Age of empires ii the age of kings pc game

That was probably where it all started. But that was never our intention: our intention was to take RTS, which was a pretty cool genre, and add some Civ-like aspects to it. Let's get this straight: we're going to put fun ahead of realism any day of the week. We're working with a historical background, but that doesn't mean that we can't throw fun elements into it. And 1 like it, because for a few months at the start of the project I get paid for reading history books, so I'm happy with that.

Anyway, the historical flavour is nice, it's easy to understand what the units in the game are -everybody knows what an archer is, but not what a troll does.

It's a lot easier to grasp. Trying to make the game more like Civ or more realistic is missing the point of what we're trying to achieve. Maybe some day we'll do a more Civ-ish version of Age, but only if we can make it fun. So what next from Ensemble? Obviously Ian wasn't going to spill the beans at this early stage, but I was told that Ensemble want to become a 'two-game team' - creating their next two titles side by side. At the moment we're keeping all our options open and looking at what we think would be the most exciting thing to do next.

Imagine that: taking fast-paced historical strategy out of the feudal age and through the Industrial Revolution. For now though, we're quite happy to wait for the second instalment in the series. This may not be the technological quantum leap some are hoping for, but when it comes to Age Of Empires II, it's the little things that stand out, a testament to the fact that there really wasn't all that much wrong with the first game. Where many games developers are trying to be revolutionary, Ensemble have moved on to their evolutionary phase, honing their game and taking what made the first one such a joy and making it even better.

Barring some freak accident, Age Of Empires II will certainly be an improvement on its predecessor, we've seen the evidence and we're willing to put money on it. So close to release, the only danger is that Age fans, Ion Storm, their offices are just down the road , will be so addicted to the new sequel that Daikatana will slip by another year.

But I think we could live with that. Watch out, though, because you could also become a lowly trampled serf. Age of Kings is a masterful sequel to Age of Empires. It begins in the Dark Ages after the fall of Rome and progresses through the Feudal Age, Castle Age, and -- if you live long enough to spend the resources -- Imperial Age.

The campaigns are based on historical people and events. There are five campaign levels: The William Wallace learning campaign has seven scenarios. Each of these will give even the most experienced players a run for their money, especially if played on the most difficult settings. They are ranked and increase in difficulty level as you move on to the next scenario and on to the next level. To be able to build your unique units you must get to Castle Age and build a castle.

Below is the list of each civilization and the unique unit that they have. It is wonderful to be able to play with either keystrokes or the mouse or a combination of the two to navigate and rule your kingdom.

If you know how to play Age of Empires , then you already know how to navigate in this game. Even if you have never played Age of Empires is there anyone out there who falls into that category? There are lots of new features and things to research. One of the things that is both exciting and discouraging is the number of things that you can research. It is next to impossible to come up with enough resources in order to research all that is available, so pick and choose what you need for the way you play.

In Age of Empires I did get to the point where there was nothing left to research but I have not yet had this problem in Age of Kings. One of the nicest new features is the town bell you can ring to call all your villagers to garrison the town center, protecting your town center and villagers from those unscrupulous raids on your economy. I guess if you played that way in the previous games you will have to come up with a new strategy.

There is also a very nice feature that allows you to find your loafing villagers and get the freeloaders back to work. One of the biggest challenges is to keep all your villagers working, as they like to take breaks and stop contributing. Now you can click on the idle villager button or press the period key.

The map view allows you to easily monitor your progress and yet it does not detract from the gameplay. Overland trading with trade carts which can be created at the market has been added to the game, something that helps a lot with resources in land-based games.

In Age of Empires you needed water to be able to trade. You can still trade on the seas but you are not restricted to this supply channel. You can convert almost any resource into gold through your market, but use it wisely since the trade rate gets worse each time you use this option. There are also new sources of food with wild animals and sheep as well as deer, farms, and fishing.

Working gates for your walls now means you do not have to leave a hole and try to defend it any more. Just make sure you monitor the gate because the enemy can walk through when your people open it.

A good source of obtaining "free" gold is collecting artifacts and depositing them in your monastery where your monks will exchange them for gold. If you destroy a monastery with artifacts in it you can take them back home to your own monastery. In one game, I received almost 3, gold just from the artifacts. It is well worth the risk of losing a monk to get all the gold you can.

Go for the gold. Multiplayer mode is my favorite part of the game. The computer opponents are smart and the artificial intelligence is better in Age of Kings , but there is no substitute for a live opponent even if that opponent is only your very computer-savvy six-year-old.

