Customer Reviews

Age Of Empires Collector's Edition (Limited Edition)

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

First of all, I would just like to say that this is such a good deal. I mean, ten dollars for the first two games AND both of their expansion packs? You can get "Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings Gold Edition" with its expansion "The Conquerors" for 20 dollars, or get this set, which includes all that AND the original Age of Empires with the "Rise of Rome" expansion for ten dollars less! Think about it. Ten less dollars for much more? Its a miracle in the form of a computer game set if you ask me. Ah, on to the games themselves.

Age of Empires:

A true classic, this game has to be one of the most fun games ever put out. Though the graphics are nothing dazzling, who cares? I have spent endless hours on this game, and beaten every campaign in it. If you don't want to play a full campaign, the random map games are equally as fun! The replay value of this game is also amazing. It seems more fun every time you play it, and its impossible to get sick of! The only part where you may get a teeny weeny bit anxious to move on, is toward the end of the Babylonian campaign. Don't get me wrong, it is still fun as ever, just not quite as action-packed as the rest of them. I give this game two thumbs up!

Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome Expansion

Ok, as fun as the first one was, beleive it or not, this one is even better! The gameplay is the same as "Age of Empires" and its mostly the same, except that there are new campaigns, new countries, new upgrades and some cool new units (camel swordsman, for instance). This game has a little more action in it. My favorite level has to be "Struggle for Sicily" in the Carthage campaign. This level is incredible, like many of the others. Some people say that "The Rise of Rome" isn't as good as Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings", but if you ask me, I think that "The Rise of Rome" is better than "The Age of Kings". In all, "The Rise of Rome Expansion" is as good as the original "Age of Empires", but because of the new units, and the new level layouts, is actually better. Two more thumbs up!

Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings

After the success of the first "Age of Empires" Microsoft thought they would continue the series, (thank goodness for us!) "Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings" is a knights-and-castles era version of the original. Gameplay is mostly the same, with improved graphics. Most everything is the same as the last one, because your main goals are still these: get lots of villagers, gather food, gold, stone, and wood, build an army, upgrade if you can, and win. There are some pretty cool units in this game as well, and the campaigns are awesome! The first campaign is about William Wallace (Braveheart, anyone?) and the Scottish army fighting against the Brits. Sadly, they used this story as a learning campaign, and its really easy. I think they should have made it an advanced campaign, but oh well. Its just as fun either way. There is also a Joan of Arc campaign, a Barbarossa campaign (the German knights are so cool in that one!) and many more. This game is well worth the money, and, just like the previous games, is very addictive! Two more thumbs way up!

Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings "The Conquerors Expansion"

This game takes "Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings" and kicks it up yet another notch! In this expansion, you can play a South American campaign, an Attila the Hun campaign, and a few more. I don't have much more to say about this game, because basically all it is is "Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings" with a few more units, and some cool campaigns. I enjoyed this one slightly more than the original "Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings", especially because of the South American campaign (the Eagle-Warriors rock!) So, as you guessed, another two thumbs up!

In all, this pack is better than a steal. Saying its a steal would be incorrect, because its better than a steal. You get countless, and I mean countless hours of awesome action for only ten bucks! This is a must own game, and even if you think it doesn't look cool, buy it. You will get so much entertainment out of it, and I would pay 50 dollars for this if I had to. Ten dollars is just so good! Well, this review is way too long already, but I hope you got some useful info about the game from this review. I have not yet purchased "Age of Empires 3", but the moment I can, I will. I am sure it will be very good game, and i hope and pray that Microsoft never stops putting out "Age of Empires" games!

This game has achieved the status of a classic. For fans of strategy games, the AoE series is a must. What's more, this game will run on even older computers -- check the system requirements to see whether your old PC is up to snuff.

First of all I give this collection five stars in the FUN rating because I love Age of Empires, I have since I started using a computer way back in '97. My two star rating goes for this collection because I haven't been able to get it to play yet on my High End machine.

High End Users beware of this one. If you've got XP, you'll likely run into the same problem I've had. "Cannot initialize graphics" error. I've done what they've suggested in the FAQ and on the Microsoft Support, but no go so far. It says to reset the display resolution to 800x600 and set compatability to 256 color mode, but so far no luck for some reason. I'm runnig a Radeon 9800 on an Athlon 2600+ and XPPro SP2.

