When you think of Real Time Strategy (RTS) games, for most people Starcraft or Warcraft tend to come to mind. However, there are a ton of other such games out there and for one particular franchise, they peaked before the turn of the millennium and haven't been able to recapture that thunder ever since.
This can be a little confusing because there were so many expansions for AOE2, However, the most successful release of 2 was called Age of Kings and it was the original release in 1999. There were several other expansions, some of which were good and some of which were errr, not so great or just completely unnecessary cash grabs. I'm going to just focus on the base game - which was (and still is) absolutely fantastic.
Regardless of which of the 13 civilizations a players chooses, they will start the game in the Middle Ages and technology will gradually increase until the Industrial Age through advancement of technologies. While this statement might seem vague, it is exactly what makes the game so epic: It isn't just a question of resource management like we would face in Star or WarCraft, but it is absolutely essential that a player stay on top of development of technology in every regard. If this aspect of the game is ignored, your base filled with catapults and archers might find themselves being attacked by an enemy that has discovered gunpowder and their army will quickly overpower yours.
The overall objective of the game is to completely conquer the planet by way of conquest and also by forming alliances and / or bribing opponents that you fear to engage with at the time. Of course the difficulty can be adjusted so that the entire adventure is a cake walk, but that doesn't stay fun for long does it?
Maps begin with a lot of unknown territory or "the fog of war" as many have come to call it, and therefore exploration is essential. Your enemies are mostly in undetermined directions at the start of each section and sending out scouts to find them is a huge part of the game. Also, discovering resources is done in the same way.
Despite the fact that this game is more than 20 years old it still remains an absolute classic and is still fun to play today. I was delighted to find out that a remastered version of the original AOE2 was released in 2018. The original format remains the same but there are updated graphics (up to 4k), a remastered soundtrack, and a few gameplay improvements - which weren't really necessary because the original was so polished already.
the new release can be purchased here and the original game and expansions are mostly free here
If you've never heard of or never played this game - I feel you are missing out on one of the best games ever made and you should rectify that situation as soon as possible :)