Age of Empires II: HD Edition

 PC
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 688 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 495 out of 688
  2. Mixed: 120 out of 688
  3. Negative: 73 out of 688

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  1. IAmTudor
    Dec 12, 2013
    10
    Even after a decade this game is a master piece.I recommend it to anyone who loves RTS games.As for the hd version,it's not much of a difference except the fact that structures has been redesigned to look better.Anyway if you ask me the game is worth it and I think you should buy it.
  2. leaf68
    Dec 6, 2013
    10
    Hidden Path has done an excellent job bringing an approx. 15 year old game engine up to date. The game is very stable and is being updated regularly. Excellent choice, especially considering the price.
  3. kykinson
    Dec 6, 2013
    6
    AOE2 HD is one great game and gives back the old school feelings. In april they gived us the same version of the game we had in 1999 but now buggy. In the last year they fixed almost all the bugs and glitches. This game is good but not the best.
  4. hawk98
    Dec 4, 2013
    8
    Great game if you have played the original before and the forgotten expansion is great. However if you just buy the HD version without the expansion for the full $20 I would not recommend it as much. Otherwise a solid 9/10 with the expansion, but only a 7/10 for the base game. (Split the difference for my score)
  5. JonTheMediocre
    Dec 4, 2013
    10
    An excellent game! I can't really add to what some of the other positive reviews are saying: It's classic, endless playability, yet quickly becomes familiar and easy to improve your performance. It's an incredibly satisfying game to play, and the option of allying with other players and combining your empires, armies and tactics is so fun. The random maps are all unique and cool to exploreAn excellent game! I can't really add to what some of the other positive reviews are saying: It's classic, endless playability, yet quickly becomes familiar and easy to improve your performance. It's an incredibly satisfying game to play, and the option of allying with other players and combining your empires, armies and tactics is so fun. The random maps are all unique and cool to explore and use geography to your advantage. The economy military balance is extremely intriguing as well.

    If you've played the original, it is not any different except some of the graphics are smoother, the max pop cap is at 500, and there is support for online multiplayer and a thriving community both in-game and in steam workshop.

    Cons: There is an annoying unit selection limit, (like 30 units?) and the continuity when playing multiplayer online is dependent on everyone having a fast connection. If even one player has a slow connection or slow computer, the game will lag very badly, especially when many units are on the map. Even with adequate connection speeds, I wouldn't recommend setting the pop cap much over 300 in a 6 to 8 player game.

    Redeeming fact: They are working on patches and continuing support for the game. Playability and technical issues have been improved and will hopefully continue to improve.    … Expand
  6. Representer
    Dec 4, 2013
    5
    I'd like to give this game a 10, for nostalgic reasons. Back then this was a great game and probably the best RTS out there. Today it is lacking a lot. I am not talking about graphics, allthough for a Full HD Version which costs 20 bucks I expect more. It is the gameplay which, in comparision to Starcraft 2, feels boring and slow. It is also the story and presentation which in no way canI'd like to give this game a 10, for nostalgic reasons. Back then this was a great game and probably the best RTS out there. Today it is lacking a lot. I am not talking about graphics, allthough for a Full HD Version which costs 20 bucks I expect more. It is the gameplay which, in comparision to Starcraft 2, feels boring and slow. It is also the story and presentation which in no way can compete with todays standards.
    So for me AoE II: HD is a classic, but not one that works well compared to todays standards.    … Expand
  7. BlitzStein
    Dec 2, 2013
    1
    Probably the worst HD edition ever. Don't waste your money on this. Obtain the original game with the patch.

    The main menu displaces objects. The music is near the worst. The videos are not new nor better. The textures are not real HD.

    Congratulations Microsoft.
  8. jakerfv
    Nov 8, 2013
    2
    This was my favorite RTS until I played starcraft 2.

