Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a real-time strategy video game created by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft. It was released in 1999 for Microsoft Windows and in 2001 for Macintosh computers. This game is the second in the Age of Empires series. Set during the Middle Ages, the game includes 13 playable civilizations. Players collect resources to build towns, create armies, and defeat opponents. The game features five historically based campaigns that assign players specific tasks tied to storylines, as well as three additional single-player game modes. Multiplayer is also supported.
Although the game used the same engine and code as its predecessor, development took longer than planned. This delay caused Ensemble Studios to release Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome in 1998 instead. The design team focused on fixing major issues from the first game, but some problems remained at launch.
Age of Empires II received very positive reviews. New features and gameplay improvements were widely praised. Three months after its release, two million copies had been sold, and the game topped sales charts in seven countries. It won several awards and is now considered a classic in its genre, influencing many future games. The original game and its 2000 expansion pack, The Conquerors, were later released together as The Gold Edition. Age of Empires II is often regarded as one of the greatest games ever made.
In 2013, an updated high-definition version of the game, Age of Empires II: HD Edition, was released. This version includes the original game, The Conquerors expansion, new campaigns, civilizations, and improved graphics for high-resolution displays. A remastered version, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, was released in November 2019.
Gameplay
Age of Empires II is a real-time strategy game where players build towns, gather resources, and create armies to defeat opponents. Players advance one of 13 civilizations through four "Ages": the Dark Age, the Feudal Age, the Castle Age (representing the High Middle Ages), and the Imperial Age (reminiscent of the Renaissance)—a 1,000-year timeframe. Advancing to a new Age unlocks new units, structures, and technologies, but players must first build specific buildings from their current age and then pay a sum of resources.
Civilian units, called "villagers," gather resources; they are either male or female—sex does not affect their abilities. Resources are used to train units, construct buildings, and research technologies, such as improving armor for infantry units. The game features four types of resources: food, wood, gold, and stone. Food is obtained by hunting, gathering berries, farming, and fishing. Wood is gathered by chopping trees. Gold is obtained from gold mines, trade, or collecting relics in a monastery. Stone is collected from stone mines. Villagers need checkpoints, like town centers, mining camps, mills, and lumber yards, to store gathered resources.
Each civilization can purchase upgrades that increase resource-gathering speed. Players can build a marketplace to trade wood, stone, and food for gold, and use gold to buy other resources. Market prices change with each transaction. Markets and docks can also generate gold by sending trading carts or cogs to foreign markets and ports. The amount of gold earned depends on the distance traveled—longer trips earn more gold. Trading with enemies’ markets or docks is possible, but trading units may be attacked or destroyed. Trading units continue to operate automatically once a market or dock is selected.
The Age of Kings includes five campaigns with historically based scenarios, such as Genghis Khan’s invasion of Eurasia, Barbarossa’s Crusade, and Saladin’s defense of the Holy Land. In some campaigns, players control units named after historical figures, while in others, they follow orders from guiding spirits representing commanders.
Additional game modes include "random map," where players start in the Dark Age with a Town Center, villagers, and a scout unit. Victory can be achieved through military conquest, building a Wonder and keeping it standing for a set time, or controlling all relics on the map for a set time. "Deathmatch" mode begins with large resource amounts, focusing on military dominance, while "regicide" mode requires killing all other monarchs.
Each player has a population limit, which depends on the number of houses, Castles, or Town Centers built. The Age of Kings introduced two features: an "idle villager" button to identify villagers with no tasks, and a "town bell" that sends villagers to safe buildings for protection. Units inside these buildings, like archers, increase their firepower.
The game includes five military unit types: infantry, archers, cavalry, siege weapons, and naval units. Some units are "counter units" with special defenses against others, following a rock-paper-scissors model. For example, infantry are strong against buildings but weak against cavalry, so spearmen and pikemen have attack bonuses against cavalry.
