Age Of Empires II: Conqueror 2.0 for Windows, Mac
- Publisher: Microsoft
- Genre: Strategy
- Platform: Windows, Mac
- Game Series: Age of Empires
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AoE2 The Conquerors: A Conquest Of My Free Time
Pros
New civilizations, enhanced gameplay, great attention to detail
Cons
A bit pricey on its own
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
The Conquerors should be required playing for anyone who wants to develop an expansion set. A must-have for owners of AOE2.
For those of you who follow my work regularly, this review is something of a milestone for me. It happens to be my hundredth review. So, in order to celebrate, I decided to choose something special to write about. So, given that my very first review at Epinions was on Age of Empires 2, almost a year and a half ago, it seems only appropriate that, for this milestone event, I should review its expansion pack, The Conquerors.
For those not familiar with the game on which the expansion builds upon, Age of Empires 2 is a historical real-time strategy game. You take a budding civilization in the dark ages and guide it through to the time of the Renaissance, attempting to conquer all the other civilizations in the process. The original game contained 13 distinct civilizations, each of which have their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as a unique unit that only they possess.
Note: Since this is a review of the expansion set, I will limit my comments to the additions the expansion set offers as opposed to the actual game itself. For additional information about the core game, you can feel free to check out my review (check the bottom of this review for a URL), or I would point you to my girlfriend GravityGirl's excellent assessment of the game (http://slusy.epinions.com/game-review-44F1-48B3B840-3A542B88-prod3).
The Conquerors adds to Age of Empires 2, among other things, 5 new civilizations, new random maps on which to battle, an extended single-player campaign, and some gameplay tweaks that add to the overall flow of the game. There's a lot of substance to this expansion, and Ensemble Studios didn't hold back when it came to the extra features.
First of all, the new civilizations really add quite a bit to the complexity of the game. I've become very fond, in particular, of the Spanish civilization, who, much like the Turks in the original game, get gunpowder units much earlier than anyone else, as one of their special units, the Conquistador, is essentially a hand cannoneer on a horse. Not only that, but they are given Missionaries, which are mounted Monks who cannot carry Relics, to accompany the Conquistadors (or any other groups of units, but I find the two go together well).
Also interesting are the Mesoamerican civilizations that are added in the expansion, namely the Mayans and the Aztecs. What makes these two civilizations unique is that they have no cavalry units whatsoever (which is historically accurate, as the horse did not reach Mesoamerica until the Europeans crossed the Atlantic). What they have instead are Eagle Warriors, which are essentially very fast infantry. This changes one's strategy somewhat, because someone who is used to building several pikemen to defend against mounted units, "just in case," will now have wasted valuable resources when faced with an Aztec or Mayan infantry.
As for the existing civilizations, they have not been neglected. Most civilizations have several new common units available to them. One interesting addition is the Petard, who is built at the Castle for all civilizations. The Petard is basically a kamikaze unit; he carries around a big box of explosive and delivers his package to his target personally, killing himself in the process; while this seems a bit of a waste at first, when dealing with slow, tough targets, like Trebuchets or walls, he's quite effective, especially in groups. Also available to most are Halberdiers, which are upgraded pikemen, and Hussars, which are improved light cavalry units.
Further, in addition to a few new technologies available to most civilizations, each civilization now has a unique technology, available at the Castle, that compliments their strengths as a civilization. For example, the Britons, well known for their proficiency in archery, can research Yeomen, which increases the range and damage of foot archers, and the Turks, who are heavy users of gunpowder, get Artillery, which can greatly increase the effectiveness of said gunpowder units. The new technologies are really a nice touch and differentiate the various civilizations more, making one's choice of civilization that much more crucial.
The graphical additions that go along with these new units and civilizations are aesthetically pleasing and consistent with the core game. The Mesoamericans, in particular, received a brand-new tileset, which is quite striking. It's rather impressive to build a castle as the Mayans and see a pyramid emerge. The new maps are similarly well done, including some winter maps that really demonstrate the level of detail that Ensemble put into this expansion. Not only are there pockets of ice, which can be traversed by foot but not built upon, but units will actually leave tracks in the snow which will disappear over time. Just seeing that small detail really impressed me.
The biggest improvement and reason to buy The Conquerors, however, are the actual gameplay tweaks that Ensemble put in take your mind off the micromanagement and concentrate on the butt-kicking. One thing that used to infuriate me in the original was sending villagers off to build, say, a mining camp right next to some piles of gold, with every intention of having those villagers mine gold when they were done building (obviously), and then, once building, the villagers would just stand there. No longer; villagers now know enough to find something to do once done building.
Another minor annoyance was coming back from a long series of battles and finding that all my farms had been used up and the villagers were just standing on their former farms, waiting for me to notice. Now, once can queue up farms to be built at the mill. So, if you have extra wood, you can buy extra farms in advance, and the villagers will build them as they become necessary.
Finally, The Conquerors contains a full set of single-player campaigns and missions. I'll admit that this really isn't my thing, but there are some interesting campaigns to be had, including Montezuma and Atilla the Hun. There is also a campaign which is basically an assortment of various conquests throughout the ages, including the Battle of Hastings and the Battle of Crecy. Again, this isn't my thing, but the missions seem to be fairly accurate and detailed, so if you like missions, The Conquerors has lots to offer.
So, the main question that I ask for every expansion to determine its effectiveness is, would I be willing to go back to playing the core game after adding on The Conquerors. The answer in this case is absolutely not. There is way too much good stuff to be found in The Conquerors that makes the player wonder how he or she ever got along without. If you like Age of Empires 2, you NEED The Conquerors. If you don't have the original, both the core game and its expansion are bundled together as Age of Empires 2 Gold for a reasonable price, and is worth investing in.
