Age of Empires II: The Conquerors update

Pros

• New units, buildings, civilizations, and game types
• Additional map packs, wildlife, and a largely expanded campaign
• Exciting new score, sound effects, and cut-scenes

Cons

• Friendly fire and AI issues with siege weapons
• A specific few tactics are highly favored
• Smaller changes to UI and mechanics will go unnoticed by casual gamers

While Age of Empires II helped to forever change the world of real-time strategies, the Conquerors expansion pack removed many of the ongoing technical issues and introduced exciting new units, structures, civilizations, and tactics.

Those that are fans of real-time strategy games have no doubt heard of Age of Empires, even if they have not played it. Age of Empires II was not only exciting for its time, the well-balanced nature of the game has made it a popular title for years. With the addition of the Conquerors expansion pack, those that enjoyed the original release are going to have enough new features to justify a purchase. This includes a new lineup of campaign levels, new civilizations, exciting and dynamic wildlife, revitalized tactics, a series of maps, additional game types, and much more.

The overall game play of Age of Empires II: Conquerors has not deviated from the path that has made this series so popular. Along with a number of traditional multiplayer games, such as king of the hill and team death match, players will also have a lineup of new campaign levels. What is surprising about this update is the fact that Conquerors nearly doubles the storyline of the original release, quite a feat for a smaller upgrade. In addition to the added storyline, there is also a variety of new units, buildings, and even a number of new civilizations.

Transitioning over to the New World, players will be able to choose the Aztecs and Mayans, both of which are designed to have a completely new technology tree and style of play. Other new civilizations include the Huns, the Koreans, and the Spanish. Each of these options has additional bonuses, such as the ability to create new units without houses or to have a new Wonder and a new “Champion,” or top-tier combatant. The maps have also been revitalized with highly aggressive animals and new graphics for gold veins, stone deposits, woods, plants, and fish.

For those who are fans of Age of Empires II and Age of Kings, every addition that was made with Conquerors has improved the overall quality of the game. This means providing a wealth of new options for game play that will help to draw back older players. For those who are unfamiliar with previous titles, the changes will seem miniscule, but as time goes on, they will generally become more and more appreciated.

Pros

• New units, buildings, civilizations, and game types
• Additional map packs, wildlife, and a largely expanded campaign
• Exciting new score, sound effects, and cut-scenes

Cons

• Friendly fire and AI issues with siege weapons
• A specific few tactics are highly favored
• Smaller changes to UI and mechanics will go unnoticed by casual gamers