Each civilization has one or two unique units that are exclusive to them. These units are powerful but still follow the rock-paper-scissors model. Monks are special military units that can convert enemy units to the player’s side, heal allies, and collect relics. Relics increase gold accumulation when held in a monastery, and collecting all relics on a map can be a victory condition.
Players choose from 13 civilizations divided into four architectural styles: Western European (Britons, Celts, Franks), Central European (Goths, Teutons, Vikings), Middle Eastern (Byzantines, Persians, Saracens, Turks), and East Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Mongols). Each civilization has strengths and weaknesses in economics, technology, and combat, and provides unique units and team bonuses. Units also speak sound bites in their native language when selected or given tasks.
Buildings are divided into economic and military categories. Economic buildings, like the Town Center, create villagers, store resources, and allow players to advance through Ages. The Town Center can fire arrows if villagers or archers are inside. Other economic buildings include storage facilities, farms, docks (which produce ships), and houses to increase population.
Military buildings include unit-producing structures like barracks, archery ranges, stables, and castles, as well as defensive structures like walls and towers. Military buildings can research upgrades to improve unit abilities. Castles are key for offense and defense, as they can build trebuchets, train unique units, and fire arrows at enemies. Castles can only be built after reaching the Castle Age, though some game options allow starting with a pre-built castle.
Development
Before finishing Age of Empires, Ensemble Studios signed a contract with Microsoft to create a sequel. The design team chose to set The Age of Kings in the Middle Ages, following the ancient era setting of Age of Empires. They aimed to keep the game appealing to fans of the first game without making it too similar. To meet the goal of completing the game in one year, they reused code from the original game and the Genie game engine. However, after several months, the team realized they could not finish the game at the desired quality in that time. Ensemble Studios told Microsoft they needed an extra year and instead created Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome, an easier-to-develop expansion pack, to be released by Christmas 1998. To meet the new deadline, more programmers, artists, and designers were added to the team. To fix a major problem with the original game—its movement system—the team redesigned the game engine. The game took two years to complete with 50 full-time employees and a budget of less than $10 million.
The original Age of Empires faced criticism for its artificial intelligence (AI), which did not use unfair advantages like extra resources or other techniques that human players could not use, making it easier to defeat than in many other real-time strategy games. For The Age of Kings, Ensemble Studios aimed to create a stronger AI system that still avoided unfair advantages. Industry veteran Mario Grimani led the development of the new system. The Age of Kings introduced a triggers system for its scenario editor, which allowed messages or actions to occur based on specific conditions. The scenario editor also improved with the new AI system, which worked closely with the triggers in single-player campaigns.
The team faced challenges with other issues. Programmer Matt Pritchard noted that after the release of Age of Empires, there was no process for issuing patches to fix problems. Extensive cheating in multiplayer games of Age of Empires resulted from several bugs, leading Microsoft to promise a patch process for The Age of Kings. Upon release, several bugs needed immediate attention, but the patch process was not ready. The first patch was released 11 months later.
Pritchard also described problems with Microsoft's DirectPlay API after The Age of Kings was released. He explained that one major issue was the lack of documentation and testing for less-used parts of the API. Late in the development of The Age of Kings, the team's communications programmer, Paul Bettner, worked with DirectPlay developers, who admitted to knowing about bugs in the API but did not document them.
Ensemble Studios created a new terrain system for The Age of Kings with 3D capabilities much better than those in Age of Empires. Pritchard noted that the team's artistic skills improved after working on previous games, and he said The Age of Kings became a showcase for their progress. However, he criticized the lack of an art asset management tool, while other departments received new tools and automated procedures to help with design and play testing.
The soundtrack for The Age of Kings was directed by Stephen Rippy, who later took on the same role for all games in the Age of Empires series. Music was divided into two types: "in-game" music, which combined elements from various cultures to create a mixed sound, and "pre-game" music, which was unique to each civilization. Campaigns based on historical figures included themes rooted in the culture of the character.
