Age of Empires 2 - A classic in the world of strategy games! (Age of Empires 2 (PC))

Member Name: surfaholic18

Product:	Age of Empires 2 (PC)
Date:	29/05/09 (8 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very enjoyable to play and some great features available.

Disadvantages: The graphics could be improved.

Age of Empires 2 is a real time strategy game that is available for both PC and Mac. It was orginally released in September 1999 making it very old now but it really is a fantastic game. If you have not played on it yet there is a demo that is available from the Microsoft website. I first tried this demo and then absolutely loved it and ended up buying the game for £15 many years ago. I'm sure that it is now available at many stores including Game and Amazon for £10 or less.

The game itself is about building your own empire buy building towns and gathering resources and then from this growing a population. As your population then grows you empire will then expand and you will be able to develop your empire with the technological advancements that are available. You have the option of conquering and taking over other towns on the map and you advance through the four ages, which are the Dark age, the Feudal age, the Castle age and the Imperial age. It really is a great feelign seeing your empire grow and then go through the four ages whilst becomming bigger and stronger.

You can choose from being in 13 different civilisations including the West European and Far Eatern. The different civilisations have different postive and negative factors making it a tactical decision to make. The game itself is very easy to install and requires minimal PC specs in order to run smoothly, it also takes up a minimal amount of hardrive space which is good. I found the game very easy to pickup and get on with because the controls are relatively straight forward, although there are tutorials available if needed.

The interface of the game is very simple and effective allowing easy use of the tools. There is a large amount of features available so you really do have many options available when building your empire. I love the scenarios that are available and how you can have a match with the computer on a varyig difficulty! Considering the year in which this was released the graphics are very good, however I think many people would not be impressed nowadays. I love the fact that there is a multiplayer feature with this game because it adds to the hours of gameplay available.

I really do think that this game is a classic and it still provides me with many hours of fun. I really would recommend this game and considering that you can get it very cheaply, there is no reason why you shouldn't. The game may be seen as out of date now, however I can assure you that it really is a superb game and is very enjoyable. I hope this was useful and thank you very much for reading!

Summary: A fantastic strategy game that delivers a great deal of enjoyment, well recommended!