Age of Empires: Definitive Edition

 PC
User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 225 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 126 out of 225
  2. Mixed: 50 out of 225
  3. Negative: 49 out of 225
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  1. BSim500
    Feb 26, 2018
    0
    This "remake" is literally no real upgrade over the original AoE with "upatch HD" installed (a community mod which adds widescreen, HD res support, bug fixes, better AI, etc, for free, just Google "Age of Empires upatch HD" and click on the first link). The only other difference is "Definitive Edition" is Windows 10 only and has a shiny new $20 price tag (because clearly it's a brand newThis "remake" is literally no real upgrade over the original AoE with "upatch HD" installed (a community mod which adds widescreen, HD res support, bug fixes, better AI, etc, for free, just Google "Age of Empires upatch HD" and click on the first link). The only other difference is "Definitive Edition" is Windows 10 only and has a shiny new $20 price tag (because clearly it's a brand new "2018" game) whilst the original which plays exactly the same can be bought for under $5 on Ebay, or for the "Collectors Edition" comes with AoE2 bundled in for free (which also has HD / widescreen patches...)… Expand
  2. MrinalKanti
    Feb 26, 2018
    2
    Microsoft didn't publish my review on their store page, so here it goes. This is just an HD version of old classic with very MINIMAL modifications on the gameplay front. The game mechanics are so outdated that it is a torture to play this game in this age. AoE2 HD seems generations ahead of this game even though it was released 5 years ago. Don't let the developers fool you with theirMicrosoft didn't publish my review on their store page, so here it goes. This is just an HD version of old classic with very MINIMAL modifications on the gameplay front. The game mechanics are so outdated that it is a torture to play this game in this age. AoE2 HD seems generations ahead of this game even though it was released 5 years ago. Don't let the developers fool you with their false claims of improvements in unit movement. The algorithms would surely make Dijkstra roll over in his grave.

    And did I say that it requires you to be online to even launch the game even if you wanted to play single player mode.

    The only positive points worth a mention are the improved visuals and background music. Though they have increased the pop cap limits for matches but campaigns are still limited to 50.

    I got this for less than $10 in local currency but even then it seems a waste of that money, not even worth the 17 GB it hogs on your system.    … Expand
  3. Markintog
    Mar 7, 2018
    1
    How many years do we waited to have a proper remaster?, and what do we have here, just bullsh*t, seriously, if you don't want to lose your time or money, don't buy this, this is clearly not made with love to the saga, and obviously, there's no singularities in this game in comparation from the previous.
  4. Gugap
    Feb 25, 2018
    0
    Terrible remaster.
    Only thing that got changed is the graphics and even there i would argue it was not much of an addition - it doesn't look much better (apart from the better resolution of course). Everything else is exactly the same - id say even worse in many cases. I honestly don't remember the movement of all the units being this bad and I think the original game was much more fluid.    Terrible remaster.
    Only thing that got changed is the graphics and even there i would argue it was not much of an addition - it doesn't look much better (apart from the better resolution of course). Everything else is exactly the same - id say even worse in many cases. I honestly don't remember the movement of all the units being this bad and I think the original game was much more fluid.
    On top of all that, you can only buy the game through the windows 10 store.

    Even if they released it for free I wouldn't call it a success. I'm sad i paid money for this.    … Expand
  5. billcorr
    Mar 6, 2018
    3
    Could not get the game to start. Used Microsoft's online live agent to obtain a refund.

    (but the thing is, I was able to play about a dozen games. Then the loading screen went crazy. The game-play was fine.) The good thing is, Microsoft's live agent tried to troubleshoot the problem (to no avail) and then transferred me to billing. I received a refund without any hassle.    Could not get the game to start. Used Microsoft's online live agent to obtain a refund.

    (but the thing is, I was able to play about a dozen games. Then the loading screen went crazy. The game-play was fine.)

