What's up guys, name's Ggt, just your average ol' guy who loves playing video games, reading content on Steem and also making his own. Today I thought we'd go over and review one of my personal favorite games, 'Age of Empires II: HD Edition.' Before we get started I'd also like to go ahead and state that this review is based off of my personal opinion on the game. You can agree or disagree with what I have to say-- and that's 100% okay!
What is Age of Empires?
So what is 'Age of Empires II?' Good question, 'Age of Empires II' is an antique real time strategy game where players choose between a large pool of historical civilizations before going out on a set map and game-mode trying to complete their set objective, the main one of course being complete world domination!
Content
The basis of the game as mentioned before is to build up your civilization and complete the game-mode's set objective through whatever means you deem fit. Key words here are 'whatever means.' There are so many ways to play the game and so many different play-styles creating more then a hundred hours of great enjoyable content.
Speaking of content, let's delve a little deeper into that section of the game because there's honestly a ton of it. In 'Age of Empires II' you have to pick a civilization to play. Thing is, there are a ton of historical civilizations you get to choose from, some ancient, others new, each with their own unique units, traits and game-play styles which adds lots of depth to the game. Whether you choose to be the English and abuse their long-ranged longbow-men or conquest the map with the unrivalled Teutonic Knights, there's always something new to try with each civilization.
Gameplay
'Age of Empires II' is an old game and the HD edition is just a graphics-enhanced re-released version. But trust me when I say the game truly stands the test of time. In fact, 'Age of Empires' set the foundation of fundamentals for most strategy games today.
So how does the game's gameplay work? Simple, you control every aspect of a civilization you choose and manage its people setting them to do tasks which in turn help advance your society. The main goal is to further your civilization and progress through the 'Ages,' which in turn unlock you new units, buildings and other things to use which help give you the advantage against other civilizations.
In every match there's going to be fighting, that's almost unescapable, but how you choose to go about fighting is up for you. Whether you build great armies and go out on great conquests or construct strong walls to stand the test of time is up to the player. But know that it can all be done, some civilizations better at certain things then others. An example would be picking the Byzantines for their stronger walls if you choose to go more defensive. If you want to go more aggressive I'd suggest the Huns for their fast army-building.
But there's other things you can do besides fighting. There's an economy with trade, resource gathering and tons of other aspects. You can also play the game more faith-based building monasteries, collecting relics and converting others. And of course there's the science route, with universities which allow researching of powerful advantages such as gunpowder.
On a final note with gameplay, I'd also like to state that there are a ton of different game-modes and maps players can choose from to help better fit or revolve around their preferred play-style. An example includes water-based maps for sea-lovers!
Soundtrack
My favorite part about the game, it's soundtrack. 'Age of Empires' has some great music which really brings out the game and makes it so much more fun. If you don't believe me just listen to some of it yourself in the video above, trust me, you won't regret it.
In conclusion, Age of Empries II: HD Edition is a great game that definitely stands the test of time. If you're an RTS player trust me when I say that picking up this game is a MUST. I'd like to go ahead and thank everyone for reading and as always, I hope y'all have a wonderful day.