Timeless classic RTS
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 positive reviews
“The king of RTS games is right here!”
Steam review · 2144.7 h played ↗
Age of Empires II (Retired)
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Overwhelmingly PositiveOverwhelmingly Positive · 96%Skybox Labs, Hidden Path Entertainment, Ensemble Studios, Forgotten Empires2013RTS · Base Building · Strategy
The verdict
A faithful, nostalgic port of a timeless RTS classic with deep strategy and multiplayer, but retired and superseded by the Definitive Edition. Skip it unless you own it or have a weak PC.
Great for
Nostalgic fans who want the original 2D look, sprites and music on a modern or weak PC
Main risk
Retired version superseded by the Definitive Edition, with broken launches, tiny UI and laggy multiplayer
What players love
Nostalgia and childhood memories
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“While other classics only really work in your memories these days, I still fire up AoE II multiple times a year.”
Steam review · 54.9 h played ↗
Fun campaigns and history
Mentioned in ~1 in 10 positive reviews
“Seeing the crusades from an Arab perspective, the Spanish Reconquista and conquest of Mexico from differing perspectives, and more makes this a novel experience too.”
Steam review · 66.8 h played ↗
Faithful to the original, old-school charm
Mentioned in ~1 in 11 positive reviews
“No soulless modern UI, no "remastered" soundtrack. Just the experience you truly remember.”
Steam review · 69.4 h played ↗
Great multiplayer and co-op with friends
Mentioned in ~1 in 11 positive reviews
“it starts as “let’s just play a quick round” and ends with someone building 48 trebuchets”
Steam review · 359.8 h played ↗
Deep, varied strategy with many civs
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 positive reviews
“It is very simple and intuitive to start. It is very difficult to master.”
Steam review · 210.4 h played ↗
What players complain about
Retired and obsolete next to the Definitive Edition
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“DON'T BUY HD EDITION. BUY DE EDITION (2019) It's better in every way”
Steam review · 565.4 h played ↗
Players feel forced to rebuy; no upgrade path
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“Product discontinued in order to upsell a new version, no upgrade offerred just pay to buy the game again.”
Steam review · 0.3 h played ↗
Laggy, desync-prone multiplayer
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“Half of the games end short due to sync or random disconnect problems, not to mention the lag spikes.”
Steam review · 436 h played ↗
Game won't launch or broken by updates
Mentioned in ~1 in 11 negative reviews
“Game wont even start now, crashes from the launcher.”
Steam review · 50.8 h played ↗
Poor unit pathfinding and clunky controls
Mentioned in ~1 in 11 negative reviews
“Unit pathing is possibly the worst game design I've ever seen.”
Steam review · 48.8 h played ↗
Tiny UI with no scaling on high resolutions
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 negative reviews
“UI is so tiny I can't see anything and there's no settings to adjust.”
Steam review · 122.1 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Verified2 GB
Minimum
OSWindows Vista, 7, 8 Pro+
Processor1.2GHZ CPU
Memory1 GB RAM
GraphicsDirect X 9.0c Capable GPU
Storage2 GB HD space
OSWindows Vista, 7, 8 Pro+
Processor1.2GHZ CPU
Memory1 GB RAM
GraphicsDirect X 9.0c Capable GPU
Storage2 GB HD space
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Very Positive · 95%+ Nostalgia and a faithful, polished remaster
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