Age of Empires II: Gold Edition

"An excellent addition to the series"

Age of Empires II is not only an excellent sequel to the original, but also a way to waste many hours on end ;)

Story : 9/10 -- Age of Empires takes place way in the past, where you (as the player) get to start with the minimum: an armed man, a few villagers, and a town center. From there, you can build your way up to a massive empire filled with resources, a bountiful and lush town, and a large fighting force that can be used to defeat the enemies and gain control of the entire map!

Game-play : 10/10 -- Every second of this game, things need to be done to maintain survival. Constantly, villagers have to forage for enough food, wood, gold, and stone to keep the town healthy and protected. Archers have to be trained, boats must be created, weapons for the militia have to be available, and empires must be overthrown! The user is always busy trying to keep things under control.

Multi-player : 10/10 -- This game can be played with many other players on-line via GameRanger, and you can face or team up with your friends!

Sound/Music : 9/10 -- Throughout the game, a medieval tune plays that nobody can ever get bored of. With every command, a villager or fighter will respond, and there are sound effects for attacking, creating, destroying, building, and just doing every day stuff.

Control : 8/10 -- The mouse is the primary source of control, but the keyboard can be used as a shortcut for some things. Most of the time, you click the unit you want to operate, and then right-click the object you want the unit to work on. With a mac, however, you must control-click, because there is no right-click. The control is not a weak part of this game, but could be a little better.

Re-play value : 9/10 -- This game can be played many times without the player getting bored. You have the option to choose which race you want to be, and can customize the map, and different game modes. There are many combinations that will keep you (the player) intensely involved 100% of the time.

Rent or Buy : If you have a friend who has this game, you might want to try it before you buy it. If you don't, then you will most likely be satisfied with your purchase regardless, this is a hard game to dislike.

Overall : 9/10 Age of Empires II Gold is not be a disappointment!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/06