PC - Microsoft Game Studios
Back to review list | Age of Empires 2
Basically the same as the original
Again, no major difference to the original
The campaign fun is improved by the expansion as it provides some new, more interesting scenarios to play through; they just feel better thought out than the originals. General gameplay is enhanced by a lot of small additions that really should have been in from the start, such as fleet formations.
The new civilisations and their units, plus the new units for everyone, add new life to the game and give it more depth, both tactically and setting wise.
The visuals are enhanced by new maps and textures to improve the variety of the game world plus the handy addition of full map screen shots to show off your skills.
The intelligence is improved by a few small additions to the villagers such as automatically gathering resources and ability to queue farms.
Although the game play is essentially the same, the new campaigns are more involving and make you feel more immersed and the addition of real world location maps let you get more involved in the action.
The same as the original
Essentially the same but the added controls for fleets and villagers are very useful
It builds on the same ideas of the original but adds the finishing touches some lacked.
It extends the enjoyment and makes your more likely to go back and keep playing although the general feeling is the same.
The expansion just finishes off a few parts of the original that felt like they had something missing, while also adding a lot of fun new game elements to keep you playing longer.