There is an advanced mode and a simple map mode. If you do not have enough information use the advanced mode, if it is too complicated go to the basic display. The screenshots just do not do this game justice. To get the full experience you need to see the graphics and animation in action. The depth and detail is great and the scale of the buildings to the people is one of the biggest improvements over the original.

There is a very nice addition to finding those lost workers on the map. If a villager gets behind a building or a natural obstruction like a tree you will see an outline glowing through the building or through the forest. The animation is crisp and quite fluid, a real treat for so much going on at the same time. The audio is up to the high standards of Age of Empires. There are unique sounds that alert you when there is something that needs your attention.

I turn off the background music in most games, but I actually like the music in Age of Kings -- it stays in the background where it should be. Too many games now center the game on the music in an attempt to make up for the lack of content. Do not play this game without sound support; you will not be able to keep up effectively without the warnings and alert sounds. More games should learn from Age of Kings on the proper use of sound that contributes to gameplay and stop using it as filler. I am impressed with how well this game runs on the minimum system.

You will need a mouse, I did play on my old MHz PC for testing purposes and it performed quite well. A large game with large population limit would be too much for the minimum PC, but with computer prices as they are today, I do not see this as an issue.

There are a lot of inferior games that require a lot more PC to play. The documentation is up to the usual high standards Age players have come to expect. The manual is very nice and quite complete. The quick reference card is wonderful and is also available online, so now if you do not have a card handy, you can look it up in the online help. I find the printed card and book refreshing to see provided and I would gladly pay a little extra to have these sorts of items included in all the games I buy.

Thanks for not skimping, guys. The readme. The only reason I did not give this game out of , as great as it is, is that it is a sequel. It is not a totally new idea with groundbreaking creativity and originality.

Even if another game happens to get a higher score this year, Age of Kings will still get my vote because it has staying power and I cannot say that for too many games these days. Sure, some games are fun when they first come out, but I find myself losing interest fast with most of them.

Age of Kings, Age of Empires, and the Rise of Rome Expansion Pack are all timeless and they will stay through the "Ages" installed on my computer for many years. I am already looking forward to an expansion pack for Age of Kings.

It will be hard, however, to find things that they left out and can improve or expand upon, but I hope they do. It is rare to find a sequel that is better than the original game it is based upon, especially when the original game was so good.

My hat is off to Ensemble Studios and Microsoft for a job well done. Browse games Game Portals. Install Game. Click the "Install Game" button to initiate the file download and get compact download launcher. Locate the executable file in your local folder and begin the launcher to install your desired game. Game review Downloads Screenshots Overall rating: 9. Playstation 2. Early Hours Initially, after just a few hours of dabbling with the game, indulging in a spot of one-player skirmishes or dipping a toe into one of the five single-player campaigns, I wasn't too impressed.

Go On Then, Say It KNIGHT LORE Whether you play a full campaign, where your objectives are obvious and the means to achieve them are limited, or a deattimatch or random game where the scope is much broader, what is essentially so right about Age II is the balance of each of the units.

The Knights Who Say Breaking the sound barrier Although the dialogue for each of the campaigns is cheesy whoever did the Scottish accent for the William Wallace campaign should be shot , the sound is generally very good. New Combat Features As well as setting your armies to be either aggressive where they go berserk at the first sign of the enemy , defensive where they'll come back after chasing the foe for a short distance , or to stand their ground, you can also 'garrison' your archers and swordsmen in castles and barracks, so that from relative safety, they can rain arrows upon the advancing ranks.

King Of The Castle Reach the Imperial Age and each civilisation can finally build its very own castle, stick a few archers In there and be indomitable, at least until the siege rams come into view. New Game Variations As well as the option to win by conquest, deathmatch games can also be won either by building a Wonder and defending it, holding a number of relics for a certain amount of time or a victory based on scores - which promotes trade, research and building.

Multiplayer Enhancements At last, you can save multiplayer games, which means that for many Internet multiplayers, epic month-long battles can become a reality.

What we thought "Without doubt it is still the best, and to miss it would be a crime for which you should be hung, drawn and quartered. The units are practically the same, as are the buildings, and even the graphics to a certain extent.

We might have the game available for more than one platform. First of all, you want to enable DirectPlay on your computer. Secondly, right click on the icon for the game launcher and click on properties. Press ESC to close. OldGamesDownload June 5, 0. The game is pre-installed ready for you to play — enjoy! Enjoy the game! For problems launching the game: First of all, you want to enable DirectPlay on your computer. Now, launch the game by double clicking on the game icon. Instead of squandering villagers to spy on enemy positions, the computer would instead select a more capable military unit that has high range and speed if applicable.