    The good thing is, Microsoft's live agent tried to troubleshoot the problem (to no avail) and then transferred me to billing.

    I received a refund without any hassle. Just politely informed the live billing agent that the software did not work and I uninstalled the game, and I would like a refund for purchase number xxxxxxxx.    … Expand
  6. Morovun
    Mar 10, 2020
    0
    I just made an account to write this review. I have the game for a month and the multiplayer experience is terrible. Like 1/3 of games ends before action because people get disconnected. Servers lags and are unstable. You cannot rejoin the game after DC - you can save a game and load it later. Great, nobody does it. There are lots of errors in the multiplayer lobby browser, eg. you cannotI just made an account to write this review. I have the game for a month and the multiplayer experience is terrible. Like 1/3 of games ends before action because people get disconnected. Servers lags and are unstable. You cannot rejoin the game after DC - you can save a game and load it later. Great, nobody does it. There are lots of errors in the multiplayer lobby browser, eg. you cannot join the lobby or you cannot see 90% of lobbys. And watch out for the Performance Test - many people cannot play ranked games because their set up is not good enough to pass the test.… Expand
  7. Objecteaesth
    Apr 18, 2020
    2
    An absolutely terrible update to an epic series.

    From the get go, this game is a nightmare and once you get into it the looks mean nothing. When the original Age of Empires 2 was popular back in the day I was doing an average of 12-20 hours a day, every day on the game. The interface was practically flawless, easy to navigate, never lagged, the text wasnt tiny and almost impossible to    An absolutely terrible update to an epic series.

    From the get go, this game is a nightmare and once you get into it the looks mean nothing. When the original Age of Empires 2 was popular back in the day I was doing an average of 12-20 hours a day, every day on the game. The interface was practically flawless, easy to navigate, never lagged, the text wasnt tiny and almost impossible to read, and it wasnt a 17.4 gig install, it was a few hunded megs at most.

    I have been waiting for so long to buy and download this but am always extremely busy and never got around to doing it, move forward 1 year and I thought the Covid 19 lockdown was the perfect time so I went for it, especially with the game being on sale and only £6 odd.

    After installing, started it up, it looks lovely, the intro screens and what have you, get straight into a random 2 player game, set map to the largest and random teams. First thing that bugged me was the lag, hover over anything and it takes once second for any information to appear, drag the screen around using the right mouse button but everything moves in reverse and there is no option in the settings to reverse the reverse. The upgrade buttons all seem to have changed their positions, by the time I managed to upgrade my walls I was being attacked, oh and talking about walls, where the hell are the gates? and why the hell can I not send a man to build a wall from a distance? According to this update you cant unless you standing really close to the tiles that you have set the wall to be built on, and not just this, you come across invisible barriers(nothing there) that stop you placing a wall, or a tower in a perfectly useable spot(ie no trees, no people, no animals and no other buildings or cliff) ITS BLOODY WEIRD AND BLOODY INFURIATING).

    Everything in the game basically looks the same, its really hard to tell things apart when your getting attacked and stressed out(referencing my previous finding the wall upgrade button again) and another thing why in the hell would the wall upgrade buttons be in the granary? WTF has food got to do with walls?

    You cannot zoom out far enough, the mouse(on any setting) is unbelievably skitty) you try to move a man to build just off screen by moving your mouse and your mouse just flys and you end up in the black unexplored area, then you have to look at your mini map just to see how far away you are from base.

    The enemies are way to aggressive, I initially set the game to easy, just to have enough time to explore the interface and settings, after just 2 minutes the enemy camp was enormous and I was being attacked with no way to save myself.

    I commend the team for trying to re release and refine this game, but it hasn't worked, its absolutely abysmal in every area other that appearance.

    All I want(same as all other real Age of empires players) is for THE REAL age of empires 2 to work in these modern days. I never review games, I just registered to write something about this because its made me absolutely furious, that after all these years, with all the improvements in gaming, programming and technology, you have somehow managed to turn the gem that was age of empires 2 into this absolute frigging shocker.

