Product Details
 | Age of Empires II, Gold Edition |
| List Price: | $19.99 |
| Price: | $17.20 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
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Product Description
Age of Empires II Gold Edition unites the exciting game play of both Microsoft Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings and Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion - plus additional content - for one compelling gaming experience. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings spans 1,000 years, from the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages, in which players control the destiny of one of thirteen civilizations. Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion will challenge veterans and novices to wage war on an epic scale with all-new civilizations, unique units and technologies, and campaigns based on infamous conquerors such as Attila the Hun, El Cid and Montezuma.Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #3053 in Video Games
- Brand: Microsoft
- Model: G11-00015
- Released on: 2001-08-30
- ESRB Rating: Teen
- Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows NT 4, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 95
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 1.25" h x 5.25" w x 7.50" l, .75 pounds
Features
- IN DVD BOX GOLD 95/98/WME/NT
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Product Description
Age of Empires 2 Gold Edition
unites the exciting game play ofboth Age of Empires 2: The Age of
Kings and Age of Empires2: The Conquerors Expansion plus
additional content for onecompelling gaming experience. Experience
real-time evolution as youbuild your civilization into a flourishing
empire, from the Dark Ageto the Imperial Age. Decide whether to conquer
the world throughmilitary might, commerce and diplomacy, or intrigue
andregicide. There are many paths to power but only one will
reignsupreme. Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings spans 1,000
years,from the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages. Players control
thedestiny of one of 13 civilizations. The game keeps the epic scope ofAge
of Empires' gameplay while evolving the combat and
economicfeatures. Developed by Ensemble Studios, Age of Empires 2features
the expertise of Bruce Shelley, co designer of Age ofEmpires and
the hit strategy game Civilization. Age ofEmpires 2: The
Conquerors Expansion adds five new civilizations,four new campaigns,
11 new units, 26 new technologies, real worldmaps, and much more.
Experience the adventure of the SpanishConquistadors as they enter the
exotic lands of the Aztecs, or relivethe destructive force of Attila's
pillaging Huns. This add-on packfocuses on the armies and military
thinking of a handful of history'sgreatest tacticians, including Attila
the Hun, El Cid, andMontezuma. The new civilizations each have unique
attributes,buildings, and technologies, such as Chinese Rocketry and
PersianMahouts. You'll put hussar cavalry, kamikaze siege units,
andhalberdier infantry into battle in four all-new campaigns. Play up
toeight other conquerors via modem, Internet, or LAN.
Customer Reviews
Absolutely the best real time strategy (RTS) game ever!
The Age of Kings (AoK) along
with its expansion pack, AoK:TC (The Conquerors--which we now call "AoC"
when both are installed) is a superb game for either "Multiplayers" who
play on-line or "Singleplayers" who don't. If a game which has a
historical aspect to it which resides in the 1,000 year realm of ancient
history stated has appeal for you (which isn't all 'hoked_up' with
fantasy creatures), you cannot go wrong with purchasing the "Gold pack".
I've been playing AoK/AoC for more than 2 years now and it still holds
fascination for me... and many others that I know. Just today I was
teaching one of my 10 year old grandsons about the game when he was
visiting. We'll get him the Gold pack. My son introduced me to the game
in Dec. '99.
Yes, in order to play AoC which epitomizes the
development of the game, you need to install from both disks, first
installing AoK, then removing it and installing the AoK:TC disk which
you leave in the tray (it must be in there when you want to play). You
can then go online to either Microsoft's or Ensemble Studios' websites
for the game, Age of Kings: The Conquerors, and download the 1.0c patch
which fixes any minor 'bugs' discovered and rectifies a few civilization
"balancing issues" which have come up. Thus buying the Gold pack is a
real good deal for anyone getting the game now as it cost me more than
twice as much to have bought AoK & then AoK:TC, as they came out.
There
are so many ways to play this game that it almost boggles the mind, but
preferred game modes are "Conquest" followed by "Deathmatch" in
popularity amongst "Agers". If you really want to learn to play the game
using the various "strategies" for the 18 civilizations which Agers
have developed, it's a good idea to join a good Ager gaming clan such as
Tonto Clan, which caters to both Multi- and Singleplayers. You can find
Tonto Clan by doing a websearch for "tontoclan1", or look for "Tonto
Empire". The clan celebrates its 2nd birthday the 13th of March, 2002,
so you know they aren't fly-by-nighters. And that's a good place to ask
any questions one might have about the game.