The computer will never send villagers to enemy territory unless constructing isolated military Outposts or resources are extremely scarce in their territory. Military units controlled by the computer are now less likely to move and distribute themselves equally around the map unlike in previous editions and are now more likely to remain coalesced in a particular location unless provoked by the enemy. If allied to the player, the computer will no longer change their diplomatic stance to enemy if under friendly fire by area of effect damage.

Tributing resources to enemy players is now impossible from this edition onward. Age of Empires II has a much more advanced and varied set of technology trees than the original Age of Empires. To acquire technology, the player must first construct buildings.

Each building offers a range of technology which can be researched, for a price. Technologies build upon each other. As technologies are researched, a wider range of buildings and units become available.

Technologies may benefit military units by perhaps increasing their defense attributes , civil units villagers can benefit from technologies that make them move faster and therefore collect resources more efficiently, etc. Technologies vary greatly in benefits and costs. In the game, technology plays a central role. Early in the game, players must constantly assess priorities and allocate scarce resources between creating new units, upgrading existing units, and researching to upgrade to the next Age.

However, too much emphasis on researching technology and moving through the Ages without creating military can leave a nation defenseless. On the other hand, putting resources into a large population at the expense of progress can lead to defeat if the enemy has progressed and is able to field a small but more powerful attack force.

The number of technologies increases through the Ages, as does the price of said technologies. A special part of the game that was added in the expansion is that each civilization gets a unique technology in the Castle when it goes into the Castle age. This technology generally benefits the unique units of the civilization or enables some special upgrade which is not available to other civilizations.

In addition to this, some civilizations also have some inbuilt technologies or upgrades. The special abilities of each civilization vary greatly and are roughly based on the specialties of the civilizations as they were in the 10thth century. Relics are special unique items that are scattered around the map, and can only be picked up by monks. Once placed within a Monastery , a relic steadily generates free gold for the civilization that holds it this reflects the historical realities of the power and influence that possessing famous relics brought to a church.

To capture a relic from an enemy Monastery, the Monastery must be nearly destroyed. Once the Monastery has low enough hit points, the relic will then be expelled so that a player may capture it with a monk. Monks are vulnerable units they can only defend themselves by converting their assailant, which takes time. A monk carrying a relic will quickly attract enemy units, so strategies are needed to protect him e.

If monks are ordered to move with a group of other units, the monks will move to the back of the formation. However, using the box formation will position the units so that they form a box around the monks, protecting them from all sides. A possible victory condition is the collection of all relics or the construction of a Wonder. This is the case in several campaign scenarios. To win a relic victory, all the relics must be held for a specific uninterrupted period of time, depending on the size of the map.

Wonders are massive structures that require large amounts of resources and time to build. If a player completes a Wonder, and it stands intact for an uninterrupted period of time, they win. If a Wonder is destroyed before the countdown is finished, the countdown resets. Each civilization has their own Wonder, typically a famous work of historical architecture, as opposed to the original Age of Empires , where each civilization's Wonder was based on their generic architecture.

In addition, the Dome of the Rock appears as a decorative building in the Saladin and Barbarossa campaigns as do the Pyramids at Giza, but neither can be built by any civilization. Finally, in the Genghis Khan campaign the Great Wall of China is present, represented by several blocks of conventional walls united with defensive towers scattered throughout.

The following tracks appear on the audio part of the game CD, listed in order of playback. The tracks themselves are not separated, but are instead one long track with floating transitions. Age of Kings also includes a built-in scenario editor. It is similar to the one from Age of Empires , in which players can create their own series of custom made scenarios.

The largest difference from the design of the editor of the first game is the use of Triggers. These consist of conditions and effects. The conditions basically perform a "If The game CD comes with complete documentation for both Random map and AI scripting documentation present in the Docs folder.

The scripting can be done in any text editor; however a special editor, named ScriptED, [7] has been developed just for the AI scripting of this game. The scripted AI performs much better than the games' default AI. Various other resources for scripting are also present on the internet. An AI scripters league was also formed over at the The Rubber Emporium in January and has many of the latest and toughest scripts available for download.

The original release of the game had some crippling bugs which severely interfered with multiplayer mode. When a patch finally was made, Ensemble Studios advised that the fix would only be available as part of the expansion pack.

As a significant number of irritated customers began to circulate illegal copies of the expansion pack, as well as discuss this on various popular forums dedicated to the game, Ensemble Studios finally announced that the patch would be released free of charge, on its own.

On their official website, Ensemble Studios expressed their displeasure at people trying to get illegal copies of the expansion pack, because they felt something was owed them. The expansion pack was released on August 24, , having the patched solution included in it. The patch by itself, was released a week later, on August 31, , more than a year after the game shipped.