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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The Icing On The Cake
Pros
new civilizations, new skills, new campaigns, makes AOE2 even better! A must-have for the AOE2 fan
Cons
none
Recommended it?
Yes
Before I begin, I would like to say that this review is based almost exclusively on The Conquerors, which is the expansion for Age of Empires 2 (AOE2). If I attempted to explain AOE2 in addition to discussing the benefits of the expansion, this review would be much longer than it needs to be. So, I will very briefly explain AOE2 and if you are still not completely clear on the nuances of the game, please read my AOE2 review before coming back to this one.
A Very Concise Description of AOE2
AOE2 is a strategy game. You can play against anywhere from one to seven computer players or you can play against friends over the Internet. Whichever way you play, you begin by selecting a civilization to command. The civilizations in AOE2 are the Britons, Byzantines, Celts, Chinese, Franks, Goths, Japanese, Mongols, Persians, Saracens, Teutons, Turks and Vikings. Each civilization has its strengths and weaknesses. The Britons, for example, produce superior archers while the Goths are unable to build stone walls. Also, each civilization has a unique military unit that only it can produce. This unit tends to accentuate the individual strengths of that civilization. You can toggle a lot of game elements such as maximum population and what sort of map you find yourself on, but for the most part, the basic game involves building an empire up from practically nothing. There are several ways to win the game depending on whether you want to focus on economics or aggressive military tactics. Or, you choose to play an "alternative" game like "Regicide" that provides each player with a king and a castle and to win, the player must kill all of the other kings while defending his own. Additionally, AOE comes with four "campaigns" that allow you to re-enact historical wars and battles by following a series of specific goals. The campaigns in AOE2 are Joan of Arc, Barbarossa, Genghis Khan, and Saladin. All in all, AOE2 has endless possibilities and provided me with hours of fun that should have been spent on schoolwork.
The Conquerors
As soon as The Conquerors (TC) came out, I had to have it! TC has fixed some of the AI problems with AOE2 and added a lot to the game. The way I see things, AOE2 was a very tasty cake that I enjoyed a lot and never got tired of. TC adds a delicious icing to that cake and makes an excellent cake even better by bringing out flavors that were already there while also providing all new flavors.
New Civilizations!
TC brings five new civilizations to the game. Now, you can play as the Aztecs, Mayans, Huns, Spanish, and Koreans. Like the civilizations in AOE2, each has strengths and weaknesses. The Aztecs and Mayans produce very able soldiers, but they do not have the capabilities to produce horses or gunpowder. The Spanish seem to be very strong overall, but they are unable to upgrade their archers. Overall, these civilizations give the AOE2 fan five new fun choices; even if a fan already has a favorite civilization to use during gameplay, TC offers five new civilizations to play against!
New Treats!
TC gives each civilization (both old and new) a unique ability that, like the unique unit, accentuates the strengths of that civilization. Also, all civilizations can create "petards" which are soldiers carrying explosives and are used to demolish enemy buildings,
New Maps
TC offers new terrains for gameplay. Now, players can build empires on a snowy plain or in a dense jungle. Additionally, players can also play on geographically correct maps like the British Isles or Texas. Also, if you go to ensemblestudios.com, the website for the company that produces the AOE games, you can download ten additional maps for free. These maps offer a new twist to gameplay. In one map, "Pilgrims" you start out on a tiny island and must make your way to the "New World," a piece of land that takes up most of the board that is filled with resources. In the "Capricious" map, wood is always plentiful, but before each game, the computer decides whether or not to make gold, stone, and food twice as plentiful, half as plentiful, or at normal levels. I should mention again that these maps do not come with the game, but can be downloaded for free and are a definite must have for the AOE2 fan. I should also note that you have to have TC to be able to use these new maps.
New Campaigns
I'm not such a big fan of campaigns, but TC has four new campaigns: Atilla the Hun, El Cid, Montezuma, and Battle of the Conquerors, a smorgasbord of famous battles such as Hastings, Tours, Manzikert, Vinlandsaga, Agincourt, Kyoto, Lepanto, and Noryang Point. I tried to play the Battles Campaign, and I liked that you could play any of the battles any time you wanted to. In a normal campaign, you have to complete a series of goals in a sequential order. I really enjoyed the smorgasbord idea.
