Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings ("AOK" from here on, for brevity's sake) is the "A.D." mirror image of the "B.C." Age of Empires. Games are scaled to cover 1,000 years, from the Dark Ages to the early days of gunpowder. It hews steadfastly to the traditional formula of empire-building games: explore, gather resources, research better technology, create the strongest army you can, then conquer the map.

Back in 1995, Microsoft was still not being taken seriously as a game publisher, and AOE was launched, in part, to change that notion. Ensemble Studios had to carry some heavy baggage: they were tasked not only with creating a game that would polish Microsoft's image, but also something that could go head-to-head with Civilization, one of the most respected products in the history of entertainment software. Thus the designers were trying to achieve the depth of the greatest turn-based strategy games, while being forced to do it with a mass-market real-time interface, because real-time games were red-hot at the time. Miraculously, they pulled off that delicate balance with stunning success.

AOK is also a real-time game, but this time Ensemble didnt have quite so much to prove. One senses that this sequel was created in a looser, more relaxed atmosphere, one that encouraged the designers to go all-out and have fun.

AOK embodies a host of new features that should delight fans of the first game: 13 new civilizations (including the Japanese, the Mongols, and the Vikings), a plethora of new units, formation tactics, an enhanced trading system, new and tasty technologies (such as Conscription, which jacks up the speed of unit-creation), and spectacular new architecture. In fact, the castles, watchtowers, and walls are rendered close to scale, which gives them an imposing heft and presence.

Regardless of which race you play, everyone starts off in the Dark Ages. Your goals here are crude and simple: deploy your villagers to gather food and stockpile enough resources to construct two Dark Age buildings (one of which must be a Barracks). You can create a militia force at this stage, but I'd advise against it: Dark Age units are very expensive and weak (plus you're not likely to encounter any really dangerous enemy forces until you reach the Castle Age). Nor would I waste any time and villagers gathering gold and stone. You don't even need much food - if you have more than 50 military units, your economy is probably unbalanced. The goal of Dark Age strategy is simply to get out of the Dark Ages as quickly as possible.

Then it's on to the Feudal Age, where your horizons open up somewhat. Military units are still not very cost-effective (although crude Watchtowers are a good investment), but now you can build stables, train archers, and erect stone fortifications. Food and mining are advanced by the invention of the fish trap, the double-bit axe, and the humble wheelbarrow. The tempo accelerates. Expect some skirmishing.

By the time you advance to the Castle Age, gold and stone become the more vital commodities, defensive works become truly formidable, units become more affordable and more powerful. Build a University to start down the path that leads to gunpowder, and Monasteries to crank out Monks (very useful for healing friendly units and "converting" those of your enemies).

Finally (if you've survived thus far) you reach the pinnacle of medieval civilization: the Imperial Age. Armored paladins, fearsome siege engines, and crude firearms make units quite deadly. Technology flourishes. Crop rotations yield efficient food supplies, block printing allows the Monks to convert at long-range (a great abstraction of the propaganda value of books!), and naval power comes into its own. If you amass enough wealth, you can build a Wonder of the World. Wonders are ruinously expensive, but if you can create one and defend it successfully for two or three centuries, you'll probably win the game.

Victory comes in several flavors, whether you're playing online (against a single opponent or as part of an allied team) or solo. You (or you and your teammates) decide on the conditions: play for high scores, play against the clock, or go whole-hog with a Deathmatch. In that configuration, all players start with enormous resources; the fighting is immediate and sanguine.

