time I played it, I loved it! I played it over and over and never got bored. But when I got rid of my old computer, I forgot what the game was called. After searching around I found it and downloaded a trial version and I bought the full version a few days ago. It's great. A lot different to the trial versions. It takes some getting used to and at first it is a bit hard. But once you've got into it, you won't be able to stop! It provides hours of fun and every time you play it, there's something different to do. It's not the same every time you play it.

If you're into strategy games, I highly recommend you get this one!

Age of Empires - Possibly the Best Ever Strategy Games
Basically, if you want an utterly addictive game which is based on history and involves a certain amount of brain power, this is the game for you. Not only are the graphics fantastic for a game that isn't that new and is not an RPG, the campaigns are excellent and the new civilisations and units are great fun to play with. My only problem with the game is that there isn't enough of it - the campaigns are great but there aren't enough of them. The South American civilisations are my favourite and the Spanish are also excellent with their fantastic ballistic weapons. Go get it!