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Age of Empires II: HD Edition Review for PC

Age of Empires II: HD Edition Review for PC

A Bygone Era

Back in college, I once spent an entire Spring Break playing Age of Empires III. Sure, my social life suffered for that week, but it was one of the most incredible gaming experiences I’ve ever had. In fact, AOE3 is the game that opened my eyes to how enjoyable it is to control dozens of tiny little soldiers who murder each other in the most adorably violent of ways.

More recently, I’ve been spending quite a bit of money on Age of Empires Online vanity items, mainly just to assuage the guilt of having pirated AOE3 all those years ago. Of course, AOE Online does a lot to pull the series away from its roots, adding MMO elements and giving it a more cartoony visual style. These changes to the series made a lot of people (including myself) sad.

Age of Empires II: HD Edition Screenshot

Now, though, Age of Empires returns to a previous decade, as Age of Empires II was recently given a high-definition makeover. Wait, I should probably clarify that statement a bit. The “HD” in the game’s title is a bit deceiving, as what we’re given here isn’t what we typically think of when we hear the term “HD upgrade.” That’s not to say the textures haven’t been upgraded—they have—but the game is still completely built around isometric pixel art.

Then again, that’s not a bad thing. In fact, the game’s pixilated art style is one of its most charming elements. I know there are people out there who will disagree with me, but I think the game’s visual style holds up just fine almost a decade and a half later. There’s just something special about seeing adorable little isometric pixel houses, and then burning them to the ground.

Age of Empires II originally came out back in 1999, and the RTS landscape has changed drastically in a lot of ways since then. However, the gameplay here holds up surprisingly well. You’ve got your various civilizations to choose from, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, making rounds play like an incredibly complex game of chess. (You thought I was going to say Rock, Paper, Scissors, didn’t you? Well, that’s a perfectly fine metaphor too, since every troop type is weak to an opposing troop type and strong against another.)

Age of Empires II: HD Edition Screenshot

I was actually quite surprised at the sheer amount of strategic depth in a game this old. Not only are the troop types varied and balanced, but there are detailed options for how your army arranges itself. While this is a thing that would simply be taken for granted in any RTS that came out in 2013, it’s a bit more unexpected from a game that’s almost old enough to apply for its driver’s permit. And it works. There are a few frustrating pathing issues that show up when you’re moving around larger huddles of soldiers (a strategy I probably rely far too heavily on), but I’ve seen far worse in some of the more modern RTS games I’ve played.

Age of Empires II: HD Edition Screenshot

This package includes the original AOE2 campaign, as well as everything from the Age of Kings expansion. I must say, these missions can often be brutally unforgiving, requiring an in-depth knowledge of hotkeys and the ability to multitask especially well. You won’t get very far into it before you’ll be required to manage a fairly complex resource economy while simultaneously maintaining a strong line of defense and building an offensive powerhouse.

While newcomers to the RTS genre might quickly find themselves frustrated, they’ll learn to be thankful for the campaign’s difficulty once they decide to wet their feet in the raging river that is the game’s PvP. If you haven’t mastered the skills the campaign instills in you, your opponents will devastate your puny little village, laughing all the way as your pixel buildings catch fire and collapse into digital piles of rubble.

Age of Empires II: HD Edition Screenshot

Now, there have been some complaints about the game’s multiplayer, with several users experiencing connectivity issues. However, in my time with the game, I didn’t notice a single problem; everything ran perfectly fine. Another complaint people have levied is the fact that AOE2HD doesn’t play online with the original. But seriously, did we really expect a modern day remake to play well with its fourteen-year-old brother?

There are some modern quality-of-life improvements to the game as well, most notably in the form of the Steam Workshop integration. This makes applying whatever mods you see fit easier than ever. And, as we all know, the modding community tends to contribute some incredible things.

Do you want a modern RTS with an absurd amount of polish and visuals that make you feel justified in purchasing that high-end gaming rig? Well, you’ll want to look elsewhere. In fact, I hear StarCraft II’s new expansion is pretty great. But if you want to relive the glory days of when the RTS was first coming into its own as a genre (with a glorious palette of pixel art), then you can’t do much better than Age of Empires II: HD Edition.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.0 Graphics
A light upgrade, but still very much made up of pixels and sprites. It’s antiquated, but in the most charming of ways. 4.5 Control
The Gold Standard of RTS controls. Point, click, drag, and hotkey your way to victory. 4.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
This sounds like a game from 1999. The music is cheesy, the voice acting is corny, and the word “fop” gets thrown around. It’s adorable. 5.0 Play Value
This is an incredibly complex strategy game, with a robust (though unforgiving) series of campaigns, PvP, and Steam Workshop integration for endless modding possibilities. 4.4 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 – 1.9 = Avoid 2.5 – 2.9 = Average 3.5 – 3.9 = Good 4.5 – 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 – 2.4 = Poor 3.0 – 3.4 = Fair 4.0 – 4.4 = Great 5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

  • Explore all the original single-player campaigns from both Age of Kings and The Conquerors expansion, choose from 18 civilizations spanning over a thousand years of history, and head online to challenge other Steam players in your quest for world domination throughout the ages.
  • Explore new maps, multiplayer scenarios, and user-created campaigns. Or reinvent your game experience with new sounds, visuals, A.I., units, and more! Ready to share your creations with the world? Upload right from the map editor, or collaborate with friends to create a masterpiece collection.
  • Originally developed by Ensemble Studios and reimagined in high-definition by Hidden Path Entertainment, Microsoft Studios is proud to bring Age of Empires II: HD Edition to Steam!

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