    This game is not worth it in its current state, EVEN 7 MONTHS AFTER RELEASE IT STILL DOES NOT WORK!! Broken online mode means it's a lag fest, am I playing on a dial-up modem? Game has almost no changes from the original, no resolution options or anything like that or graphics options. Well why would it need graphics options? Well    This was my favorite RTS until I played starcraft 2.

    This game is not worth it in its current state, EVEN 7 MONTHS AFTER RELEASE IT STILL DOES NOT WORK!!

    Broken online mode means it's a lag fest, am I playing on a dial-up modem? Game has almost no changes from the original, no resolution options or anything like that or graphics options. Well why would it need graphics options? Well f*** me but they managed to botch the port so bad I get 20 FPS online WITH AN ATI 7950 AND A CORE I7 3.5GHZ, CRYSIS 3 RUNS BETTER THAN YOUR GAME, HOW THE HELL.

    Last but not least, it's 20 dollars, and 10 dollars for the dlc. Yeah, how about you instead by yourselves starcraft 2 for 10 dollars more mkay? The developers of the DLC should be commended but we paid 20 DOLLARS ALREADY, WHY NOT GIVE THEM SOME OF THAT MONEY AND MAKE THE DLC FREE, MICROSOFT. You know I love you guys under all this awful PR lately but COME ON.

    I have never seen, a more botched port of an old game in my life, at least with a lot of ports today it makes sense because they are just larger games, but this, there is no excuse...

    This game gets a 2 because of how much they make you pay for a broken game. A game that you can pirate guilt freely and get the FREE MODDED DLC TO WORK WITH YOUR SYSTEM. Also, the new update, CHANGED THE MUSIC AND BROKE MY SAVE FILES. The only thing this game has is that when it is fixed and lets me choose the original freaking music, than it will be a fun game, but guess what, SEVEN MONTHS WE HAVE BEEN WAITING aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the new update added more crashing issues.

    Now I came to this games defense when it was coming out, people were going on about how you can get forgotten empires (the now 10 dollar dlc for HD) for free to work on modern systems and an original copy of the game for a small price (free if you pirate, which you probably would because you probably bought the game anyway if you were defending it so who cares?.) I defended the game saying that the online and the HD port is the reason why..... Yeah I feel pretty stupid now.

    Also, it isn't out on mac or linux, despite the original being on mac. Which I find hilarious.

    So to recap:
    Broken Multiplayer (after the new update to ready for the DLC, it actually adds crashes to everything)
    Changed audio
    Horrid performance
    Lack of options
    Overpriced

    Do I sound angry? Yeah I am, because microsoft botched my childhood almost as much as they botched this game.    … Expand
  9. TheMetalfreak
    Oct 28, 2013
    10
    Of course the game is don't have that much new in it, it is called "AOE2HD Edition" because it is just HD of AOE2. But think about what the game have, much better matchmaking, so that people can play online without a worry in the world. And that is something I personally are very glad for, since I don't want to experience something like Crusader Kings 2 matchmaking/creating games onlineOf course the game is don't have that much new in it, it is called "AOE2HD Edition" because it is just HD of AOE2. But think about what the game have, much better matchmaking, so that people can play online without a worry in the world. And that is something I personally are very glad for, since I don't want to experience something like Crusader Kings 2 matchmaking/creating games online again. And we got the workshop, which have made people making mods again for the game, making the game better or just simply more fun with taunt packs. It is very well made, and I am glad that they didn't change much. It was good as it is. And now they are even giving out the "Forgotten Empires" expansion pack. Which is even more great news, since that just shows that they are continuing to improve the game. Just like the patches that we have gotten lately.… Expand
  10. pinoybboy2004
    Oct 25, 2013
    4
    As much as I would love to give a positive rating I can't! I grew up playing this game and have logged several thousand hours over the years. When I saw that it was remade for steam as an HD game I figured that they would have made some other important changes and added more to it. It's simply a repackaged game with the SAME coding as the original. The only positives are that the onlineAs much as I would love to give a positive rating I can't! I grew up playing this game and have logged several thousand hours over the years. When I saw that it was remade for steam as an HD game I figured that they would have made some other important changes and added more to it. It's simply a repackaged game with the SAME coding as the original. The only positives are that the online matchmaking is simplified and that I can tab alt or play in windowed mode. Other than that this game is a slap in the face to anyone expecting changes. The multi-player engine still lags with that 1999 style (even with cable modem and quad core) and the game still freezes at wait screen before and during game. It also still goes out of sync...If you're a first time player I'd save your money for something else instead of paying for a repackaged game from 1999.… Expand
  11. MaxTolenaar
    Oct 10, 2013
    2
    Uh, I know... there will soon be Donkey Kong HD and Super Mario HD. Should those microsoft guys think about Age of Empires 4 instead of raising the dead?
  12. Metalsand
    Sep 25, 2013
    9
    I am unsure why so many people are so negative about this game. It had more than a few updates, albeit calling it HD was a bit uncalled for.

