Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

 PC
User Score
8.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 347 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 304 out of 347
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 347
  3. Negative: 24 out of 347

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  1. mAs7eRa
    Nov 25, 2019
    10
    Great game! One of the main reasons I give high score is because Both community and developer are still working hard for this game, despite the 20 years release of the initial game. Yes, for some people might not run very smooth (with 7+ years old pc) and yes, it does require some money even if u have all the editions till now. But the game is STILL alive, and what I love is - that theyGreat game! One of the main reasons I give high score is because Both community and developer are still working hard for this game, despite the 20 years release of the initial game. Yes, for some people might not run very smooth (with 7+ years old pc) and yes, it does require some money even if u have all the editions till now. But the game is STILL alive, and what I love is - that they let MODS work, they continue to improve the performance and will release more and more patches. Good job to the developers and community! Both are key-elements in the success of the game!… Expand
  2. Peeto
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    Excellent. Its everything old AoE2 fan was hoping for and even more. Best gameplay is remain with a lot quality of life improvements. Graphics and animations are amazing. Music is also very nice, I like it. There are all campaigns ever released, including new ones from hd remaster + completely new campaign and new civilisations. This beast is priced very low for what it can offer to old orExcellent. Its everything old AoE2 fan was hoping for and even more. Best gameplay is remain with a lot quality of life improvements. Graphics and animations are amazing. Music is also very nice, I like it. There are all campaigns ever released, including new ones from hd remaster + completely new campaign and new civilisations. This beast is priced very low for what it can offer to old or new players. Just grab it now. I have potato pc and it still plays very well around 100fps with ultra hd textures and everything maxed out. Just turn off vsync, it will triple your fps. enjoy the briliant game.… Expand
  3. Duck96
    Dec 21, 2019
    10
    Me first game I have ever played with beter graphics and more! Childhood with modern times! TY for this!
  4. DrToenail
    Jun 28, 2020
    10
    The regular price is just $20 but honestly I'd buy it twice at $60 and still feel like I got my money's worth. Forgotten Empires worked hard and did an amazing job remastering an already masterpiece to somehow make it even better.

    You should get it if any ONE (1) of the following are true: *You were a fan of the original *You like any type of RTS games *You like games with an absurd    The regular price is just $20 but honestly I'd buy it twice at $60 and still feel like I got my money's worth. Forgotten Empires worked hard and did an amazing job remastering an already masterpiece to somehow make it even better.

    You should get it if any ONE (1) of the following are true:
    *You were a fan of the original
    *You like any type of RTS games
    *You like games with an absurd amount of single player content (130+ hours to finish all the campaigns)
    *You like chilling and making nice looking cities against easy AI
    *You like playing fun casual matches with friends and doing ridiculous things
    *You like games with good mods and community support
    *You like games with competitive multiplayer
    *You like games where you can make your own custom games within the game

    It has something for everyone, maybe too much content even if you like more than two of those criteria, and the kicker is that the devs even care enough to patch the game monthly, adding events and balance changes. The game is thriving, and will continue to be for many years to come.    … Expand
  5. ShaMana
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    The game is a phenomenal refresh. Amazing audio, new civilizations, all existing content in a new package with some new one on top. It looks and feels like the classic title but it's better in all respects.

    Only negative, at the time of writing, it suffers from some performance issues if your hardware is on the down side, but still remains playable at lower settings and hopefully a    The game is a phenomenal refresh. Amazing audio, new civilizations, all existing content in a new package with some new one on top. It looks and feels like the classic title but it's better in all respects.

    Only negative, at the time of writing, it suffers from some performance issues if your hardware is on the down side, but still remains playable at lower settings and hopefully a patch will come out soon.    … Expand
  6. Krazykov
    Feb 8, 2020
    10
    Age of empires was a big part of my childhood growing up in late 90's and early 2000's. When you hear a classic game being remade its always a mixed bag of emotions, yay another reason to get into it again and oh no what if they mess it up (cough blizzard cough). But I have to say Microsoft did an awesome job, this still feels exactly like AoE2 as I remember it only better.
  7. marcantoineg
    Dec 6, 2019
    10
    Everything you should expect from an AoEII remaster. Much improved graphics. New campaigns and civs. All previous dlcs. No complaint from me.
  8. GutiOut
    Nov 21, 2019
    10
    Masterpiece! The best RTS of all times with a great graphic engine and dedicated servers for Multiplayer. Ridiculous amount of content for single player. Enjoy it forever.
    9/10 (Optimization)
  9. nobody_b
    Nov 27, 2021
    10
    I simply love Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! The campaings and multiplayer will keep you bussy very many hours!
  10. kriot
    Jan 13, 2023
    10
    The best real time strategy I've ever played. Thanks to Microsoft for regular updating of this game.
  11. findus2017
    Dec 15, 2019
    10
    AoE 2 was my first game ever bought in 1999. I played it to death, probably 2 000 hours. 20 years later we have the remake that everyone wanted.