    Age of Empires was better off just being left dead than all us fans having to suffer this.

    £6 on sale, if I had realised what it was like before paying and downloading I wouldn't have even given £2 if thats what it cost.    … Expand
  8. reviewer432
    Sep 17, 2021
    0
    Game doesn't work 75% of the time.

    Cannot connect to Xbox.

    Pathetic waste of money.
  9. chrissyboi85
    Nov 12, 2021
    0
    This game was created by Ensemble Studios, not the current developer. The current developer has essentially taken credit for everything ensemble built and has tried to erase history of ensemble. Do not trust the reviews on steam, they are fake. Age of empires , definitive edition doesnt deserve your money.

    We must fight the fake reviews on steam. Unfortunately you have to buy the game    This game was created by Ensemble Studios, not the current developer. The current developer has essentially taken credit for everything ensemble built and has tried to erase history of ensemble. Do not trust the reviews on steam, they are fake. Age of empires , definitive edition doesnt deserve your money.

    We must fight the fake reviews on steam. Unfortunately you have to buy the game on steam to review on steam which doesnt make sense if you dont support the current developer.    … Expand
  10. WreckWren
    Oct 31, 2022
    0
    The developers edited a nearly 20 year old game to include microtransactions. Also made modding much more difficult to force players into buying crap.
    If that weren't bad enough, the era of the game has been changed - the colonial era has been deemed too offensive to you, you aren't allowed to play a game set then. This series is D E A D. AOE4 was bad, and now all the originals have been    The developers edited a nearly 20 year old game to include microtransactions. Also made modding much more difficult to force players into buying crap.
    If that weren't bad enough, the era of the game has been changed - the colonial era has been deemed too offensive to you, you aren't allowed to play a game set then. This series is D E A D. AOE4 was bad, and now all the originals have been sold off to some MTX-happy non-gamers who have ruined it and banned any talk of it ontheir forums.
    Disgusting.    … Expand
  11. Napalm007
    Oct 28, 2019
    4
    No real upgrades, terrible game performance and AI, lag everywhere, just waste of time.
  12. MeALot
    Jan 17, 2021
    0
    This is purely a cashgrab, units getting stuck is not a bug i remember from the original. Besides this only thing is it runs in win 10 now and not very well.
  13. GabFire
    Aug 10, 2020
    3
    Esse jogo foi realmente muito decepcionante, esperava mais disso ainda porque é ''Age of Empires'' e não um jogo lixo qualquer, vergonhoso.
  14. Marinusf
    Aug 28, 2022
    4
    A better graphics version of a very old game. It was clearly not the graphics that defined aoe but the gameplay & AI so this game focused on the wrong aspect.
  15. Ayan48
    Jan 17, 2023
    0
    i like Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition . I recommend scenario "CBA KingTe (YuanShao)"

Awards & Rankings

63
#63 Most Discussed PC Game of 2018
90
#90 Most Shared PC Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 50 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 30 out of 50
  3. Negative: 0 out of 50
  1. CD-Action
    May 16, 2018
    65
    I’m torn. On the one hand it’s Age of Empires as I remember it, atmosphere and spirit intact. On the other hand despite refreshed graphics it’s simply an old game so sentiment seems the only driving factor here. [04/2018, p.61]
  2. Games.cz
    Apr 24, 2018
    60
    Not even beautiful graphics, new animations and a great soundtrack can hide the fact that Age of Empires isn’t good enough according to modern standards. Remaster brings some nostalgic feelings but only when you get over the technical issues, lags and AI mistakes.
    Read full review
  3. DarkStation
    Mar 23, 2018
    70
    I still have major concerns about the game's combat, but Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is a good history lesson for what inspired me and so many others to love RTS genre so much. It’s a brilliant game with a ton of content and for such a low entry price, I think it’s worth a look even if it’s not perfect.
    Read full review
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