The game is great, but keep these problems in mind. It says XP on the box too, but don't be too hopeful that it will work on the first try, you may have to do some tweaking to get it to work at all if you're on a high-end PC. Just keep that in mind and be smart, it's a great deal for only ten bucks, but I would have thought they would have been able to put a fix in for this by now.

So the good: Great games on three discs for an unbeatable price.
Now the bad: Expect problems running on high-end machines.

Hope this has helped and just be aware of this issue.

The games themselves are great. I want to let everyone know the Jewel Case edition is just that. It has all four games in a jewel case with a slip cover over the top. It does not include any manuals or information cards. The game can be played perfectly fine without them. Just a heads up that the savings are in lack of paper materials included.

There's not much more to be said about how great this game is. It's one of the best PC games ever made. Just wanted to let you know that this game runs perfect on Windows Vista, for those of you who are planning to play it on a new PC

This is the best set of games ever. I have been playing them for years.I even bought a brand new, not really needed, computer so I could better play Age III and War Chiefs. I have a core 2 duo 2.13 ghz intel with a gt7600 256 mg video card, 1 gig 667ddr2 ram. This computer plays the game great and so does my old amd athlonxp 1.4ghz 32mb video card, 512mb ddram. The games also play well on a Dell Dimensions 1100 celeron D we have. But, they plays best on the 1st two computers. I find a video card, even the 32mg one makes the games play better.

The game scenery has so many variations, I for one never get tired of them. I find the more I play them the more I can perfect strategies to defeat my opponent. I call these game my second childhood. I like them better than other similar games I have tried. These are uncomplicated, but still take a bit of thinking. And, it is so much fun to command your own, very realistic looking army. I would give these games 6 stars if I could.

This game is really good, but make sure you have a windows xp computer. Only one out of the three games works on windows vista.

Age of Empires: Collector's Edition contains three CDs. The package is more suited to the person who already owns the games, but wants original disc backups, just in case, because the package lacks paper documentation about the game. Someone playing the game for the first time is going to have a difficult time trying to figure out what to do, other than the in-game tutorials.

CD part number: 10690/1:

One CD contains the game, Age of Empires and the expansion pack, Age of Empires: Rise of Rome, version 1.0b. The two have been integrated, so the game starts from the Age of Empires: Rise of Rome game starting screen.

There is a patch to the game, "Update 1.0c" (AOEPATCH.exe), you can download via the "Web Connection" link in the game menu.

There is a Manual, in PDF form, included on the CD. Explore the CD to find the Manual in the "DOCS" folder, in the "RISEROME" sub-folder.

The game installs at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires.

CD part number: 10690/2:

One CD contains the game, Age of Empires II: Age of Kings, version 2.0a. There's no patch on the web, just a link to an additional download, The Pandora's Box/Age of Empires 2 Box Cover Puzzle.

There is a Manual, in PDF form, included on the CD. Explore the CD to find the Manual in the "DOCS" folder.

The game installs at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II.

CD part number: 10690/3:

One CD contains the expansion, The Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, version 1.0.

There is a patch to the expansion, "update v1.0c" (Age2XPatch.exe), you can download via the "web connection" link in the game menu.

There is a Manual and a Tech Tree, in PDF form, included on the CD. Explore the CD to find the Manual and the Tech Tree in the "DOCS" folder.

The expansion installs at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II.

Notes: If you play these games on Windows Vista and try to use the "Help" links in the game, Vista will kick you out of the game, because Vista is missing the "WinHlp32.exe" file. When vista kicks you from the game, Vista will give you a link to download the file that is available at Microsoft Knowledge Base Article number: 917607.

These are old games. To find them, go to the "Microsoft Games for Windows" web site.

Here's a helpful note on the packaging: This set doesn't include the manual or technology tree fold-out. That's probaably why it costs less than the AoE 2 Gold Edition. If you like to have the tech tree (building and unit upgrades reference sheet) next to you when you play, you'll need to print your own. Just search online for "Age of Empires II manual" without the quotes and you'll find the PDF to download from Microsoft or you can look for a one-sheet PDF tech tree by someone named Nethog. Or you can fork out double the amount for the Gold edition, which has less software but printed manuals included.

Other reviewers have said everything that needs to be said about the game itself. It's a pleasantly addictive sequel to Age of Empires.

Age of Empires -> one of the best strategy game series around.

Amazon listing for this collection -> poor representation of what you get. The games come in one CD Case (like you would see on the 5.99 bin at a local store) not a box package as shown on Amazon.