fnbrown's Full Review: Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings for Windows
Deciding whether or not to buy Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings wasn't really an issue for me. I played the original game until my eyeballs dried out.
Microsoft (actually, it's mostly Ensemble Studios), did a good job remaining true to the qualities that made the original so much fun while improving some of the less-desirable quirks, and spinning out a fresh timeline to play within.
The improvements that impressed me the most were the addition of formations and various attitudes (defensive, aggresive, etc) to military units, the addition of gates (what's the point of building a wall if you can't get through it yourself?), and the addition of a bit more depth and diversity in the game (more realistic civilizations, female villagers).
The original game was meant to cover the time period roughly from the dawn of civilization up until the emergence of the Roman Empire. With the expansion kit that was made available about 6-12 months afterwards, you could play during the age of the Romans (hence the expansion's title: The Rise of Rome). AOK is meant to take place after the fall of Rome - from the dark ages through the renaissance and into the dawn of imperialism (which happens to be my favorite historical period).
My only hope is that the trend continues - that there are more sequels to this game that take it all the way up through the information age (at which point, it would probably get pretty boring - instead of bloodthirsty hoards of axemen at your gates, you have teenage computer hackers breaking into your mainframe).
This game set features Age Of Empires II and the Conquerors Expansion pack : Start with Age Of Empires II and help William Wallace rise up to defeat t...More at Buy.com
In Age Of Empires II - Gold Edition you'll have the chance to rewrite 1000 years of human history as you conquer and spread your culture across the g...More at J&R Music and Computer World
AGE OF EMPIRES II: THE AGE OF KINGS + THE CONQUERORS EXPANSION PC WINDOWS CD, MICROSOFT, BRAND NEW AND SEALED! Four brand new games, AOE2 + Expansion,...More at eBay
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