More of the same old thing, one might say. Which, in this happenstance, is rather a jolly good thing, if you ask me. After all, when one adds additional potency to an already successful franchise offering, more of the same equates to more excitement, more need to develop new strategies, and more bang for the shilling.
Microsoft’s Age of Empires II: The Conqueror’s Expansion Set (AOE2TC) for their Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings title is a rather handy addition. For those who have already committed their lives and energies into the full version of the game, AOE2TC is a marvelous way to expand one’s experiences within new realms of game play. Not only is the cost of this additional disc well within most gamers’ financial limits, but the additional treats further the positive elements experienced within the very first of these outpourings from Ensemble Studios and Microsoft. There is the joy of noting an identical user interface, meaning no wasted time in relearning already acquired game commands and skills.
I say, pay attention to this enhancement — you may now queue your farms. Recall in the past the necessity of racing to and fro to replant those areas in your farm that exhausted their food supply? No longer, dear gamer — you may now queue up many farms at your Mill so they shall be automatically replenished when they expire. However, to ensure that this capability is part of your arsenal for success, there must be wood in your stockpile to cover such expenditures. I learned the hard way — always check on this queue, for in the heat of battle, ’tis quite simple to forget this necessity. One method of ensuring that such is always in place is that, on every occasion when a house was required to be built, I automatically visited the Mill to check on the queue, refilling same when needed. Remember, food is required for all sorts of game needs, and such can also be exchanged at your Market for gold, or stone, or other necessary staples.
In this expansion set, one has the opportunity to experience play in the campaign mode as any of several new leaders, namely: Attila the Hun as he gorges his armies on what remains of the Empire of Rome; fight with the Moors as El Cid while he battles the King of Castille and the African Berbers; enter into combat against technologically far–superior forces that are sheathed in armor and wield gunpowder weapons as the Aztec king, Montezuma; or envelope yourself in historically–important battles such as Hastings and Manzikert while playing Erik the Red, Henry V, or Sun–Shin. These latter campaigns certainly will give gamers a variable taste of command as you fight either for right or simply use your might to ensure total annihilation of opposing forces. Altogether a most enjoyable and learning experience that one can put into play when entering standard game mode.
With the addition of AOE2TC, you now have a full compliment of 18 civilizations to play. The five new civilizations include Aztec, Hun, Korean, Mayan and the Spanish. And, as you might well expect, each civilization has a specific and unique combat unit you can employ. For example, the Huns’ horsemanship can make or break your world domination. However, what I personally found to be most conducive to victory was the fact that one does not need to build houses! Granted, you may not begin with as much wood as the other new civilizations, but by simply taking that small amount of time and applying it to other buildings helps you advance through the Ages more quickly. Whether this pronouncement I have just uttered is based upon actual game time, or simply a perception brought upon by advancing age and years of hellatious combat, I am not certain.
Should you decide to play as the Koreans, you’ll have at hand a new unit called a Turtle Ship and the War Wagon. The former is an armored war ship that is most effective at close range battle against other vessels, thanks to a cannon battery on port and starboard sides that can rake opposing ships. The War Wagon is, basically, a unit comprised of archers that possess heavy armor — most effective versus other archers and, of course, basic infantry sloggers. For the Spanish, there is the mounted hand cannoneer called the Conquistador and the Mounted Monk. Using the horse power speed available, the Monk truly can become a highly offensive unit, turning enemy troops and buildings into friendlies in many cases faster than the opposition can eliminate such from the field of battle. Some of the other, new opportunities include the Jaguar Warrior for the Aztecs and the Plumed Archer for the Mayans. Without a doubt, you shall find yourself spending hour upon hour attempting to conceive methods to offset elements by your forces, testing each idea with different civilizations versus other new civilizations. There seems to be no end to the discovery!
With all of the above mentioned in mind, mix in the various new and unique technologies and you have just increased your need for strategic thought. Mounted units can increase their sustainable hit points through the discovery of bloodlines; researching the thumb ring will enable your archers to fire more rapidly and with greater accuracy (blend in with a civilization already blessed with superior archery skills and their presence is impossible to defeat using sloggers); the acquisition of heresy finds units under conversion by monks choosing to die rather than turn traitor in an enemy unit; and incorporating herbal medicine into your bag of sustainable tricks ensures that those garrisoned within buildings shall heal far faster — they then become grand for re–use and to stabilize otherwise weakened environments.
The unique technologies empower specific civilizations with additional bonuses. Take, for example, the Furor Celtica, which is acquired via the Castle. With this marvelous technology, units created by the Siege Workshop have more hit points, making the Celts a most powerful force. For the Japanese, the Kataparuto allows Trebuchets to pack and un–pack far faster, bringing to bear their flung shells far quicker and allowing them to move out of harm’s way in decent fashion. For those Nordic Vikings, the Berserkergang regenerates Bereserks and these mad warriors slay as though the opposition is but wheat awaiting harvest. These are but a few of the new technologies that may be brought to bear with highly effective results. Bloody marvelous additions, if you ask me.
I am still rather miffed over the fact that one cannot claim more than 200 souls for your civilization in any single game. There would be so much more one could do with an additional 20 or so more fresh folk to help repel any enemies and to increase one’s ability to collect additional resources. Ahhhh, such is the life of an AOE2TC player — one must manage with what has in hand.
The only form of multiplayer engagements available at Microsoft’s Gaming Zone during this undercover examination of their yet–to–be–released add–on disc, was with folk who possessed the demo. During a single foray into this digital world, some 205 gamers were present, but one had to have the demo version of the game in order to batter others senseless with superior strategic commitments. As I did not possess the demo, I had to leave well enough alone and allow those present to remain fully intact and bereft of experiencing a stimulating defeat at my hands. When this expansion set does release, however, as many as eight gamers will be able to play online simultaneously.
Other game play modes include King of the Hill, Defend the Wonder and Wonder Race, joining the already compelling Deathmatch. There are also a variety of new maps as well as real–world locations so you may recreate conflicts within various regions. And, finally, the Villagers seem to have become far smarter than in previous versions of the game. Rather than stand around aimlessly, they now automatically gather resources once a "drop–off" building has been constructed. This does not mean you shan’t have to command them should their, say, forest be completely cut down — but once again there is now this capability so you may, yourself, marshall your strategies and tactics in a far more efficient manner.
Bravo for Microsoft and Ensemble Studios. Previously, too often have add–on or expansion discs simply been an excuse to ensure that the latest patches were in game owners’ hands. With AOE2TC, a number of game enhancements provide for even more exciting game play. This is a smashing addition to an already delightful digital treat and should be garnered immediately by AOK players as soon as such becomes available. A ruddy good show!
"With the moniker of expansion set, one would expect perhaps a few updates to an original entity. Not so here, fellow gamers — Microsoft has brought into play marvelous additions to their original game. Certainly worthwhile and one should consider an immediate purchase to enhance Age of Empires 2 when this add–on fellow pops free and into retail."
