Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion

• Platform: IBM PC Compatible
• Release Date: August 25, 2000
• Genre: Strategy
• Style: 2D Real-Time Strategy
• Similar Games: Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome Expansion (IBM PC Compatible)

Game Description

Continue your empire building and conquering with this expansion pack to Age of Empires II. Five new civilizations are introduced, including the Aztecs, Huns, Koreans, Mayans, and Spanish, each offering new units and unique technologies to master. There are 26 new technologies in total; seven are general economic and military upgrades, while one or two are civilization specific. All 18 civilizations also feature distinct starting bonuses in areas such as buildings, combat, advancements, and upgrades. Other additions include four maps based on real-world geographical locations, nine fictional maps, and three new game types: King of the Hill, Wonder Race, and Defend the Wonder.

The 11 new units consist of the following: Conquistadors, Eagle Warriors, Halberdiers, Hussars, Jaguar Warriors, Missionaries, Petards, Plumed Archers, Tarkans, Turtle Ships, and War Wagons. Four campaigns let you recreate historical battles as Attila the Hun, El Cid, and Montezuma. Improved multiplayer chatting includes color-coded text and specific player targeting for messages. Another new option, friend or foe colors, offers a simpler scheme for differentiating between allies and enemies. For players in single missions, the chat interface can now be used to send commands to allied players under computer control. The full version of Age of Empires II is required to play the new content from the expansion.

Roots & Influences

This is an expansion to Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.

Review: Overall

Expansion packs are all about having more of everything: more units, more missions, and of course, more sales. Unfortunately, expansion packs usually take the additional material and stack it on top of the same basic game; therefore rarely living up to the original, especially in the case of a remarkable title like Age of Empires II.

Age of Empires II: The Conquerors does follow the "more of everything" design philosophy, but it also changes the basic rules so that all of the game feels new and exciting. The most noticeable of the new additions are the five new civilizations, and they feel quite distinct from Age of Empire II's original races.

For players who have everything timed down to the second, including when to build houses, the Huns will be the most interesting and different new addition, as they don't need houses at all. The Mayans and Aztecs will challenge conventional combined arms strategists, as they have no cavalry units -- even their trade carts are pulled by slaves.

The Koreans will please defensive players, as their defensive abilities rival or exceed those of the mighty Teutons from Age of Empires II. Finally, the Spanish with their mounted monks and conquistadors are a force to be reckoned with.

The original civilizations have all been given facelifts too. Each civilization, including the five new additions, now has one or more unique technologies that can be researched at the castle. These unique technologies give the original civilizations a great deal of added depth, enhancing the way they play or making new strategies available.

Other new additions enhance the game system in general. The new farm queue ability addresses one of the biggest complaints about the original game, and drastically cuts down on tedious micromanagement time. Caravan, researched at the marketplace, doubles your trade carts' speed and makes trading a very valuable, if not essential, part of your game.

Finally, some civilizations can research a second upgrade to the pikemen and light cavalry lines. As a result, these units, which were basically throwaway units in Age of Empires II, are now more viable parts of your military force.

Like most expansion packs, The Conquerors has few new graphic elements and sounds. You'll get new graphics for the units unique to The Conquerors, plus a few new terrain and animal types, but that's about it. Some of the new unit graphics do look impressive though, like the Koreans' unique Turtle Ship unit.

The five new civilizations each have their own new sound sets for villagers and units, but there's little else of note about The Conquerors' sounds. Even though there's not much in the way of new audio or visuals, you won't be disappointed because the additions that have been made are up to the high quality standards set by the original Age of Empires II.

Age of Empires II: The Conquerors is simply a great new addition to Age of Empires II. Not only does it offer more of everything, but it also makes enough changes so that even the old material from the original game feels new and exciting. The Conquerors is sure to please all fans of Age of Empires II.

Review: Enjoyment

The Conquerors is an expansion pack that goes above and beyond the call of duty. Not only does it give you more to play with, but it also makes the original game new and interesting.

Review: Graphics

There aren't many new graphic elements in The Conquerors, but the new units and the Central American graphics set, look great.

Review: Sound

All five new civilizations have their own unique sound clips with the same high quality as the original Age of Empires II.

Review: Replay Value

The game's depth along with great multiplayer gaming keeps you playing.

Review: Documentation

The documentation is remarkably extensive for an expansion pack.

Production Credits