After an announcement in 2017 and a gameplay reveal during E3 this year, Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition is finally out in all its 4K and remastered glory. ️Game Setup 0:42 ️Exploders 1:04:00 ️Final Thoughts 1:06:12Checking out the new AOE 2 Definitive Edition for PC. Thanks for watching!#AOE2 #AgeofEmpi.
| Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Forgotten Empires[a] |
| Publisher(s) | Xbox Game Studios |
| Director(s) | Adam Isgreen |
| Designer(s) | Bert Beeckman |
| Series | Age of Empires |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | November 14, 2019 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is a real-time strategy video game developed by Forgotten Empires and published by Xbox Game Studios.[1] It is a remaster of the original game Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the original. It features significantly improved visuals, supports 4K resolution, and 'The Last Khans', an expansion that adds four new civilizations based on Central Asia and Eastern Europe, and four new campaigns.[2] It includes all previous expansions from the original and HD Edition. It was released on November 14, 2019.[3]
Gameplay[edit]
The core gameplay elements are shared heavily with the original but Definitive Edition builds upon it. The remaster includes new 4K graphics, new improved visuals for troops and buildings, the ability to zoom in and further out and a new spectator mode. It features a new campaign called The Last Khans and includes four new civilizations: Bulgarians, Cumans, Lithuanians and Tatars. Four new campaigns were added for the new civilisations: Ivaylo, Kotyan Khan, Tamerlane and Pachacuti which is about the Inca civilisation and replaces El Dorado from the HD Edition (Lithuanians do not appear as a playable civilization in any campaign; however, they represent Poles in the Ivaylo campaign).[2][4] It includes all previous expansions from the original (The Conquerors) and HD edition (The Forgotten, The African Kingdoms, Rise of the Rajas).[2][5]
Players can choose between the original AI, the updated HD Edition AI that was added alongside the HD Edition of the game, and a newer AI developed for the Definitive Edition.[6] The original AI had to cheat to be competitive, while the new AI is advanced enough to not require any cheating. When the old and new AIs were pitted against each other in a test, the new one easily defeated the old one.[7] Unit pathfinding is also supposedly improved upon.[8] Players can shift-queue villager tasks.[9]Farms now have the option to be replenished automatically.[10] A further expansion pack, Lords of the West, was announced on December 15, 2020 and is due for release on January 26, 2021. The Lords of the West will introduce two further civilisations, the Burgundians and the Sicilians, as well as three new campaigns, featuring Edward Longshanks, the Dukes of Burgundy and the Hautevilles.[11]
Release[edit]
On August 21, 2017 at Gamescom, Microsoft announced Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition was in development by Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media and Wicked Witch Software.[12] On June 9, 2019, Microsoft revealed the gameplay trailer at Xbox E3 2019.[13] It released on the Xbox Game Pass in addition to Steam and the Windows Store on November 14, 2019.[5][14]
Reception[edit]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 84/100[15] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| PC Gamer (UK) | 78/100[16] |
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition received 'generally favorable' reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic with a score of 84/100 from 32 reviews.[15]Windows Central's Cale Hunt praised the improved artwork, animations and quality of life additions but criticized the AIpath finding and pointed out a need for further balancing.[17]
Notes[edit]
- ^Additional work by Tantalus Media and Wicked Witch[1][2]
References[edit]
- ^ abWright, Steve (June 19, 2019). 'Aussie devs Wicked Witch, Tantalus working on Age of Empires 2'. Stevivor. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^ abcdIsgreen, Adam; Empires, Franchise Creative Director for Age of (June 9, 2019). 'E3 2019: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Launching Fall 2019, Beta Coming Soon'. Xbox Wire. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^Moore, Ewan (August 19, 2019). 'Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition Release Date Confirmed'. UNILAD. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- ^'Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition will release this fall'. PCGamesN. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ abJune 14, Marshall Honorof |; Pm, 2019 05:50. 'Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Lives Up to Its Name at E3 2019'. www.laptopmag.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- ^White, Sam (November 12, 2019). 'Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition review – reverent treatment'. pcgamesn.com. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^Shea, Brian. 'How Age Of Empires II: Definitive Edition Hopes It Is Living Up To Its Name'. Game Informer. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
- ^Calvin, Alex. 'Why Microsoft is investing so heavily in the Age of Empires series'. PC Games Insider. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
- ^Ray, Bodhisatwa (November 21, 2019). 'Age of Empires II Definitive Edition Review: Price in India and review'. BGR India.