    This time around I'm actually playing the new DLCs and they are amazing! Some of them even combine elements of AoE 1. I just can't stop playing, this game is an absolute masterpiece! 1 month after release and I'm 50+ hours into the game, only    AoE 2 was my first game ever bought in 1999. I played it to death, probably 2 000 hours. 20 years later we have the remake that everyone wanted.

    This time around I'm actually playing the new DLCs and they are amazing! Some of them even combine elements of AoE 1. I just can't stop playing, this game is an absolute masterpiece! 1 month after release and I'm 50+ hours into the game, only playing campaigns.

    The game is absolutely amazing, and the only version I will play from now on. I absolutely love this game! I won't say anything more, Age of Empires II Definitive Edition is an experience and cannot be told by words.

    10/10.    … Expand
  12. Nastynoob3
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    Its amazing. Do not listen to the haters, buy the game, now, youre missing one of the best rts games of all time. IN HD.
  13. aok_oldschool
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    It’s all here. 35 civilizations, 25+ campaigns with 150+ hours of content, new multiplayer style training tutorials, a new game mode. Improved graphics, animations and sound. Server based multiplayer. Quality of life improvements. Reasonably priced. Pretty much everything you could hope for in a remaster. A lot of love went into this, it’s far superior to the HD edition.

    Pathfinding is    It’s all here. 35 civilizations, 25+ campaigns with 150+ hours of content, new multiplayer style training tutorials, a new game mode. Improved graphics, animations and sound. Server based multiplayer. Quality of life improvements. Reasonably priced. Pretty much everything you could hope for in a remaster. A lot of love went into this, it’s far superior to the HD edition.

    Pathfinding is still stuck in the 90s and potato pc players may struggle to run the game well before optimization is improved but everything else is glorious.    … Expand
  14. Keimpe
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    I had to make an account and talk about how terrific this game is.
    All the Campaigns of previous versions are there. The developers are tracking the little bugs that arose, the game gets almost daily updates.
    All civs feel genuine, exceptional units, deep immersive AI, Perfect package for a very low price, and you get a little history lesson on the side if desired. Perfect game, and it's    I had to make an account and talk about how terrific this game is.
    All the Campaigns of previous versions are there. The developers are tracking the little bugs that arose, the game gets almost daily updates.
    All civs feel genuine, exceptional units, deep immersive AI, Perfect package for a very low price, and you get a little history lesson on the side if desired. Perfect game, and it's only getting better with every update. Excellent.

    What bugs me is this review:

    "Sorry but: Bad performance, censorship with corpse and audio (especially women), glitches and bugs, campaigns deleted because some minorities believe is "bad" for this era, very bad online at the moment, extremely disk usage when game is opened with lot of freezing.""

    This all is utterly False!

    All campaigns of all the Expansions are just there. The 'death' sound is a bug which has been tracked by developers. How this is just women related, is just completely false.
    Yes there were some glitches, but with the daily patch all has been resolved for me. Even on my lower pc, everything runs smooth, if you cancel the fog of war animations.
    Online is working fine.

