Picture this; the year is 1997. It's a bright and sunny weekend morning, and you're pouring yourself a bowl of cereal to eat while watching your Saturday morning cartoon of choice. While you hunt for the marshmallows in the cereal, you notice a CD-Rom is attached to the back of the box. Peeling it off, you notice that it's a disk for a game called Age of Empires. Later on, you go on to install it, all while telling your friends on AOL Instant Messenger (that is, if you were an early adopter) about your cool new game you can't wait to try. For the many players who have had experiences such as this, Age of Empires was likely an introduction into the Real Time Strategy (RTS) genre. And although the debut of the series was monumental, it was the sequel-Age of Empires II-that really struck a chord with the PC gaming audience. But even though its impact was monumental, it's hard to imagine anyone could have predicted, even with 7 more AoE games following in its wake, that the series's sophomore effort would remain just as relevant after over 20 years.
Rivaled only by Starcraft, Age of Empires has been one of the definitive series in the RTS genre ever since its debut, and for players with a historical interest (compared to, say, a sci-fi one), AoE2 is still the most popular entry point into the genre. And for many, it's the only RTS game they'll ever need; this game is absolutely overflowing with content, of both the single and multiplayer variety, and with so many civilizations, scenarios, and maps, its applications and playstyles are effectively limitless. This is one of those games that is functionally immune to the passage of time; its isometric style graphics are still functional, its inputs are customizable; it doesn't feel limited by its time of release in the slightest. It's a testament to this game's foundation and timelessness that it is still receiving DLC in 2023, a fully 25 years post-release, a time span which has seen tens of thousands of titles appear and disappear from the public consciousness.
And this wouldn't be happening if the gameplay wasn't rock solid. Age of Empires II is built on an extremely engaging and addicting gameplay loop of building up your town, scouting your enemies, managing your resources, and attempting to strategize in real time. At its best, it's a very actions-per-minute intensive, where it feels like everything you do matters, and even one wrong unit could be the difference between victory and defeat. It's the type of game that provides an anxious rush like not many others do, and it's so easy to get lost in that you'll feel hours pass during one campaign as easily as if they were minutes. And while the game is famous for its multiplayer, the built in campaigns are no slouch, either; the game is fully enjoyable from a purely single player point of view, and even offers a more unique look into the game via victory conditions, overarching stories, and historical (though largely inaccurate) periods of interest.
It also has a tutorial-framed as the first single player campaign-that serves as a relatively decent introduction to the basic mechanics of the game, and if you play only the first few campaigns, you may even think that it's relatively comprehensive. Any foray into the multiplayer space-or, indeed, any of the more difficult campaign missions-will show this to not be the case, however. There's so many nuanced aspects to AoE2, and that's what makes it quite the great game, but it also makes it exceptionally hard on the new player when so many of them are either poorly communicated or not referred to whatsoever. Any of the user created "how to play" videos online will showcase such a large degree of mechanics previously unmentioned by AoE2's tutorial, that it feels like you're almost playing a different game. (It should be noted that the Definitive Edition rectifies this issue somewhat with its Art of War section, but it's not a perfect fix.) Even then, there's still quite the learning curve to this title which can make it a bit off-putting for potential new players, and some of the campaign missions can feel a bit like trial-and-error when you're approaching them for the first time, which can be quite frustrating when each mission can last several hours.
If you're willing to brave the immensely steep difficulty curve, though, you'll find a game with an absolute wealth of content. Age of Empires II is probably one of the best value for money games there is; it's infinitely replayable and continuously refinable, and its dedicated long term fanbase is evidence of its quality. For those with an interest in getting into RTS games, it may not be the easiest title to start with, but it's one of the most essential to settle into, and shows no sign of losing its relevance. Age of Empires II is a landmark title in a relatively niche genre, and if you are willing to commit yourself to some rather harsh lessons, it will certainly reward you in due time.
Rivaled only by Starcraft, Age of Empires has been one of the definitive series in the RTS genre ever since its debut, and for players with a historical interest (compared to, say, a sci-fi one), AoE2 is still the most popular entry point into the genre. And for many, it's the only RTS game they'll ever need; this game is absolutely overflowing with content, of both the single and multiplayer variety, and with so many civilizations, scenarios, and maps, its applications and playstyles are effectively limitless. This is one of those games that is functionally immune to the passage of time; its isometric style graphics are still functional, its inputs are customizable; it doesn't feel limited by its time of release in the slightest. It's a testament to this game's foundation and timelessness that it is still receiving DLC in 2023, a fully 25 years post-release, a time span which has seen tens of thousands of titles appear and disappear from the public consciousness.
And this wouldn't be happening if the gameplay wasn't rock solid. Age of Empires II is built on an extremely engaging and addicting gameplay loop of building up your town, scouting your enemies, managing your resources, and attempting to strategize in real time. At its best, it's a very actions-per-minute intensive, where it feels like everything you do matters, and even one wrong unit could be the difference between victory and defeat. It's the type of game that provides an anxious rush like not many others do, and it's so easy to get lost in that you'll feel hours pass during one campaign as easily as if they were minutes. And while the game is famous for its multiplayer, the built in campaigns are no slouch, either; the game is fully enjoyable from a purely single player point of view, and even offers a more unique look into the game via victory conditions, overarching stories, and historical (though largely inaccurate) periods of interest.
It also has a tutorial-framed as the first single player campaign-that serves as a relatively decent introduction to the basic mechanics of the game, and if you play only the first few campaigns, you may even think that it's relatively comprehensive. Any foray into the multiplayer space-or, indeed, any of the more difficult campaign missions-will show this to not be the case, however. There's so many nuanced aspects to AoE2, and that's what makes it quite the great game, but it also makes it exceptionally hard on the new player when so many of them are either poorly communicated or not referred to whatsoever. Any of the user created "how to play" videos online will showcase such a large degree of mechanics previously unmentioned by AoE2's tutorial, that it feels like you're almost playing a different game. (It should be noted that the Definitive Edition rectifies this issue somewhat with its Art of War section, but it's not a perfect fix.) Even then, there's still quite the learning curve to this title which can make it a bit off-putting for potential new players, and some of the campaign missions can feel a bit like trial-and-error when you're approaching them for the first time, which can be quite frustrating when each mission can last several hours.
If you're willing to brave the immensely steep difficulty curve, though, you'll find a game with an absolute wealth of content. Age of Empires II is probably one of the best value for money games there is; it's infinitely replayable and continuously refinable, and its dedicated long term fanbase is evidence of its quality. For those with an interest in getting into RTS games, it may not be the easiest title to start with, but it's one of the most essential to settle into, and shows no sign of losing its relevance. Age of Empires II is a landmark title in a relatively niche genre, and if you are willing to commit yourself to some rather harsh lessons, it will certainly reward you in due time.