Better AI
One of my biggest pet peeves in AOE2 was the lack of intelligence that the villagers brought to the game. For example, if I sent a villager to build a mining camp near the gold supply, after building it, he would just stand there until I told him to mine for gold even though it seemed pretty clear to me that he was supposed to mine for gold after building the mining camp. In TC, that same villager will begin mining gold as soon as he is done building the mining camp. Another problem was that if I got too wrapped up in a battle, my farms would expire and my food supply would stop. In TC, I can "queue" up to 15 farms, which means that if a farm expires, the villager in charge of that farm will rebuild it automatically provided there is a farm in the queue. These two improvements solved the problems I had with the AI in AOE2
Graphics
I didn't give the graphics in AOE2 as much credit as they deserved. The graphics are the same in TC as they were in AOE2, but I still feel as if they have improved. The buildings and the people are very detailed and easy to see even though they are always portrayed in miniature. In TC, there are a wider variety of maps for gameplay and scenery is where the graphics in TC really shine. Imagine playing as the Aztecs in a dense jungle with overgrown jungles and jaguars on the prowl. Or, imagine a vast snowy plain with a lone cavalry scout crossing the screen and leaving little footprints as he rides by. That's right, in the snow the people and animals leave footprints! I really like that the designers thought of minute details like that.
Sounds
Each civilization has its own sound bite that you hear when you begin a new game. The Britons have a jolly minstrel type sound and so on. Each sound bite is supposed to be representative of that civilization, just like the unique skill, unique unit and the strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, a sound bite is all that it is. The lack of background music is not very noticeable, but it would make the game a little better if each civilization had its own melody. They could intersperse the player's melody with those of his/her enemies and the result would be a pleasant blending, like in the 1812 Overture. Unfortunately, there is no background music so my point is moot. As for sounds, the game is very good about letting you know when "events" occur like the completion of a building, the creation of a new villager or an enemy attack.
Final Thoughts
If you love AOE2, then I definitely suggest that you buy TC. Because you cannot play TC without owning AOE2, this product is only good for people who already own AOE2. TC offers tons of new options for a game that seemed like it was filled with an infinite number of possibilities. Even if you have not grown bored with AOE2, you can definitely benefit from TC. Simply put, TC makes one of the best computer games ever made (in my opinion, at least) even better.
A Very Concise Description of AOE2
AOE2 is a strategy game. You can play against anywhere from one to seven computer players or you can play against friends over the Internet. Whichever way you play, you begin by selecting a civilization to command. The civilizations in AOE2 are the Britons, Byzantines, Celts, Chinese, Franks, Goths, Japanese, Mongols, Persians, Saracens, Teutons, Turks and Vikings. Each civilization has its strengths and weaknesses. The Britons, for example, produce superior archers while the Goths are unable to build stone walls. Also, each civilization has a unique military unit that only it can produce. This unit tends to accentuate the individual strengths of that civilization. You can toggle a lot of game elements such as maximum population and what sort of map you find yourself on, but for the most part, the basic game involves building an empire up from practically nothing. There are several ways to win the game depending on whether you want to focus on economics or aggressive military tactics. Or, you choose to play an "alternative" game like "Regicide" that provides each player with a king and a castle and to win, the player must kill all of the other kings while defending his own. Additionally, AOE comes with four "campaigns" that allow you to re-enact historical wars and battles by following a series of specific goals. The campaigns in AOE2 are Joan of Arc, Barbarossa, Genghis Khan, and Saladin. All in all, AOE2 has endless possibilities and provided me with hours of fun that should have been spent on schoolwork.
The Conquerors
As soon as The Conquerors (TC) came out, I had to have it! TC has fixed some of the AI problems with AOE2 and added a lot to the game. The way I see things, AOE2 was a very tasty cake that I enjoyed a lot and never got tired of. TC adds a delicious icing to that cake and makes an excellent cake even better by bringing out flavors that were already there while also providing all new flavors.
New Civilizations!