    It bugs me that some player gives a bad score based on assumptions. Which are not true at all or evn close to what the developers had in mind. There is no racism or deleting of campaigns at all. It's a historical game, with every expansion included, and even 4 more civs to accompany the many civs already present. And all feel genuine. So there you have it, the perfect historical RTS for the perfect price.    … Expand
  15. marses
    Nov 20, 2019
    10
    The best version of AoE2! Buy it and no hesitate any moment. If you are a fan of previous editions it is an obligatory purchase.
  16. KorPassionist
    Dec 8, 2019
    10
    Yes! I've been waiting for this game! This is the best game i have ever played. I still remember 1999 when I first played this game. I'm very happy to recall the memory of that time.
  17. Audio_Hooligan
    Dec 20, 2019
    10
    Best Age of Empires for the money. Played for many hours and never experienced any crashes. Loved this game as a kid and still play it to this day. This game is a gem, a classic.
  18. theking104
    Dec 24, 2019
    10
    Ein würdige Definitive Edition!!
    Patches werden gross nach gereicht und auf die Community wird gehört, eines der besten Spiele das sehr gut gealtert ist.
  19. Lerickmmc
    Feb 5, 2020
    10
    Gracias por el juego, se nota el cambio y se agradece eternamente lo de las granjas automaticas.
  20. zereor
    Feb 3, 2020
    10
    Это гениально, лучше никто не смог, поменять графику, интерфейс, добавить новые расы, улучшить ИИ, голос диктора, саундтрек, и все сделать отлично и с любовью к деталям. Близардам бы поучится у вас делать ремастеры , а то рефордж полная шляпа.Это гениально, лучше никто не смог, поменять графику, интерфейс, добавить новые расы, улучшить ИИ, голос диктора, саундтрек, и все сделать отлично и с любовью к деталям. Близардам бы поучится у вас делать ремастеры , а то рефордж полная шляпа.
  21. gabrielhahn
    Feb 10, 2021
    10
    It exceeded my expectations, never thought it could be better than the classic version.
  22. Narkosis
    Feb 2, 2020
    10
    Nostalgia in HD. Game graphics are beautiful, new races are awesome, new multiplayer system is much better and game price is really cheap. Good job Microsoft remastering a classic game.
  23. Mark8787
    Jan 31, 2020
    10
    Great game but you need good machine to run it. You will need a lot of RAM, VRAM or virtual memory. There is some bugs but they are releasing patches constantly to fix it. The graphics are awesome and gameplay much better
  24. Tanathos
    Feb 2, 2020
    10
    An excellent remaster to a classic. Improved graphics and models, and new quality of life improvements without losing the feel of the original game, and a dedicated developer team, that actively continues to improve the game with feedback from the community.
  25. EmilF
    Feb 1, 2020
    10
    Did not cost much to buy
    Very impressive graphics
    Almost perfect stable online gameplay
    Very / No delay in online game
    So much content
    Developers care for user feedback
    They care for hotfixes and game balance
  26. Torkalna
    Feb 2, 2020
    10
    A very well done remake of a classic. Playing through campain missions, it all looked and played how I remembered. Truly the best version of this classic RTS.
  27. EuropeXIII
    Mar 11, 2021
    10
    Best medieval real time strategy game ever made.
    10/10 Graphics
    10/10 Sound + Music
    10/10 Campaigns
    10/10 Multiplayer with dedicated server and modern ranked system.
    500% more content then any other RTS ever made.
  28. BobTheViking
    Feb 10, 2020
    10
    This is how you remaster an RTS! Not only is it a great nostalgia trip for those who loved it before, but its great for people who never got into Age back in the day but would like to experience it now!
  29. yunlu18
    Feb 6, 2020
    10
    FIrst review on metacritics.This game is a masterpiece! You wont get that much history and campain and civs in this price nowadays compared to other games. And this game defined what is definitive.Not reforged!
  30. godi
    Feb 7, 2020
    10
    Really masterpiece.Best remastered game ever.Just look at Warcraft 3:Reforged and you'll understand me.This game bringing a really feeling of medieval times,many civilizations and other distinctive solutions.
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Awards & Rankings

27
#27 Best PC Game of 2019
46
#46 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Worth Playing
    Mar 5, 2020
    85
    At the end of the day, I'm not sure what else you could expect from a remaster of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. It was a great game in 1999, and it's aged better than most in its class. If you're looking for some solid RTS gameplay, single-player or multiplayer, look no further than Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.
    Read full review
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 28, 2020
    100
    Only few creators can show off with such a good remaster as the creators of Age of Empires. The second instalment almost didn’t age, and its already great gameplay was perfected. [Issue#301]
  3. CD-Action
    Jan 10, 2020
    90
    As a person who was raised on Age of Empires I was satisfied with every aspect of the remake. Small missteps didn’t spoil the fun and the addition of new nations only deepened my love for the series. [01/2020, p.82]
See all critic reviews »