Release
A demo version of The Age of Kings was released on October 16, 1999. It included a tutorial campaign, a sample game with a random map, and the option to play through the MSN Gaming Zone. Ensemble Studios was unhappy because many incomplete copies of the game were shared without permission. These copies were uploaded to illegal websites and sold in many countries in the Pacific Rim. Some versions of the game were even sold near Microsoft's offices in South Korea.
Reception
In January 2000, three months after its release, Microsoft sold two million copies of The Age of Kings. The game was the top-selling title in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, and South Korea. It remained on top 20 sales lists for two and a half years. The Age of Kings was the best-selling game in October 1999 and the fourth best-selling game of that year. In the United States alone, sales reached 469,376 copies by the end of 1999, earning $20.2 million, the second-highest revenue in the country that year behind SimCity 3000. From January to October 2000, U.S. sales increased by 442,318 units, generating $19.56 million, according to PC Data. By the end of 2000, the game had sold 595,016 units in the United States, earning $26.2 million, and ranked as the seventh-largest computer game hit in the country. In 2001, Age of Empires II sold 478,557 units in the United States, earning $19.4 million, and placed tenth in the year’s rankings.
In Germany, Age of Empires II reached first place on Media Control’s sales charts in October 1999 and remained on the charts for 17 weeks by March 2000. It earned the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland’s (VUD) "Platinum" award within a month of its release, showing sales of 200,000 units across Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. By February 2000, it achieved "Double-Platinum" status (400,000 units sold) and was named the most successful PC game in Germany for the previous 12 months by the VUD. The game also received a "Platinum" award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) for selling at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
Between its 2019 re-release and the global lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, The Age of Kings experienced a renewed increase in popularity.
The Age of Kings received a 92% positive rating on Metacritic, based on 21 critics’ reviews.
According to Geoff Richards of Eurogamer, the game included many new features and improvements over its original version. GamePro’s review highlighted additions to the genre that made The Age of Kings stand out, such as the idle unit button and town bell. GameSpy’s Carlos Salgado praised the ability to create individual player profiles and customize hotkeys. IGN noted that villagers now had new abilities, including roles in defense and combat.
AllGame’s Michael L. House appreciated the use of sound bites in civilizations’ native languages, which helped create an immersive atmosphere. Eurogamer said this feature gave villagers personality instead of the usual "Acknowledged" sound used in other real-time strategy (RTS) games and noted the inclusion of female villagers added variety. Game Revolution’s review explained that The Age of Kings’s setting in a more recent era of human history helped add character to gameplay. Computer and Video Games praised the shorter, more focused campaigns compared to the original game, while Game Revolution said the historical story kept players interested even during slower parts. GameSpot said the game’s visuals helped players imagine how historical civilizations thrived, and GameSpy called the game’s realism rare in the RTS genre. IGN noted that while the game’s civilizations had strengths and weaknesses that made them feel realistic, they were still similar, which limited the game’s battlefield impact compared to titles like StarCraft or Tiberian Sun.
AllGame also praised the game’s simple interface and advanced unit grouping and path-finding systems. GamePro’s Nash Werner said the battlefield formation tools were excellent, though they could not be used for naval units. Computer and Video Games agreed, stating the controls were user-friendly. GameSpot’s Greg Kasavin said the game’s graphics were familiar to players who had played RTS games before. PC Zone criticized the game as an update to a two-year-old game.
Richards was impressed by the quality of the game’s bitmapped graphics. AllGame noted that units sometimes looked similar, a point many reviewers agreed on. It also said the game’s sound was not significant enough to affect its overall quality. IGN said cutscenes were somewhat bland but praised the graphics for adding detail. IGN’s main criticism was about in-game speech, asking why French accents were not used for French characters. Computer and Video Games’ Alex Constantides said some buildings were so grand they made players feel guilty about destroying them. Game Revolution said the game’s graphics were the best among 2D RTS games.
