Age of Empires II

Age of Empires 2 (also known as Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings) is a celebrated real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft for home PCs in 1999. Developed on the upgraded version of the Genie Engine that powered the original version of the Age of Empires in 1997, this sequel managed to improve upon almost every aspect and gain the reputation of one of the best RTS games of all time.

Set in the Middle Ages and with an ability to move to newer historical periods such as Dark Age, Feudal Age, Castle Age, and Imperial Age, the game offers players an incredible variety of challenges in the single-player campaign missions and an incredible variety of tactical clashes in streamlined online modes. This included five historical single-player campaigns, three additional single-player modes, and a fully-featured multiplayer. Age of Empires II game had built-in support for thirteen playable civilizations, all featuring their unique units (two per civilization), visual style, and preferred tactics for establishing strongholds and beating opponents.

The core gameplay loop of the game followed the tried and true formula of managing expansions of towns, gathering resources, training armies, and making sound tactical moves to outsmart either computer-controlled AI players or real opponents located at nearby PCs via Ethernet connections or worldwide players via the Internet. During the length of the campaign or PvP matches, the game expands on the number of supported units on the screen, allowing clashes of massive armies on the battlefields.

Due to its popularity, the AoE 2 has also received several expansions, sequels, and high-definition remakes. Age of Empires II: HD Edition remake arrived in 2012, while a Definitive Edition remake followed in 2019, including all original content, expansions, 4 new civilizations, new campaign missions, and support for 4K visuals.

The original Age of Empires 2 is today playable on almost every PC you can find around you.  While it can easily run on any single or multicore PC, be aware that it is optimized only for older Windows OS versions such as Windows 95/98/Me/XP/NT. Users who want to play this title on newer Windows OS should investigate activating compatibility modes for this application if any instability is noticed.