- ^'Review: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition'. Hardcore Gamer. December 12, 2019.
- ^'Pre-Order Age of Empires II: DE – Lords of the West, coming January 26th!' (in Lithuanian). Forgotten Empires. December 15, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- ^Knezevic, Kevin (August 21, 2017). 'Age Of Empires 2 And 3 Remasters Announced'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
- ^Giret, Laurent (August 19, 2019). 'Age of Empires: DE launches on Steam with cross play support, Age of Empires II DE also coming on November 14'. OnMSFT.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^'Pre-purchase Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on Steam'. store.steampowered.com. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
- ^ ab'Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition for PC Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^Brown, Fraser (November 12, 2019). 'Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition review'. PC Gamer. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
- ^'Review — Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is a remake true to its past'. Windows Central. November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
The is a list of Pros and Cons about the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.
More AoE II Guides:
- Cheat Codes.
- All Civilizations Guide (Bonuses, Tips and Strategies).
- Chronological Order of Campaigns.
- Simple Fast Castle Build Order.
Intro
I have been playing age of empires on and off since it came out in 1999, after trying the DE edition I believe some features made the game drift a bit from the original classic
The following is a list of Pros and Cons based on my experience, and from what I have observed on streams and youtube.
Cons List
Game Mechanics
Setting Gather Point
Trying to set a gather point from TC to deer is very hard.
Interface / Quality of Life Features
Building Queues
Queuing units are now represented by a number on the icon instead of the classic multiple icons view.
This is rather very challenging to get a good idea of whats happening .. specially in tight situation where you toggle through buildings fast.It would be a good idea if there was an option to revert back to original queuing interface.
Multiplayer
Map Selection for ranked games
The idea of being forced a random map from the map pool is very annoying, given that most players have been playing a few set of maps most of the time. Specially on the competitive scene.
This issue has also been tackled in video here:
Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition Gameplay Campaign
Having to do performance testing continuouslyWhy is this necessary, shouldn't it be done only 1 time.
Graphics
Health Bar / Selection
The new health bar looks very different and there is no way to revert back to old look.
Also the selection border for units is very thick compared to what it used to be.
Icons
Age Of Empires Definitive Edition Free
Even with HUD scale maxed out, the icons still look very small compared to the classic version.
Units proportions
It feels like some units have changed in proportions, an example is paladin.
Settings
Game doesnt reset keys for conflicting actions
In classic aoe, setting a hot key for an item would automatically reset that key for all other conflicting actions. eg. if you set hotkey for building farm 'F', it automatically resets that key for all other buildings if they are using 'F' as hotkey.
Although there are warnings, they are not always accurate. Setting a button for idle villager does not give warning for other conflicting entries.
Bugs
Unable to cancel in progress research / building / productionThis happens after changing HUD to exactly 125%.
Icons are not clickable once they are in progress.
Pros List
Quality of Life
Number of villagers / Idle / Per resource
It is really great that these numbers are now visible straight away rather than clicking on the economy icon.
Zooming in and out
Queuing research with unit production
Multiplayer
Matchmaking
Server Based multiplayer
Alot better than peer to peer.
Spectating any game in progress
Was only possible on voobly, wasn't possible on the HD version.
Recommended for You:
- All Age of Empires II Definitive Edition Guides!
You May Also Like: