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Gaming excellency

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 140 / 149
Date: April 29, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I had been a die-hard fan of AOE for about a year and a half before AOE2 hit the shelves. I didn't pick it up until about March but I loved this one twice as much as the first and here's why: (1) Unlike the first, AOE2 offers you the ability to garrison units which is great for an ambush. (2) AOE2 also offers players the ability to place units in formations such as the box, staggered, etc. (3) New scenarios which actually help players learn to craft and fine-tune their skills. (4) The ability to save a multi-player game. How many times have you been in an awesome two hour game when something comes up; no more. (5) Great new customizable scenario building tools that make it more fun then ever. (6) Castles, Unique Units, and all the other new buildings and techs. (7)Trading from the market- a simple way to trade for that 200 gold for the easy castle from the feudal age. (8) Recorded games- a great way to fine-tune your skills by learning from a master. (9)More Random Maps for total playability. (10) Right-Click farming, ah, that is what get's me on this game. Before you had to click a villager click the build, etc. No more! Just right-click the farm, saves you plenty of much-needed playing time. Age of Empires 2 outdoes its predecessor by far and becomes highly addictive and playable day after day after day.

The best strategy game of all time. Period.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 78 / 91
Date: January 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

For my money, this is the finest strategy game on the market. The balance of the various kingdoms is far better than in the original, with all empires having serious strengths and equally devastating weaknesses. One must learn the value of combining force types into effective mixtures of defense and offensive units to even have a chance at success. The serious player will probably take something on the order of a year to master the game, because the complexity level is so high.

The campaigns on this sequel are of a much hgiher caliber than those on the orignal, so single-player use is very much improved. In fact, the campaigns are actually historically accurate, unlike those in AOE. Indeed, the historical section on the CD is fascinating reading in and of itself, and will please those who love the time period, as well as the tactical problems involved.

AOK's real strength, though, is like that of its predecessor: the game's extreme playability over network. I heard that AOE was the most popular network game ever, and there's no reason AOK won't follow in its footsteps. This is GREAT stuff to play in real time with others. Be warned, though: players in Microsoft's Gaming Room are ruthless to the novice. Don't even think about going online until you've gained a level of proficiency playing by your own. And take the time to learn the keyboard shortcuts: you'll need the time it saves.

For most games, I think that strategy guides are a wimp's way out, but with AOK, I highly recommend the Ensemble Studios' guide. It's invaluable to improving the quality of your game-playing experience.

Great Game, if your a REAL gamer

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 63 / 72
Date: November 21, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I'll be honest and say AOE II is hard, but hello, if it was easy what fun would it be? When compared to AOE I it is simply amazing. The Graphics are better, the computer doesn't suck, villagers don't get stuck in trees, resources are more plentiful, the maximum population is higher, and everything is bigger. Some people with smaller monitors may complain about the large buildings but at 1028x768 they're small enough for me. The addition of battle formations is also welcomed. But as with all strategy games, strategy is most important. No longer can players simply wipe out an oppenent with 20 phalanxes, you must, gasp, actually combine arms to best protect valueable seige weapons, destroy buildings with tons of hit points, and succesfully keep your troops healed. NOW, as for the games difficulty. If your a wuss or down right suck, this game is not for you. The computer is good, agressive, and fast, but certainly not impossible. I can beat two computer oppenents on easy in about and hour and a half. Moderate takes about twice the time or even longer. On easiest, however, the computer is incredibly easy, even my little sister can beat it. Overall if you can click a mouse and want a game that takes for an hour to a whole day get AOE II and get it now before you forget.

And by the way, if you think its to hard, your wrong. Its just what REAL gamers have been looking for.

HINT!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 44 / 50
Date: December 07, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Amazing Game! Keeps me awake in class. To those complaining about being unable to keep up with the computer because it can fight while simultaneously building more troops and its economy--here is the solution. Use F3 to pause the game and then direct your troops/buildings/villagers to their tasks at your leisure. Then unpause the game and let them go to work. This takes away a lot of the anxiety and time frustration of trying to be 4 places at once. It also makes it possible to take notes occasionally.