    For starters, I don't know how many of you tried to use your old AOE II disks recently but...unless you find a user-made patch on the internet, they don't WORK on modern machines. They also increased the resolution the game can run at, and    I am unsure why so many people are so negative about this game. It had more than a few updates, albeit calling it HD was a bit uncalled for.

    For starters, I don't know how many of you tried to use your old AOE II disks recently but...unless you find a user-made patch on the internet, they don't WORK on modern machines. They also increased the resolution the game can run at, and reenabled internet play on AOE II, since GameSpy or whoever else originally hosted multiplayer connections does not do so, and has not for years.

    Finally, they added steam support to the game, so that using "Join Game" from the friends menu would pop right into the game, which was a nice feature, and added Steam Workshop integration, which is AMAZING in comparison to the old style of manually installing files, finding them on different sites, etc.

    Now that it is out of the way, let me move on to the actual review...

    The game is exactly how it was, but with fixes to work on modern PC's which is what I wanted...but just not fro $20. It seems like a massive rip-off that they are selling a game that has a few tweaks and modernizations for the same price. $10 would have been a much more reasonable price, and I bet less people would be pissed off if it were re-sold for that price with the fixes included.

    Overall, I liked AOE II when I was younger, and while due to their fixes I can play it on modern PC's...the price is very exorbitant, and it feels like they are just trying to use my nostalgia to make a quick buck. The game itself is perfectly fine however.    … Expand
  13. Azill
    Sep 17, 2013
    0
    5 months later and the game is STILL BROKEN! I STILL get choppy fps (i'm on a gtx 670 by the way),the steam workshop with the game is totally borked most of the time and they never fixed any of the problems that the vanilla version of AOE 2 had. I will NEVER buy another game from hidden path again in my life.
  14. Alekso
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    The game is excellent and graphics awesome, but it is SUCH a shame there is no Mac version. Come on, the game is on Steam, what is it it cannot be shipped to Mac
  15. Wolfenseer
    Aug 23, 2013
    6
    Age of Empires 2 is a fantastic RTS game which was a trendsetter in its genre and a entertaining time sink. So naturally with a remake of such a game there is very little to truly get wrong especially if the source material is a well liked game. However, Age of Empires 2 HD does not live up to the idea of a HD remake, especially not a release worthy of the price tag set which in allAge of Empires 2 is a fantastic RTS game which was a trendsetter in its genre and a entertaining time sink. So naturally with a remake of such a game there is very little to truly get wrong especially if the source material is a well liked game. However, Age of Empires 2 HD does not live up to the idea of a HD remake, especially not a release worthy of the price tag set which in all honesty is pretty steep for exactly what you get.