My favorite Victory Condition, though, is the Regicide mode. All sides get a king, a castle, and a modest number of laborers. He whose king survives the longest wins. And unfortified kings are very weak (rather like chess, actually, only chess on steroids). Multi-player Regicide games are often characterized by treachery and deceit, rather than big smash-mouth battles. Very refreshing. Overall, the Coolness Factor in AOK is amazingly high. Imaginative touches abound, such as: Customized terrain (islands, rivers, forests, deserts, etc.). Different maps make for very different gaming experiences;

Authentic architecture and language for each civilization; villagers respond to your orders in Norse, Greek, Chinese - whatever is appropriate. A small feature, perhaps, but one that adds color and charm;

Formations that really make a difference in combat;

The ability to hide garrisons inside buildings, then launch them in surprise attacks - even a farmer with a hoe can do some damage in those circumstances;

- Subtle variations in "hunting" - deer and boars can provide lots of food, but you must assign multiple Villagers to dress and carry the meat, otherwise the carcasses rot before your eyes. Boars can kill if a military unit does not accompany Villagers who stalk them, but they can also be lured into town, where they can be dispatched and processed very quickly.

A well-crafted system of unit balance: true, there are some Imperial Age units that are powerful (Paladins, Elite Cataphracts, etc.), and who routinely annihilate enemy units while suffering only 20 percent casualties. However, there is always a counter-strategy to be employed against them. Paladins, for instance, can be stopped by a mixed force of Pikemen and trebuchets, costing only half as much to produce.

A damned good artificial intelligence - belligerent, sneaky, and frequently unpredictable.

AOK is a vivid game as well as a deep one, even though the graphics don't appear to have changed much from those seen in Age of Empires. Siege engines recoil when they fire, debris spews out when cannonballs smash into masonry, and naval encounters are extremely picturesque. Unit animations are terrific: troops set on "aggressive" will charge boldly at all visible enemy units, beginning with the nearest, and keep fighting until overwhelmed. I've seen "aggressive" cavalry smash through a defensive line and wreak havoc on the enemy's infrastructure - a perfectly executed "blitzkrieg" operation. Troops can be ordered to patrol, stand guard, hold their ground at all costs; you get a real sense of tactical flexibility.

Basically, then, The Age of Kings fulfills the "sequel wish list" for fans of the first game and goes even further. It brims with creative touches, visual delights, and dramatic sequences of cause and effect. As a multiplayer game, it should become a classic, if only because its many built-in variants give it tremendous replay value.

I'd venture to say that it's an equally good solo game. Given the many ways you can handicap one side or the other (not to mention the custom scenario editor), you can fine-tune the pace, scale, and tilt of every solo experience. However you set things up, the AI will give you a run for your money.

The default game speed is simply too fast, however. Solo games, particularly those played on large maps, will almost always degenerate into a frenzied click-fest. You seldom have time to savor all the subtle features or actually plan a battle using real tactics and formations. You are given maybe ten seconds to respond to a surprise attack, leaving you with only enough time to draw a box around the nearest assortment of troops and hurl them forward as a disorganized mob.

Fortunately, the designers have not been dogmatic on this point. Overall game-speed is adjustable via the Options menu (but only after you've started a game, not when you're setting one up), and you can fine-tune the tempo by hitting the plus/minus keys.

The default number of units per mission is 75, but players with brawny systems can handle up to 125 units without suffering more than a slight slump in performance. Be advised, though, that it can be very confusing to control that many units, especially on a large map. By all means, take the time to group your forces rationally and assign hot-key numbers to the more important groups.

I would also suggest playing on the easy setting until you become thoroughly comfortable with the interface. At moderate difficulty, the AI will gang up on you and probably overwhelm you with sheer confusion. Example: it takes 30 seconds to produce a Cavalry Archer, and during that interval your Villagers can gather approximately 80 food units and 20 gold. During that same amount of time, the computer can gather at least 100 food and 50 gold, while cold-bloodedly micromanaging everything else with perfect mathematical efficiency. At this breakneck tempo, it only takes 10-12 minutes to advance from one age to the next, which detracts from the feeling of epic sweep that should characterize each game or campaign.

A few other design choices are questionable. Farms, for instance, automatically become fallow after a certain period and Villagers must then be assigned to replant them. This is an irritating distraction; either do away with the concept, or make it automatic.

But try as I might, I cannot find any significant flaws in this game. It's far superior to the original, and certainly one of the finest strategy games to come along in many moons. Buy it with confidence.

-William Trotter