One of the best strategy games of all time.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 33 / 36
Date: September 19, 2000
Author: Amazon User

AOE II has been rated by numerous gaming magazines and online reviewers as one of the top five strategy games of all time. I have to wholeheartedly agree. The improvements over the original AOE are too numerous to count. If you like strategy games and you have never played AOE, push the ADD TO SHOPPING CART button right now. Don't even wait to finish reading this.

This game has everything you could ever hope for in a strategy game. You must manage resources of your civilization, research new technology, build defenses, and maintain diplomatic relations with other computer/real players, all while trying to avoid annihilation. This is a real time game rather than turn based, so even on the slowest speed it is sometimes wonderfully maddening to try to keep track of it all.

The setup allows you numerous options. You can start with allies or solo. There are various levels of difficulty and options for map size, number of opponents, type of terrain, etc. Each civilization has different characteristics and you can choose which ones you want to play against or randomize it. If you just want a short game, you can play for a certain amount of time with the highest score at the end of that time declared the winner. The difficulty levels allow for a challenge game at any level of expertise with the hardest level being impossible (at least for me). The game also includes various scenarios you can play.

This game doesn't get boring. Once you find your level, you can expect a challenging game each time. You might beat it one time and get eliminated the next. A strategy that works in one game fails in the next. You have to reinvent your strategies to adapt to the situations as they arise. Each game is different.

I rate this game a 10/10. It is utterly addictive. I recommend it highly. If you already have the game, look into AOE II: The Conquerers. It is a game extension that makes this great game ever better.

Fun, encompasing, engaging

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 31 / 32
Date: November 20, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I enjoyed and spent many hours with AOE1 and am not disappointed with AOK. Microsoft did a great job of keeping the integrity of the first game while adding a whole new level of complexity and a new stash of weapons. I will no doubt get my moneys worth from this game and look forward to hours of frustrating fun. A note of warning, this game takes serious commitment. An average campaign or match can last hours, and it takes a while to get the hang of what to do...which, I think, is the best part. Definitely a thinking game.

Sure the buildings are a bit larger than 1, but they are more proportionate. Not an issue. Overall a great game and an excellent sequal.

An improvement over the original, a credit to its genre.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 30 / 30
Date: November 14, 1999
Author: Amazon User

For those who feel that this game lacks a depth and is not a significant improvement over age I, I must emphatically disagree. The diversity of units, their strengths and most importantly their vulnerabilities, make strategic considerations very important. Even the weakest of units, the peasant, can become an effective defender when garrisioned in a building. Buildings are harder to knock down, and the ability to garrison missile troops and peasants within them make the importance of well planned and diversely equipped invasion forces critical. A force of infantry that is not supported by siege engines will eventually run out of steam when faced with fortified castles and garrisioned town centers. Cavalry raiders can be effectively crushed by cheaper pikemen and camels. Armies made excusively of expensive missile troops can be completely smashed by a single shot from a catapult, or by relatively cheap groups of skirmishers and light cavalry. The effectiveness of countering strategies makes a planned assault and defense critical to game success.

Control of your military units is far more refined than the mob mentality that prevailed in age I. The addition of easy to use formations makes marching multiple unit types (cavalry and archers, for example) far simpler to manage. And the ability to set stances (defensive, aggressive, no attack) prevents your units from fervently pursuing villagers across the map, or attacking things that they cannot hope to destroy. Add features like patrol routes and guarding, and one can easily see that this game is not just a matter of building more units than the other guy (though that certainly helps!) The path finding is also VASTLY improved...

As for the visual and auditory, the attention to detail is simply astounding. Individual villagers of each culture speak in the native language of their civilization. Architectural styles are beautifully rendered, and buildings appear to scale with the units around them. The landscapes are lush and atmospheric, as is the local plant and marine life. The game is simply gorgeous, a pleasure to look at and listen to.

Only a few complaints. Managing farms and automating villager functions is still a hassle. Naval combat, while impressive to behold, is not much different from the disorganized mess it was in age I. The formation improvements used in land combat were not applied to ships for some inexplicable reason. And it sure would be nice to be able to automate the attack-and-retreat tactics that come so naturally to horse archers.