All in all, Ensemble pulled out all the stops for The Conquerors, and it shows. This is the prime example of what a good expansion should be like, and an excellent game is even more excellent as a result. Highly recommended.
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For those not familiar with the game on which the expansion builds upon, Age of Empires 2 is a historical real-time strategy game. You take a budding civilization in the dark ages and guide it through to the time of the Renaissance, attempting to conquer all the other civilizations in the process. The original game contained 13 distinct civilizations, each of which have their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as a unique unit that only they possess.
Note: Since this is a review of the expansion set, I will limit my comments to the additions the expansion set offers as opposed to the actual game itself. For additional information about the core game, you can feel free to check out my review (check the bottom of this review for a URL), or I would point you to my girlfriend GravityGirl's excellent assessment of the game (http://slusy.epinions.com/game-review-44F1-48B3B840-3A542B88-prod3).
The Conquerors adds to Age of Empires 2, among other things, 5 new civilizations, new random maps on which to battle, an extended single-player campaign, and some gameplay tweaks that add to the overall flow of the game. There's a lot of substance to this expansion, and Ensemble Studios didn't hold back when it came to the extra features.
First of all, the new civilizations really add quite a bit to the complexity of the game. I've become very fond, in particular, of the Spanish civilization, who, much like the Turks in the original game, get gunpowder units much earlier than anyone else, as one of their special units, the Conquistador, is essentially a hand cannoneer on a horse. Not only that, but they are given Missionaries, which are mounted Monks who cannot carry Relics, to accompany the Conquistadors (or any other groups of units, but I find the two go together well).
Also interesting are the Mesoamerican civilizations that are added in the expansion, namely the Mayans and the Aztecs. What makes these two civilizations unique is that they have no cavalry units whatsoever (which is historically accurate, as the horse did not reach Mesoamerica until the Europeans crossed the Atlantic). What they have instead are Eagle Warriors, which are essentially very fast infantry. This changes one's strategy somewhat, because someone who is used to building several pikemen to defend against mounted units, "just in case," will now have wasted valuable resources when faced with an Aztec or Mayan infantry.
As for the existing civilizations, they have not been neglected. Most civilizations have several new common units available to them. One interesting addition is the Petard, who is built at the Castle for all civilizations. The Petard is basically a kamikaze unit; he carries around a big box of explosive and delivers his package to his target personally, killing himself in the process; while this seems a bit of a waste at first, when dealing with slow, tough targets, like Trebuchets or walls, he's quite effective, especially in groups. Also available to most are Halberdiers, which are upgraded pikemen, and Hussars, which are improved light cavalry units.
Further, in addition to a few new technologies available to most civilizations, each civilization now has a unique technology, available at the Castle, that compliments their strengths as a civilization. For example, the Britons, well known for their proficiency in archery, can research Yeomen, which increases the range and damage of foot archers, and the Turks, who are heavy users of gunpowder, get Artillery, which can greatly increase the effectiveness of said gunpowder units. The new technologies are really a nice touch and differentiate the various civilizations more, making one's choice of civilization that much more crucial.
The graphical additions that go along with these new units and civilizations are aesthetically pleasing and consistent with the core game. The Mesoamericans, in particular, received a brand-new tileset, which is quite striking. It's rather impressive to build a castle as the Mayans and see a pyramid emerge. The new maps are similarly well done, including some winter maps that really demonstrate the level of detail that Ensemble put into this expansion. Not only are there pockets of ice, which can be traversed by foot but not built upon, but units will actually leave tracks in the snow which will disappear over time. Just seeing that small detail really impressed me.
The biggest improvement and reason to buy The Conquerors, however, are the actual gameplay tweaks that Ensemble put in take your mind off the micromanagement and concentrate on the butt-kicking. One thing that used to infuriate me in the original was sending villagers off to build, say, a mining camp right next to some piles of gold, with every intention of having those villagers mine gold when they were done building (obviously), and then, once building, the villagers would just stand there. No longer; villagers now know enough to find something to do once done building.
Another minor annoyance was coming back from a long series of battles and finding that all my farms had been used up and the villagers were just standing on their former farms, waiting for me to notice. Now, once can queue up farms to be built at the mill. So, if you have extra wood, you can buy extra farms in advance, and the villagers will build them as they become necessary.
Finally, The Conquerors contains a full set of single-player campaigns and missions. I'll admit that this really isn't my thing, but there are some interesting campaigns to be had, including Montezuma and Atilla the Hun. There is also a campaign which is basically an assortment of various conquests throughout the ages, including the Battle of Hastings and the Battle of Crecy. Again, this isn't my thing, but the missions seem to be fairly accurate and detailed, so if you like missions, The Conquerors has lots to offer.
So, the main question that I ask for every expansion to determine its effectiveness is, would I be willing to go back to playing the core game after adding on The Conquerors. The answer in this case is absolutely not. There is way too much good stuff to be found in The Conquerors that makes the player wonder how he or she ever got along without. If you like Age of Empires 2, you NEED The Conquerors. If you don't have the original, both the core game and its expansion are bundled together as Age of Empires 2 Gold for a reasonable price, and is worth investing in.
All in all, Ensemble pulled out all the stops for The Conquerors, and it shows. This is the prime example of what a good expansion should be like, and an excellent game is even more excellent as a result. Highly recommended.
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