    So what do you get for your money? Well the HD in the title seems pretty much exclusive to the better resolution support and improved water textures, as for other artwork it simply does not feel clear and crisp, as what one would expect from the title. This is not terribly surprising given the engine seems more or less the same, so there is only so much new artwork could do for it. If your expecting visuals to rival rts's of today then i am afraid you'll be sorely disappointed. But overall the game is not exactly ugly, but as i said above, it lacks what you would expect from a HD edition. As for it's gameplay it is pretty much identical to the original AoE2, the same strengths and the same flaws. The uninspired AI from the original is unchanged, and any attempt to change the mechanics of the gameplay go without notice, which may be a good thing if you consider that the source material is the main draw, yet is obviously negative to the goal of a remake. Multiplayer has been upgraded, giving the ability to play online through Steam and it's servers meaning no need for Hamachi or other internet lan based alternative to play. Though the multiplayer is improved, it should be mentioned that it has plenty of issues, namely in it's coding. There seems to be plenty of examples of errors and incompatibilities that make the experience unpredictable at best, especially in large games of 4+ people. There are client side fixes to some of these problems like port forwarding, but it is obviously not ideal.

    Overall, in my opinion you do not get enough for your money with AOE2: HD, but if it is on sale or you happen to have the money to waste then i would advise to go for it if you enjoyed the original, the series or the rts genre as a whole.    … Expand
  16. SalaciousCrumb
    Aug 23, 2013
    10
    Now most of the bugs have been fixed, this is a very good game, definitely worth the money. Compared to the original, it has some nicer textures (e.g. fog of war, water), Steam leaderboards, achievement, and a good multiplayer community. Patches are still being released, so I recommend it;.
  17. Yoshan
    Aug 7, 2013
    0
    I bought this remake to play it with friends online, but the game starts to lag after about 10 minutes and is unplayable. I thought it would have better graphics, but the only thing that changed is that it has a higher FOV.. and all this for only 20€
  18. Cmd_Shepard
    Aug 1, 2013
    7
    Age of Empires II: HD Edition is an upright and outstanding example of what strategy games used to be, and what they should be now. The original Age of Empires II had countless bugs, of which most are severe and do things like crash the game. The new HD Edition has barely any bugs and of which said bugs do nothing more than stop the game for a few seconds.

    The old multi-player for Age    Age of Empires II: HD Edition is an upright and outstanding example of what strategy games used to be, and what they should be now. The original Age of Empires II had countless bugs, of which most are severe and do things like crash the game. The new HD Edition has barely any bugs and of which said bugs do nothing more than stop the game for a few seconds.

    The old multi-player for Age of Empires II meant you had to have the IP address of participants to actually play a game, which means you could only get a game in with people once every few weeks (or for more if you're a budding AoE2 enthusiast); the new multi-player is brilliant; a list of lobbies to join, far more customisable features for the host to attract players and filters so the player find the game they want to play. What bugs me about this is that LAN has been completely stripped. Age of Empires II was probably one of the best games you could own for LAN parties. Although, no point beating the game up over LAN as you can simply just host a private game.

    Steam Workshop is an amazing way to get modifications and good maps as well as custom campaigns around. There's been many amazing maps and essential mods that have come out in less than a month from release; Steam Workshop has evidently been implemented perfectly.

    Although HD is good, there's more that could've made it better. The option to revert back to the original graphic quality at any time would've been great for when you want to mark a Battle of Nostalgia.

    Overall, abundant quality of the new features outweigh the lack of new features.    … Expand
  19. anr96
    Jul 28, 2013
    0
    I pre-ordered the game, but never able to run it. I following the forums, read the reviews etc. but still no solution for me, and I'm not alone with this problem. This game is simply an unfinished patchwork. This game is ready when the Community is finishing it, until then avoid it, and buy the original.
  20. jesus_vw
    Jul 27, 2013
    10
    excellent game, i appreciate that it was relaunched in hd so i can revive the moments playing on line. the only thing i dont like too much is that the LAN was eliminated and you need to purchase a game for any of your LAN friends, but that is normal this days...
  21. Steamcausedthis
    Jul 24, 2013
    5
    What really hurts this game is the nostalgia from years of aging combined with the delivery of modern day expectations.

