Age of Empires 2 Official Expansion: The Conquerors

Rating:
Summary: A great Expansion
Review: This is one of the best expansions, in my opinion, out there. As a hardcore Age of Empires 2 gamer, i could not wait for this game to arrive. When it did, i was very impressed. The little new things about seem trivial, but when i went back to play with some friends who dont have the Conquerors, only AoE2, i was having convulsions in not being able to automatically reseed farms, or have my villagers go striaght to the resource after building a mining camp or something. The new civilizations are very, very well balanced, though i would say the Koreans are a little to balanced :) Most new players go straight for the power house civilizations, like the Persians or Koreans but you find that skill and a not as powerful civ, like the britons, can take them down. I have heard some say that this game is mostly who gets the fastest mouse clicking will win. I agree that you need to move fast especially in Deathmatch, but as u play, it just comes along anyway. In summation, this is a great Expansion pack, and i cant wait to see what Ensemble comes out with next

Rating:
Summary: Gimme a sword!
Review: I really like this game. It's so nice to slaughter a couple of towns after a hard day in the office. Or pick a civ that you have a psychological feud with and utterly erase them from the face of earth. The armies are well. The aztec and mayan buildings are quite well made. The campaigns are hard to accomplish and the battles of the conquerors are quite difficult to beat.

Pick a copy and relax!

Rating:
Summary: A must-have upgrade
Review: If you have AoE2 you should buy this upgrade. It fixes all the little annoyances, like having to constantly rebuild your farms. It makes the game much more fun. There are new units, civs, and campaigns, so now the game dosen't get boring after awhile. It makes a good game into a great one. This is definitely a great buy for any AoE2 player.

Rating:
Summary: Great expansion pack, I cannot wait for the next
Review: Age of Kings broke new grounds that Star Craft had blazed, and it then set new limits for the ceiling. This expansion pack (which I will refer to as "AOKex" from now on) simply adds to the marvelous design.

Let's get the gripes out of the way first: The armies are still too similar. Mayans did not have Two Handed Swordsmen, and it just looks silly to see them running next to eagle warriors, fighting on the same side. There are only 3 new campaigns when I expected at least 5, but there are single game campaigns that let you taste a flavor of many historical battles (such as the Battle of Hastings with William the Conqueor in 1066).

Now for the good points: Villagers. They are finally intelligent. When they are done building a mill, they harvest food. When they are finished building a lumber camp, they chop down trees. You don't have to wait for them to be done and then tell them what to do. They do it automatically.

The new technology and unit upgrades are wonderful. The thumb ring is a welcome addition (something I was wondering as to its non-inclusion in the original) and makes your archers more accurate and quicker with their bows. The Harbrinder is an upgrade for the Pike man, and a group of these guys will absolutely make mince-meat out of entire legions of calvary. I had 12 of them in a group attacking a group of 20 or so calvary units. I lost three Harbrinders and killed all the enemy units. The light calvary has another upgrade now, the Hussar. While it still is weak vs. military units, this final upgrade will wreck havoc on villagers chopping wood or monks behind the enemy lines.

Other technologies are a welcome addition and make the game outstanding. The new civilizations are beautifully balanced and integrated into the game. If you're like me, you'll love the new world empires and, despite their lack of calvary units, their ability to overwhelm an enemy with sheer weight of numbers.

I recommend buying this without reservation. If you liked AOK, you have no excuse for now owning this expansion pack.

Rating:
Summary: It's the best!
Review: This game is the best game I have ever played in my life!

Rating:
Summary: The best game ever just got a little better...
Review: First I have to say it is a bit pricey for an expansion pack. For that price I could have bought a full priced stand alone game from another developer. For that money I would also have expected a few more new things (i.e. more new civilizations, technologies etc.).

However we have to get it. The game play is simply too addictive. Given you are experienced in the AOE universe there are a few interesting improvements. Things are more sensible in the new edition. Villagers gather and build more sensibly. A lot of items and units have now new functions that are quite logical, like infantry that can garrison inside a ram, and add to its power that way, or ships being able to move in the same formations as other troops. Also the differences between the civilizations have been altered a bit here and there to more detailed portray the uniqueness originally intended in a civilization. That is an improvement that make thinking up different strategies for the different civilizations really beneficial and fun. Also you have a few new was of playing the game and a few extra technologies here and there.

Then you have 5 new civilizations: The Koreans with interesting technology for their time; the Huns exemplifying the ravaging horde on the run; the Spanish ready for conquests of military and church; The bloodthirsty Aztecs with powerful infantry; and the Mayans with great and fast archers.

Along with that comes 3 new campaigns + a few extra scenarios with different civilizations. For that prize I think that was a little meager.

Over all you have a great improvement in gameplay. Mainly thanks to the tweaking in each civilizations profile and abilities + the added sensibility in the AI. Whether you are completely new to the genre or AOE universe, or long time addicted, I don't see how you can stay without this title. It could easily be the best game ever.

Rating:
Summary: A Addicting Game
Review: Age of Kings is regarded by many publications as The first ever "perfect game." I say microsoft and ensemble studios are the masters at perfecting perfection. When I first played Age of Kings, I thought there could not be a better game than this. Well, I was proven wrong. The conquerers adds many new features to Age of Kings. This is a must buy if you have Age of Kings.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Just Got Better
Review: This game is the next installment of the Age of Empires series (hopefully not the last) and is an improvement upon a game I didn't think could get much better. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings was a great game with lots of civilizations, technologies, units and terrains. But they've expanded out in The Conquerors. They have five new civilizations: The Huns, Aztecs,Mayans, Spanish, and Koreans, on top of the thirteen others already. Add to that four new campaigns, as Attila the Hun invading Rome, Emperor of the Aztecs defending your homeland from the Spaniards under Cortes, El Cid, the commander of the Spanish Reconquista, and the Battles of the Conquerors, where you fight in famous battles throughtout history (like Hastings, and Lepanto, etc.) They also have an entirely different building set for the New World civilizations as well. There are new game types, like King of the Hill and Wonder Race, an you can play on real world maps like France, Japan, and Mexico. They've even added snow! I mean, if there was one thing odd about Age of Empires II, it was Vikings fighting in deserts. But they've fixed that with snow terrains, and all new maps as well. Your farms can now be queued to replant at mills, your villagers are smart enough to auto-work when finished building resource gather points like lumber camps and mining camps, and you can even garrison inside rams for protection! To top it all off, every civilization has a unique technology as well as their unique unit, it's amazing. All in all, there are enough new feature in this game to warrant buying it; I promise, if you liked Age of Empires II (the required game to add The Conquerors Expansion on your computer) then you'll love what they've done with it in The Conquerors Expansion.

Rating:
Summary: Like Age Of Kings, But Way Better!
Review: My 9-year-old grandson said this about the gift he received from us: "If I could give this 8 stars, I'd give this 8 stars! It is like Age of Kings except it has much better campaigns and has much more to offer. It has better graphics and more men to choose from in your army. It is an exhilarating game! And if you have Age of Kings and you think it's good.... I recommend you buy this quickly!" (great review, Jimmy!)

Rating:
Summary: A terrific upgrade package, a must-have
Review: If you already love Age of Empires, you might not think it could be improved. But the Conquerers Expansion Pack really is a big improvement. The new civilizations are interesting to play (Korean, Mayan, Aztec, Spanish, Huns) There are bug fixes and improved features, like farm queuing (replant the farms in advance without the annoying rattle of expired fields.) There are new unique units like Korean War Wagons and Turtle boats, plus new technologies for monks (herbal medicine) and new military units (halberdiers and Hussars.) A tremendous product.