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It's 20 years old, but Age of Empires II is still the best RTS on the market today

Deleted member 58846

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I've been playing this again since the Definitive Edition came out, both with friends, and single player, and it's amazing just how incredible this game is twenty years after it first came out. I can lose hours to it and not even realize it. Everything about it is pitch perfect, with the remastering in this version sanding out some of the rough edges and jank that otherwise would be endemic to it owing to its age.

  • The amount of content in this package, which includes the original (already loaded) game, its original (already loaded) expansion, and all the content that has been released for it over the last 20 years, is absurd
  • The map design is probably the best in the genre
  • The actual base building mechanics in Age of Empires remain unmatched by any other game in the genre, except for maybe Rise of Nations
  • The ownership you get over your own empire/army and its progression through history leads to a level of direct investment that is beyond what any other game in the genre manages
  • The medieval setting is inspired
  • The interface is peak RTS. Literally, the genre peaks here, everything after this fails to live up to just how incredible the interface in AoE2 was
  • The actual mechanics, of course, are timeless
Age of Empires II is literally perfect. It was perfect in 1999, and it's perfect now, in 2019. It's a marvel and a testament to how overwhelmingly prescient and good the game was to begin with, and slightly sad that RTSs never quite managed to move beyond this.

I hope, sincerely, Age of Empires IV can continue its legacy.
 
Tagyhag

Tagyhag

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Oct 27, 2017
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Yep, it's damn good, and I can't think of a single other RTS game with as much single player content.

RTS may not be at its golden age like before. But we are seeing a rise compared to the last decade.
 
Massicot

Massicot

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Perfect is a high accolade, but I've easily put 100 hours into the Definitive Edition and I haven't even touched African Kingdoms, Rise of the Rajas, or The Last Khans yet....

Hoping next week's big patch will iron out the (relatively inconsequential/small) kinks and performance issues.
 
Zhao_Yun

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I prefer Rise of Nations, but AoE2 was definitely one of my favorite games when I was a child.
I really need to play DE at some point.
 
SuikerBrood

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Well, I agree. I prefer Warcraft 3, but AoE2 is just the best and most popular among them. A true gem.
 

Deleted member 10428

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I'm more of a fan of Rise of Nations in the historical empire building classic style RTS genre.
Or Settlers 1 if we're talking any kind of RTS.

I always found AoE to be too simplistic but that's most likely because I played it wrong, skirmish and on easier settings.
 
Alex840

Alex840

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Oct 31, 2017
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Another said:
It was a highly important and formative game for me but there's a ton of greats standing alongside it, let's be real.



This is probably the actual truth regarding "best RTS on the market today".
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I feel like because it's a Nintendo game it probably gets overlooked as being casual, especially in such a hardcore genre.
 
lemming

lemming

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The combat never clicked with me, I guess it feels clunky for me. Sc2 nailed this aspect imo.
 
Serpens007

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It's damn good. The improvements in the DE are really good too. I don't know if "best", but maybe it's up there for those that know better.

I also like the AoE: DE that was re-launched on steam a couple of months back. Improvements are more important there, but it still show it's age.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 58846

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Serpens007 said:
It's damn good. The improvements in the DE are really good too. I don't know if "best", but maybe it's up there for those that know better.

I also like the AoE: DE that was re-launched on steam a couple of months back. Improvements are more important there, but it still show it's age.
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YOU CAN'T BUILD GATES FOR YOUR WALLS IN AGE OF EMPIRES 1
 
Akronis

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Supreme Commander with Forged Alliance will also be the GOAT RTS for me.
 
Another

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The One Who Knocks said:
In the here and now, there is no RTS on the market that even comes close to AOE2: DE.
It also helps that there is no other RTS on the market, but still.
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Disagree, they may provide different flavors but there's a ton of other gems standing alongside it. Rise of Nations, Company of Heroes, Age of Mythology, Warcraft 3, Homeworld, World in Conflict, both Starcraft games, the list goes on and on. These are all on the market, not sure what you're getting at.

My vote for best one available right now would be Pikmin 3, though. But let's wait and watch it not count for some reason.
 
Old Gimlet Eyes

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As much as I love and am addicted to Comapny of Heroes 2, I can't really argue your point. AoE II is easily one of the greatest games of all time.
 