A final thought:
"Real Time Strategy" is a bit of a misnomer, oxymoron, in computer games
as "twitch-and-bang" on the keyboard doesn't really give a person time
to think, only act and react. But an aspect of AoC that makes it come
closer to being enabled as a true strategy and tactics game is that you
have the "Pause key" which when playing Singleplayer you can use to
pause the game in progress in order to "think on it" a bit and decide
what next you want to do. This brings yet another dimension to the game
that most don't have.
There are other RTS 'historically based war
games' which have come out since "Age", but it is surprising how many
people will try them and then just keep coming back.... to AoC. And, for
my money the next RTS slated to come along that might be as good or
possibly better isn't projected to hit the market until Spring (if then)
of 2003.
Ken aka tonto_real
Very
good strategy game
I'm a fan of both Age of
Empires 1 and 2. Age of Kings is a fitting improvement of the first
game. The timeframe is medieval and the civilizations and technologies
are appropriately tailored to that era. Graphics-wise, the game is as
attractive as the first, probably more so. The buildings are
proportioned better, so that a castle looks big compared to the peasants
who built it. The sound effects are decent, as is the music. There some
interesting maps available, and the new scenarios (Joan of Arc, William
Wallace, El Cid, etc.) should keep you occupied for a while. Also,
there are other game options, such as Regicide, Defend the Wonder, and
Wonder Race. The AI is smart, but not unbeatable. You can now find idle
villagers much easier, can queue things, units can be garrisoned, and
combat units can be placed in various stances and formations. However,
the game still suffers from some of the problems the first game had. For
example, there is a great deal of micromanagement required. Fishing
ships, instead of looking for more fish, will just sit in the water
unless directed toward a fishing spot. Computer opponents tend to
quickly team up against you, unless you put them on separate teams and
check "allied victory" at the beginning of the game. Diplomacy is still a
rather weak part of gameplay. Also, it seems that computer opponents
sometimes don't quite understand the objectives of some games (such as
holding a wonder for a period of time), and thus will not pose much of a
challenge. Despite these shortcomings, the game has a lot to offer. It
also comes with an editor that allows you to tailor much of the gameplay
to your liking. I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes
real-time strategy games, or enjoyed the first Age of Empires game.
Good all around, much improved over the first
AoE...
The improvements in game play
in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors is one area of this game that has
been largely improved. Everything from the actions of your units
(especially non-combat ones such as villagers or fishing ships) to the
organization of your military units has been refined to provide a much
better gameplay experience.
Age of Empires II: The Conquerors also
provides some new civilizations. They are the Aztecs, the Huns,
Koreans, Mayans, and Spanish. Like the civilizations that came with the
original Age of Empires II, these civilizations all have their own
unique strengths and weaknesses. For instance, since the horse was not
native to the Americas, the Mayans and Aztecs cannot create Stable
units.
Since the Mayans and Aztecs have also been added to the
game, it would naturally make sense to add new maps to the game as well.
Tropical terrain is one of the many new additions, as well as Winter
terrain. There are also maps from the real world, which basically let
you fight it out with an enemy on a location such as Britain, France,
etc. However, there is one small complaint on the real world maps -- you
can't adjust their size, which makes sense, because it's the real
world, right? However, it does kind of get annoying, especially when you
have to hunt down the LAST enemy villager over a larger area than you
would normally have to. Still, it is nice to be able to see battles
occurring where they actually happened.
Another nice feature of
this game is the ability to command allied computer players. Short on
food? Just ask for it! Most of the time they will give it to you, unless
they either don't have a market (which is necessary to give tribute),
or they simply don't have the resources to spare, which generally
happens when you repeatedly ask for resources over a short period of
time. You can also command your allies to do anything from build a Navy
to stop building villagers.
Speaking of villagers, they are also
smarter than they were before. Remember before, when you would create a
mining camp right next to a bunch of gold, and your villagers would just
stand there and look at it? Not any more, now all of the villagers that
were involved in building the mining camp (or town center, mill, etc.)
will begin to collect resources after they have completed the building
of whatever it is you have just created. Also, after they have finished,
say, collecting all the gold that a given mine has to offer, they will
begin to go towards another mine (if they can see it, which occurs if
you have the All Visible option turned on). This is an obvious help,
especially when you have other things to attend to, such as holding off
an enemy that's at your gates.
Overall, Age of Empires II: The
Conquerors is very much improved from the original Age of Empires II:
The Age of Kings. It is light years ahead of the original Age of Empires
due to its many new improvements. If you bought Age of Empires II: The
Age of Kings but never got the expansion, I would highly recommend
picking it up. For those people who never bought anything in the Age of
Empires II series, I would highly recommend picking up the Gold Edition
of Age of Empires II.
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