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. Download and extract AgeofEmpiresIIWinRIPEN.zip; Double click on the.zip file and select to extract contents to your desktop. You will now have a folder called 'Age of Empires II' on your desktop. To launch Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, just open the folder and double click on the file called 'empires2.exe' (red helmet icon).
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 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
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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. Easeus keygen machine code tutorial.
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.
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
Download Aoe 2 Full Version
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. Easeus keygen machine code tutorial.
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.
- Developer: Backbone Entertainment
- Genre: Arcade/Action
- Originally on: Windows (1999)
- Also known as: Age of Empires 2
- Works on: PC, Windows
- Editor Rating:
- User Rating: 7.3/10 - 8 votes
- Rate this game:
The best compliment I can give Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings is that even after all these years I still play and enjoy the hell out of this game. There are so many strategy games these days that we are spoiled for choice. However, while it may not be the best looking by today's standards, I feel that this is a game that holds up in every single regard and is still one of the most rewarding strategy games ever created.
From The Dark Age
As is the case with most other strategy games of this type, Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings spans multiple 'ages' as you progress through the game. You will be starting off in the dark ages where you have next to nothing and are constantly fighting for survival. After this, you move onto the Feudal Age where you now have warriors and can start advancing your 'technology' where you can have stuff like chainmail armor and wheels for moving stuff.
You then advance to the Castle Age and here you can build, well castles and more advanced weaponry and fortifications. The final age in the game is The Imperial Age and this is a far cry to what you were doing in the dark ages! You now can have an elite city with paladins that can kick some major butt. There is a fantastic sense of progression in the campaign and everything makes perfect sense.
So Many Civilizations
It is very impressive how the Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings not only has 18 different civilizations in the game but how different they each are. At a glance, it may look like there are only subtle differences, but the differences are quite deep. Each one has their own 'special' unit. The British can expert bowmen and the Franks can do heavy damage with throwing axes for example.
The way the battles work is very clever in that each unit can crush another type, but there is also a counter for each unit. It is a delicate balancing act and really requires you to think about how you go about things on the battlefield. It is this kind of gameplay that makes this such an addictive game for me.
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Rule The World Your Way
A huge part of what makes this such a popular game is that it is up to you how you play it. I am the kind of player that likes to steamroll my enemies before they have a chance to get too powerful. This means I have to rise very quickly and get my units up to speed as quickly as I can. Other players might like to take a more balanced approach or go for something that is more defensive. It is really up to you how you go about trying to prove your might in this game.
Still Some Charm
As I write this, we are talking about a game that is the better part of 20 years old. Even with that being said, I feel the visuals hold up fairly well. They may not be as sharp or as detailed as a modern real time strategy game, but you can still easily tell what everything is supposed to be in this game which is all you can really ask for.
Aoe 2 Free Full Version
I could go on and on forever about what an amazing game Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings is. The fact of the matter is that in a review like this, I can only touch the surface of what makes this such an amazing experience. The level of choice that you have is just staggering and something even many modern RTS games have not come close to offering. Rather than reading a load of stuff about this game, I demand you to just go and play it right now!
Final Score
Pros:
- Each of the civilizations feels unique
- I liked how each civ had their own special unit
- So many tactics that you can use!
- The campaign is nice and long (that's what she said)
- It is one of the best RTS games ever made!
Cons:
- The visuals are not as sharp as a modern RTS
- Sometimes it can throw to many choices your way!
Download Links
System Requirements
Processor: PC compatible,
OS: Windows 9x, Windows 2000 Windows XP, Vista, Win 7, Win 8, Win 10.
Game Features:Single game mode