    First, I am disappointed on the (stated several times) textures provided to constitute as HD most of the textures such as the farms and fire do look better but they werent really needed. Second the price point for a game that is 10 years+ old is beyond disturbing, I    What really hurts this game is the nostalgia from years of aging combined with the delivery of modern day expectations.

    First, I am disappointed on the (stated several times) textures provided to constitute as HD most of the textures such as the farms and fire do look better but they werent really needed.

    Second the price point for a game that is 10 years+ old is beyond disturbing, I would have probably turned a blind eye if it was 10 maybe 15 dollars but at 20 I feel that steam along with Microsoft is just capitalizing on an old product that was arguably one of their better in the Age series along with the hype brought on by the release of the fan "expansion" forgotten empires that brought about many changes to the game along with interest in the series.

    Leading to my third point the fact that Forgotten empires will most likely never come to port on steam. The expansion brought about alot of bug fixes adding of new races and units and even included some updated textures for buildings, etc. I do realize that something that was added material to the original shouldnt affect my scoring for the HD port to steam but sadly it does weigh in to my experiences with current online play.

    Thankfully the things I felt that steam did well into having this game added to their list is the ability for players to play online without the help of things such as Game Rangers ever since the "Zone" went extinct. I also like to believe that having more people buy into the franchise will eventually allow a new release that will mimic that same staying power as AoE and AoE2 etc.

    tl;dr
    If you want to re experience this old gem with online play added back in the mix and historical campaigns go for it..
    If you are hoping this release was going to breathe life into an old series well, at least its not teaming with Brazilians and Italians!    … Expand
  22. oso
    Jul 18, 2013
    0
    This is just another attempt to squeeze money from a dead series. The title 'HD' is a joke cause its the same scaled up textures also it doesn't offer any new gameplay featuresat all. We quickly stopped playing it because of the serious performance issues it has. By that i mean constant desync and lag problems during multiplayer gaming.
  23. Darkrider
    Jul 14, 2013
    10
    Age of Empires HD is great because it is now on steam which makes it easyier to play multi-player and still experience the classic original components of the game which make it so worth while. BTW do any of you have a monk.. need a monk, rogan. LOL it still cracks me up yer way you should see the other guy".
  24. SX_Predator
    Jun 29, 2013
    1
    This is literally the exact same game as age of empires 2. LITERALLY. They didn't change anything except the graphics, which look the same anyway. Don't spend 20 dollars buying a texture pack.
  25. proto91
    Jun 28, 2013
    0
    AOE fans probably own two copes of AOE II: AOE II and Age of Kings. Then we get charged $20 for something that has already been done by the community? This is a joke. Dont waste your money, you can get resolution increases for free without the extra bugs.
  26. faceless-1
    Jun 24, 2013
    5
    AoE II is legendary game, but this HD edition is rushed cash in on legendary game. It is very buggy and almost no graphics update. If you already got AoE II this is total waste.
  27. Dzyann
    Jun 15, 2013
    0
    I love AoE2! This HD version after so many years should have been way better.
    As another user on Steam said:
    Adding "official" 1080p support HD and does not demand a price of 20 euros. Even people that loves this version of the game and is playing it happily had huge problems to make it run. For example, one of them told me on one of my posts at Steam about how he downloaded the game    I love AoE2! This HD version after so many years should have been way better.
    As another user on Steam said:
    Adding "official" 1080p support HD and does not demand a price of 20 euros.

    Even people that loves this version of the game and is playing it happily had huge problems to make it run. For example, one of them told me on one of my posts at Steam about how he downloaded the game like 5 times over 6 hours while he was troubleshooting it.

    To be able to change the resolution you have to change the resolution of the computer. And if you have some problem in your eyes, forget it! the Texture/image of the units is so bad that that or you have your computer on 800x600 or you will get a headache. Is that really an improvement to put the game up to date with newer systems?

    The "start" screen where you can select what to do (play, change options, etc) looks worse than the "start" screen of the original game. That such a basic thing hasn't improve tells you what the general state of the game is.
    I actually sent an email to the developers and so far the only thing I got is an email of them telling me they were told to resend all feedback to Microsoft.