The Age of Kings won GameSpot’s Strategy Game of the Year in 1999 and was nominated for Game of the Year. GamePower also named it Strategy Game of the Year, while PC Gamer and Computer Gaming World gave it Editor’s Choice awards. PC Gamer US called it the best real-time strategy game of 1999, saying it improved the genre significantly. The game won "Computer Strategy Game of the Year," "Computer Game of the Year," and tied for "Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development" (with Thief: The Dark Project) at the AIAS 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. It also received nominations for "Game of the Year," "Outstanding Achievement in Animation," "Outstanding Achievement in Game Design," and "Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering." IGN ranked The Age of Kings the 53rd best game of all time in 2005 and the 10th best PC game in 2007. GameFAQs users ranked it 56th in a poll of the best games ever. A 2023 poll by GQ, which surveyed video game journalists, listed Age of Empires II as the 98th best video game of all time.
The Age of Kings had a major influence on its genre. Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, a 2001 game by LucasArts, used the same game engine as The Age of Kings and was heavily inspired by its mechanics. Empire Earth’s design was also similar to The Age of Kings, with GameSpot noting it borrowed controls, interface features, and keyboard shortcuts. Rick Goodman, the designer of Age of Empires and The Rise of Rome, also designed Empire Earth. GameSpot’s Scott Osborne said the gameplay of Cossacks: European Wars was heavily based on The Age of Kings.
Expansions and sequels
Konami released a PlayStation 2 version of the game in Europe in 2001 and in Japan in 2002. A Nintendo DS version, called Age of Empires: The Age of Kings, was released in 2006.
An expansion called The Conquerors was released in 2000. It added new features, such as unique technologies for each civilization and five new civilizations. Two of these civilizations, the Aztecs and the Mayans, represent the New World and have distinct architectural styles. Other new civilizations include the Huns, Koreans, and Spanish.
In 2005, a mobile version of Age of Empires II was released for Java devices (J2ME), called Age of Empires II Mobile. It was developed by In-Fusio and had simpler gameplay and graphics to match the technology of mobile devices at the time.
The success of Age of Empires II led to the release of the third game in the series, Age of Empires III, in 2005. This game focused on European colonization of the Americas. It was similar to its predecessor but included one major new feature: the home city.
A multiplayer-only version of the game, Age of Empires Online, was released in 2012. Players could access the game for free, but some content required earning or buying it. The game stopped being actively developed on January 1, 2014, when the executive producer said adding new content was no longer cost-effective. The game servers were shut down on July 1, 2014.
In 2012, Hidden Path Entertainment began working on a high-definition remake of Age of Empires II. Matt Pritchard, an original lead programmer at Ensemble Studios, led the project. The remake, called Age of Empires II: HD Edition, was released on April 9, 2013. It included improved graphics, widescreen support, and new multiplayer options through Steam. The game received mixed reviews, with an average score of 68 out of 100 from 20 critics.
Three official expansion packs were released for HD Edition. The first, The Forgotten, was based on a fan-made expansion called The Forgotten Empires. It added five new civilizations: the Incas, Indians, Italians, Magyars, and Slavs. It also included new maps, campaigns, units, a new game mode, and increased the maximum population limit to 500. The expansion was developed by the team that created the mod with help from SkyBox Labs.
A second expansion, The African Kingdoms, was released on November 5, 2015. It added four new civilizations: the Berbers, Ethiopians, Malians, and Portuguese. It included new maps, campaigns, units, and new game modes such as Capture the Relic and Treaty.
The third expansion, Rise of the Rajas, was released on December 19, 2016. It focused on Southeast Asia and added four civilizations: the Burmese, Khmer, Malay, and Vietnamese. Each civilization had its own fully voice-acted campaign and new map types with environments, units like the ballista elephant, improved AI, and other changes.
On August 21, 2017, Microsoft announced a remastered version of the game called Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. It was developed by Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media, and Wicked Witch Software. The game was released on November 14, 2019, via Xbox Game Pass for PC, the Microsoft Store, and Steam. It included all previous content, expansions, and new 4K graphics. The Definitive Edition has received multiple expansions since its release.