Nameless

Nameless

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Oct 25, 2017
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A lot of fun "till the sun comes up" battles with friends back in the day. I miss my Turks.
 
chandoog

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Personal experience, AoE 2 and the Command and Conquer games are the only two RTS franchises I've ever really enjoyed.

Everything else is too tedious or too much busy work to be enjoyable for me.
 
Gundam

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Serpens007 said:
It's damn good. The improvements in the DE are really good too. I don't know if "best", but maybe it's up there for those that know better.

I also like the AoE: DE that was re-launched on steam a couple of months back. Improvements are more important there, but it still show it's age.
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of empires
 
Sotha_Sil

Sotha_Sil

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Nov 4, 2017
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AOE2DE is fantastic. It's giving Sekiro a run for its money as my GOTY this year.

Just played a massive 3v3 with the AI last night that lasted four bloody hours where we went from the cusp of defeat multiple times to finally making a great counter attack to defeat the enemy. It was fantastic.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 58846

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phant0m said:
Sorry OP, Red Alert 2, Rise of Nations, Warcraft 3 are all better.
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The only one that even comes close to AOE2 of those is Rise of Nations, and the only reason RON can do that is because it builds on AOE2 to begin with.
And even that loses its lead to DE, given how much DE adds to the package.
 
OP
OP

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DidactBRHU3 said:
It really is to the point that Age 4 went backwards in the timeline to replicate it's success.
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Honestly though, Age of Empires should stick to historical settings, and if they had continued their timeline progression, they would have entered the modern age.
Best not to do that (especially when this game is the series' return after nearly two decades).
 
Cosmo Kramer

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It's the only RTS game i enjoy, the setting is just perfect for my tastes, i do not like modern or futuristic eras at all. I have a couple of friends coming over soon to play like we used to years ago.
 
Smurf

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i hate cheaters

i hate cheaters

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rise of nations is a better real-time strategy game, and it isn't particularly close. the quality level of that game's interface & micromanagent decisions is just in a completely separate league than games like aoe2/starcraft. and i say this as someone who has played over 10,000 hours of age of empires II over the past 20 years

you might not realize all the ways you mess up unless you play competitively, but aoe2 is full of garbage mechanics that add nothing but stress and inputs for the sake of doing inputs. you have to micromanage your gatherers so they don't get stuck. you have to keep building houses all the time. it's almost always correct to lure deers with scouts which is more micromanagent hell. and don't get me started on how broken the unit-stacking mechanics are where you have to do these weird patrol things to squeeze a whole army onto a tiny tile so that the enemy can't get surface area to attack them. being able to wall so quickly (and quickwalling in general) is also one of the dumbest things to play against. the game is full of so much garbage design

all that said, age of empires 2 is still probably the most fun RTS for teamgames (3v3/4v4). there's just a lot of cool stuff that can emerge in those situations, but the game falls short from the competitive strategy angle because it's full of too many ways to gain an edge and invalidate opposing armies that don't actually involve any real expenditure of resources or military investment or planning
 
PspLikeANut

PspLikeANut

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AOE 2 is an excellent game but to say that the RTs genre has not yet moved beyond AOE2 is a bit ridiculous and over the top hyperbole if you ask me. Like have you ever played Warcraft 3 reign of chaos + The Frozen Throne? WC3 introduced a leveling system for hero based units along with their diverse spells +abilities. WC3 introduced neutral creep camps, neutral shops, an inventory system for hero units, item drops, and the biggest game changer of them all the high/low upkeep food system which had huge ramifications on your economy.

Also would like to mention how impactful and amazing Warcraft 3 custom/level editor was. There is no game that had deep level creating than this game. You could make brand new games... heck the moba genre was created because of it (DOTA). Types of games you can play: mobas, tower defense, Mario party style games, racing games, maze/puzzle base levels, combative dodgeball, heck you can even play a dragon ball z mmo rpg (dbz tribute). It's unreal when you think about it.
 
Zombine

Zombine

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Oct 25, 2017
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I remember going over to the Gateway computers and seeing this game. My jaw dropped. Something about it was so damn cool. Man I miss being 10 years old.
 
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