Age of Empires 2: Gold Edition

by Microsoft Game Studios

Product Features

• Build one of the most powerful civilizations of the Middle Ages into a flourishing empire
• Train your people to be infantry, knights, throwing ax-men, cavalry, archers, and more!
• Control all your military's strategy and tactics in intense real-time battles
• Create formations, coordinate attacks, flank your enemy's infantry, besiege their castles and more!

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005RD6X
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches ; 9.9 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: November 1, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,375 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #36 in Video Games > Mac Games > Strategy

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Age of Empires 2 Gold Edition unites the exciting game play ofboth Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings and Age of Empires2: The Conquerors Expansion plus additional content for onecompelling gaming experience. Experience real-time evolution as youbuild your civilization into a flourishing empire, from the Dark Ageto the Imperial Age. Decide whether to conquer the world throughmilitary might, commerce and diplomacy, or intrigue andregicide. There are many paths to power but only one will reignsupreme. Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings spans 1,000 years,from the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages. Players control thedestiny of one of 13 civilizations. The game keeps the epic scope ofAge of Empires' gameplay while evolving the combat and economicfeatures. Developed by Ensemble Studios, Age of Empires 2features the expertise of Bruce Shelley, co designer of Age ofEmpires and the hit strategy game Civilization. Age ofEmpires 2: The Conquerors Expansion adds five new civilizations,four new campaigns, 11 new units, 26 new technologies, real worldmaps, and much more. Experience the adventure of the SpanishConquistadors as they enter the exotic lands of the Aztecs, or relivethe destructive force of Attila's pillaging Huns. This add-on packfocuses on the armies and military thinking of a handful of history'sgreatest tacticians, including Attila the Hun, El Cid, andMontezuma. The new civilizations each have unique attributes,buildings, and technologies, such as Chinese Rocketry and PersianMahouts. You'll put hussar cavalry, kamikaze siege units, andhalberdier infantry into battle in four all-new campaigns. Play up toeight other conquerors via modem, Internet, or LAN.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Strategy Game Ever!, August 17, 2002

By 

S. Smith (Dallas, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Age of Empires 2: Gold Edition (CD-ROM)

Age of Empires II is really fun. I've played a lot of strategy games, and this one is the best. WarCraftII, StarCraft, Majesty, WarCraft, Civilization, Centauri. But none of them were this good. The Graphics are really nice, and the gameplay is fun. It's really easy to use too. The Campaigns span over many civilizations and different time periods. It's a lot more fun with the expansion though, so I recommend that you buy the Gold Edition. There are many many civilizations to play around with, so gameplay has no end. The option to make your own maps and Campaigns is a blast. You can also choose different paths to take your civilizations along. You could make a huge trading community with large farmland. Or you could take control of the world with huge armies. Although when you first start out, you don't make that many units,

but when you become more familiar with the game you will want to create larger armies, but the most units you can make is 200.
Good things:
-Nice Graphics

-Good Music Track
-Easy To Learn
-Difficulty Levels
Bad things:
-Cannot Create Recources In Map Editor
-Strict amount of units you can create. (Only 200)
Over all Age of Empires II is a great game. It is definitely worth the money. I recommend it to all ages.

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inifnitely fun, but technically flawed, December 11, 2002

By 

John R Chang (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Age of Empires 2: Gold Edition (CD-ROM)

I've lost significant hours of my life to this game. That's how fun it is! I'm not even much of a gamer. Unfortunately though, 1) multiplayer isn't supported between Mac and PC, and 2) multiplayer doesn't even work well between two Macs. A friend and I (both running Mac OS X v10.2) tried multiplayer with version 1.0.4, the latest version, and we kept getting "out of sync" errors. Based on the reviews here and on the web, multiplayer problems seem to be common. So be warned. Kudos for the native Mac OS X application, though; I hope they can fix the multiplayer problems in a software update.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the best strategy games EVER., September 16, 2005

By 

Juan Ortuno (Hialeah, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Age of Empires 2: Gold Edition (CD-ROM)

As simple as that.
I've been playing this game for ages. Ever since the beginning of the first age of empires and the rise of Rome, I've been following this game.
It's given me, my family & friends endless hours of entertainment. I've also played other "age of...." games, but none seem to pair up with this one.
It's basically all the same idea. You start with low resources and a few villagers, and have to build from there & fight your opponent. You can follow the campaigns or play multiplayer against each other, or teamed up against the computer. You can also play deathmatch if you prefer.
You get to pick a civilization, and each one has its own unique characteristic and feature. From the Huns to the Greeks, Spanish, Aztecs, Britons...and a whole bunch more!
The game has already been out for a while, and still is better in my opinion than the newer "age of..." games. I've tried newer ones but cannot pair up with this one.
I recently bought a Mac, and this game shortly after it, only to be dissapointed that I could no longer play with my brother in multiplayer mode using a PC.
Other than that, there are no other flaws to the game, and it plays as well as the PC version. I rate it 4 stars instead of 5 just because of that, multiplayer between Mac and PC is not possible.
Here's my honest recommendations: If you like to play, if you like adventure, strategy, then give this game a try if you haven't already. You'll enjoy every minute of it and won't get bored of playing.