TC brings five new civilizations to the game. Now, you can play as the Aztecs, Mayans, Huns, Spanish, and Koreans. Like the civilizations in AOE2, each has strengths and weaknesses. The Aztecs and Mayans produce very able soldiers, but they do not have the capabilities to produce horses or gunpowder. The Spanish seem to be very strong overall, but they are unable to upgrade their archers. Overall, these civilizations give the AOE2 fan five new fun choices; even if a fan already has a favorite civilization to use during gameplay, TC offers five new civilizations to play against!
New Treats!
TC gives each civilization (both old and new) a unique ability that, like the unique unit, accentuates the strengths of that civilization. Also, all civilizations can create "petards" which are soldiers carrying explosives and are used to demolish enemy buildings,
New Maps
TC offers new terrains for gameplay. Now, players can build empires on a snowy plain or in a dense jungle. Additionally, players can also play on geographically correct maps like the British Isles or Texas. Also, if you go to ensemblestudios.com, the website for the company that produces the AOE games, you can download ten additional maps for free. These maps offer a new twist to gameplay. In one map, "Pilgrims" you start out on a tiny island and must make your way to the "New World," a piece of land that takes up most of the board that is filled with resources. In the "Capricious" map, wood is always plentiful, but before each game, the computer decides whether or not to make gold, stone, and food twice as plentiful, half as plentiful, or at normal levels. I should mention again that these maps do not come with the game, but can be downloaded for free and are a definite must have for the AOE2 fan. I should also note that you have to have TC to be able to use these new maps.
New Campaigns
I'm not such a big fan of campaigns, but TC has four new campaigns: Atilla the Hun, El Cid, Montezuma, and Battle of the Conquerors, a smorgasbord of famous battles such as Hastings, Tours, Manzikert, Vinlandsaga, Agincourt, Kyoto, Lepanto, and Noryang Point. I tried to play the Battles Campaign, and I liked that you could play any of the battles any time you wanted to. In a normal campaign, you have to complete a series of goals in a sequential order. I really enjoyed the smorgasbord idea.
Better AI
One of my biggest pet peeves in AOE2 was the lack of intelligence that the villagers brought to the game. For example, if I sent a villager to build a mining camp near the gold supply, after building it, he would just stand there until I told him to mine for gold even though it seemed pretty clear to me that he was supposed to mine for gold after building the mining camp. In TC, that same villager will begin mining gold as soon as he is done building the mining camp. Another problem was that if I got too wrapped up in a battle, my farms would expire and my food supply would stop. In TC, I can "queue" up to 15 farms, which means that if a farm expires, the villager in charge of that farm will rebuild it automatically provided there is a farm in the queue. These two improvements solved the problems I had with the AI in AOE2
Graphics
I didn't give the graphics in AOE2 as much credit as they deserved. The graphics are the same in TC as they were in AOE2, but I still feel as if they have improved. The buildings and the people are very detailed and easy to see even though they are always portrayed in miniature. In TC, there are a wider variety of maps for gameplay and scenery is where the graphics in TC really shine. Imagine playing as the Aztecs in a dense jungle with overgrown jungles and jaguars on the prowl. Or, imagine a vast snowy plain with a lone cavalry scout crossing the screen and leaving little footprints as he rides by. That's right, in the snow the people and animals leave footprints! I really like that the designers thought of minute details like that.
Sounds
Each civilization has its own sound bite that you hear when you begin a new game. The Britons have a jolly minstrel type sound and so on. Each sound bite is supposed to be representative of that civilization, just like the unique skill, unique unit and the strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, a sound bite is all that it is. The lack of background music is not very noticeable, but it would make the game a little better if each civilization had its own melody. They could intersperse the player's melody with those of his/her enemies and the result would be a pleasant blending, like in the 1812 Overture. Unfortunately, there is no background music so my point is moot. As for sounds, the game is very good about letting you know when "events" occur like the completion of a building, the creation of a new villager or an enemy attack.
Final Thoughts
If you love AOE2, then I definitely suggest that you buy TC. Because you cannot play TC without owning AOE2, this product is only good for people who already own AOE2. TC offers tons of new options for a game that seemed like it was filled with an infinite number of possibilities. Even if you have not grown bored with AOE2, you can definitely benefit from TC. Simply put, TC makes one of the best computer games ever made (in my opinion, at least) even better.