    The only thing they put up to date with this game was their pockets. This is a franchise that has a huge fan base, they realized that if they tried to revive the game lots of people would buy it out of nostalgia and in hopes of having a gaming better experience than with the original one. And they have used the community as beta testers.
    It is an insult to the consumers and other Studios that make a point of releasing quality games but don't have such big fan base to profit from.    … Expand
  28. colossalcarl
    Jun 9, 2013
    2
    The original AOE2 was amazing in that it had very historical campaigns that made me enjoy learning about history. The graphics and gameplay were up to date for the time and it was one of the best games I ever played. I and my eight year old son moved on to AOE3 long ago and have enjoyed playing that together a lot. I thought I'd try to get this AOE2 HD version so that he could learnThe original AOE2 was amazing in that it had very historical campaigns that made me enjoy learning about history. The graphics and gameplay were up to date for the time and it was one of the best games I ever played. I and my eight year old son moved on to AOE3 long ago and have enjoyed playing that together a lot. I thought I'd try to get this AOE2 HD version so that he could learn more about actual history as opposed to the "history lite" in AOE3.

    Well I fire it up and my son says, "That looks terrible". The graphics really are not good. The interface stinks, just like the original AOE2. I was reminded of all the annoying micromanaging things that you had to do in AOE2 like create mining camps. The bottom line is that AOE2 HD seems just as dated as AOE2 does today. Will Microsoft please wise up and either create AOE4 or sell the rights to the franchise so someone else can? The fact that people are buying this polished turd is testament to how much latent demand is out there for this franchise.    … Expand
  29. Mandula
    Jun 9, 2013
    10
    Nostalgia I always loved AoE II back in time. I think this AoE II HD Edition is a great rework of that great game. Why did you (people) judged the game before it was out? I had no problems with it, I loved it. Steam Workshop, better Multiplayer (The ranking system could be better, they are working on it!), remastered textures, more beautiful water (I liked that, my favourite improvementNostalgia I always loved AoE II back in time. I think this AoE II HD Edition is a great rework of that great game. Why did you (people) judged the game before it was out? I had no problems with it, I loved it. Steam Workshop, better Multiplayer (The ranking system could be better, they are working on it!), remastered textures, more beautiful water (I liked that, my favourite improvement :D), resolution support to very high (I've seen someone who played it on 5 monitors), Steam Achievements. Others said it's full of bugs. But it isn't!!! I bought the game yesterday, no bugs or any problems at all so far (I played Singleplayer and Multiplayer, not for a single time). I think the 68 Metascore is too severe. It's much better than that. And the most important thing: THEY ARE WORKING ON IT! It's version 2.3, 2.4 is on the way, it will come out in 2-3 days. I recommend this game to anyone who played AoE 10-15 years ago!… Expand
  30. ArtanisDude
    May 31, 2013
    7
    Now not many games are rated 100/100. But I do enjoy me my RTS games. This is a fun game, just better graphics. Like I said, it's not perfect, but, if you like RTSs, this is a great game.
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Awards & Rankings

53
#53 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
25
#25 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 20
  3. Negative: 1 out of 20
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Jun 5, 2013
    65
    Mixed emotions, overall. On the one hand we have the same graphics, not at all improved. On the other, Steam offers functional multiplayer and workshop support, that breathe life into an old game. [May 2013]
  2. CD-Action
    May 13, 2013
    55
    Let me make a list of all the changes introduced in the HD version of Age of Empires II - higher resolution. [CD-Action 06/2013, p.77]
  3. Gamer.nl
    May 5, 2013
    60
    Unfortunately Age of Empires II HD isn't a very impressive update. It disappoints graphically and not much has been done to improve or modernize it. The gameplay is still strong though, and Age of Empires II still shows how balanced and detailed strategy games can be. With the addition of the Steam Workshop there's enough potential here for the game to be given a new look. Too bad this is left up to the players though.
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