Age of Empires 2 was published by one of the largest tech companies in the world, Microsoft so you would expect it to be quite successful. The company has the best producers and developers at its disposable meaning it can be picky with what it makes, and it also means that it can invest more time and resources in creating high quality products. A smaller firm may only have a small budget. Finances have definitely helped Age of Empires, which has sold millions of copies around the world and been labelled as the tenth best PC game of all time according to a poll in 2007.
Similar to other games, the game is focused in a society setting, where the player must overpower their opponent and then advance through a number of ages in a political setting. The political setting is divided into two parts – the economic and the military, both of which serve different purposes. There are various civilisations and the idea is for the player to build their civilisation and overpower the others that they are competing against. As the player performs well, they can progress to a new age. When they progress to the next age they will receive rewards such as gold or wood. If they want to eat food then they must hunt animals just like they would in the real world. And just like in the real world, they can train characters in their unit.
The one downside to the game is that players must purchase upgrades. They don’t necessarily need to use credit card to do so. Because the game is based online, players can communicate with other players and gain the resources that way. Not everyone would want to spend money or trade in a game. This is one thing that has substantially changed between games that were developed in the early 90s and earlier. When players wanted to progress they would simply have to defeat an opponent. That’s not the case anymore. To a certain extent that takes away the skill that a player needs. Anyone can earn more resources in a game or use their credit card, but not everyone can beat their opponent at the end of a round. Or if they do, it will take them several attempts. The lack of a requirement to beat an opponent takes away some of the mystery and it takes away some of the fun from the game. It means it’s just based on money and resources.
The good thing though about being able to buy resources such as gold from other players is that a community begins to develop around the game. In previous years, players would be rather isolated but that’s not the case at all now. Instead, players can contact other players and become friends outside of the game.
Due to the game’s popularity, sequels have been developed, so too have expansions and HD versions to match new technology. The most recent HD version was released in 2016 and offers four new civilisations, giving the player a more challenging experience which can make it more fun.