Still, most of my gripes were minor. Overall, I am completely impressed with the game, and plan to play well into the next age...

The best Real Time Strategy Game I have Ever Played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I love Age of Empires II. It is easliy one of the greatest RTS's in gaming history. Every review I myself have read of this game had said it was incredable. I agree completly. A faboulous game, I recomend fans of the first Age of Empires to buy this right away, and get the expansion too. There are no words to describe how awesome this game is.

Some Details on the Game:
The greatest part about this game is what they added. There are now many more units, buildings, and technologies than in the last game. The finer additions to AOE II are the unique units, castles, and gates. Each civilization has a special unit that is actually a unit that exsited in that civilization. Take the Briton's logbowmen for example. The logbow archers were the elite archers in the army of england during that time period. The English were feared during the middle ages for the masses of longbow archers. An the Mongolian's spcial horse archers. The lightly armored horse archers was an innovative tactic actually used by Ghengis Kahn. He used it to conquer most of Eurpoe and Asia. So there is a lot of historical base to the game.

The addition of other units and gates has improved the game tremendously. Gates have made a full defense system possible and has change the way you have to win. no more charging with hordes of soldiers on an un-protectable town. Also, large amounts of catapults can no longer win you the game. The new ongers (as they are called) are defensless agains all but the slowest troops and must be guarded.

The gameplay is very simple and is almost exactly like AOE I. For new players, I suggest reading the manual, but you won't have any trouble figuring it out after that. But don't think this game is easy. The phrase "Practice makes perfect" really applys to this game. You develop winning strategies and a favorite civilization over time, but to get there you actually have to play the game. The campagins aren't great, but are still pretty fun. Regular matches are the best though. You can even play online against other players.

This game is an absolute must-have for all RTS fans. And even if you're just looking for a fun game, this is a good one for you too.

Age of Empires is better than other simulation games.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Age of Empires is better than other simulation games. Age of Empires 2 Age of the Kings has many features. You can play a Random game which allows you to chose how many players, who is your enemy, what color represents your empire, and what kind of land you want. In a Regicide, you do the same except have to [do away with] the king of the enemy empire to win. AOE Age of the Kings has the best campaigns like the William Wallace Campaign. In the History page you can find out the history from the Britons to the Vikings. Age of Empires represents a strong game. Only if a 3rd version would be made. If you have the game or thinking about buying it here are some cheat codes that may help you:

Before typing in the code click ENTER on your keyboard and then type it in

Cheese Steak Jimmy's- 1000 food
Robin Hood- 1,000 gold
rock on- 1,000 stone
lumberjack- 1,000 wood
aegis- Build buildings fast
how do you turn this on (must be spaced& not capitalized)- Cobra car that shoots
to smitthereens- a sabotuer that explodes

Hope you like the game! I like it so much I play it practically every day.

Age of empires 2: the age of kings

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: March 07, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is extraordinary! Beautifully rendered 3d graphics(for a game with the same overhead view as C&C: Red alert)and awesome AI make it even better! Unlike the first Age of empires, Your soldiers are now more likely to join a nearby battle the stand around like idiots. You can Even assign formations to your soldiers like flanking, where they split into to groups a few hundred feet apart. Or staggered which is pretty much self-explanatory. There are some cons though. There are some slight AI issues over the water and you can't assaign formations to your navy. You also have a population limit. Hopefully someone will release a patch that gets rid of that. You can choose from one fo 13 civilizations. they are: Franks, Goths, Britons, Celts, Chinese, Japanese, Mongols, Vikings, Tuetons, Searacens, Persians, and two others but their names elude me. You can select your map of choice and how many enemies and allies you want on your team or against you. The battles are brutal but fun to watch. It's like watching braveheart all over again. There are several modes of play to choose from including Deathmatch, Regicide, Conquest, Time, and a few more. The gamelay is great. But to enjoy it to its fullest you should have at least A Voodoo 3 2000 PCI, But its beautiful on a Pentium 2 with 300 mhz and a Voodoo 3 3000 AGP at the 1024 setting. This game has tons of replayability All in all this game is a worthy buy. I reccomend it for anyone who wants a break from all other Stratedgy games.

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