Age of Empires 2: The Conquerors

DEVELOPER : Esemble Studios
PUBLISHER : Microsoft 

System Requirements Pentium 166 Mhz, 32 MB RAM

Recommended Pentium II 300MHz+, 64+ meg RAM, 8+ megs video card, 17 in monitor

Ratings
Code Issues Graphics: 8 The 2D graphics are crisp and clear with an attractive art design that emphasizes the diversity of the civilizations. Audio: 8 Nice effects and lots of clear audio cues. The voice work is done well. Interface: 9 The AOE2 interface was pretty sleek to begin with, but the new farm queues improve it even more.	Play Issues Solo Gameplay: 9 Four campaigns and a terrific skirmish mode provide plenty of content for the solo player. Multiplay: 9 Essentially the same as the original AOE2, but with three more game types and a couple improvements with the chat and diplomacy interfaces. Replayability: 9 A random map generator with a ton of options will constantly give fans something new. A map editor is also included. Learning Curve: 7 Players familiar with Age of Empires II can jump right in. Those new to the series should start with the practice campaigns before checking out the expansion.
Other/Notes Documentation: 9The manual does an excellent job of documenting what is new. Additionally, a in-game tech tree proves to be very valuable. Pros: 4 new campaigns, improved farming, lots of new units/technologies/civilizations, improved AI, other miscellaneous improvements. Cons: Save game filenames are uninformative. Overall: 9

The real-time strategy genre seems to have split into two branches recently. While most games are going the 3D route (Earth 2150, Dark Reign 2, Ground Control), some are sticking to the 2D world. The clear front-runner in this latter category is last year's Age of Empires 2. AOE2 was a great sequel, a game that further refined the gameplay introduced in Age of Empires and it's expansion pack, Rise of Rome. Now AOE2 has spun off it's own expansion pack, titled The Conquerors, and it again improves the series with a myriad of additions and changes.

4 new campaigns are featured in this expansion, 3 of which follow famous warriors (Attila The Hun, El Cid, and Montezuma) and one that contains a string of historic battles. Strong narratives help create an engrossing atmosphere in the campaigns, thanks to scripted events and constantly changing mission objectives. Speaking of objectives, I found many of them to be quite imaginative. For example, in one of the Attila sequences, the goal is to gather a certain amount of gold by harassing the Romans until they pay you enough tribute. This was much more fun than the typical "destroy all enemies" objectives seen in so many other RTS's.

Almost a dozen new units debut in The Conquerors. The one that will likely gain the most notoriety is the Petard, a suicidal sapper-like unit that can cause serious damage to structures. Built at a castle, Petards are great for tearing down walls or guard towers. Another notable unit is the Spanish Conquistador, who fires a primitive rifle that is inaccurate from afar but potentially devastating at close range. Other new units include Missionaries (a variation on the monk), Turtle ships (good for ocean combat), and Jaguar warriors (Aztec infantry units).

Perhaps more important than the new units are the improvements to the old. First of all, the villager AI has been greatly polished. When finished creating a lumber or mining camp, the villagers will immediately start harvesting the appropriate resource without further commands. Also, villagers seem more likely to help each other out when building structures such as walls or towers. When one structure is completed, that worker will go help someone else who is constructing a similar building nearby.

The siege weapons, so essential in this game with rock-solid defensive structures, have been improved and expanded upon as well. Rams now provide garrisoning for infantry units, which helps protect the men and increases the speed of the ram itself. The AI for all the siege weapons has been improved, resulting in fewer deaths from friendly fire.

New technologies increase the AOE2 tech tree. While most of the general technologies are of the typical "Give Unit X an Attack Bonus" or "Increase Unit Y's Speed" variety, some are slightly more involved. Researching "Heresy" will cause a unit to instantly die when a monk successfully converts them, while researching a unique technology will give your civilization a bonus that no other has. The tech tree is accessible from inside the game, and the effects of any technology can easily be looked up even before it is available to you.

The Conquerors contains dozens of smaller changes that can be filed in the "Miscellaneous" folder. Unit statistics have been tweaked, a few prices have been changed, and a couple building properties have gotten a facelift (the Line of Sight for outposts has been increased, making them a truly valuable structure). Teuton town centers now have +5 sight instead of +5 range, which should help cut down on the "town center" rush tactic that a select few players engage in.

Other changes are aimed at the more hard-core fans. One of the more interesting additions is the introduction of bookmarks for recorded games, which lets you easily play back important battles and sequences. The option to take screenshots of the entire maps further enhances the player's ability to archive their battles, although saving the picture is a time consuming process. For those who want to create their own maps, the editor has been improved with more trigger events and units that can be edited.

Bugs are an endangered species in The Conquerors. The tiresome slowdown that plagued the original release of AOE2 is nowhere to be found. The game ran great on my PII300mhz with 192MB RAM, even during the heaviest battles with the resolution cranked up to 1024x768. The load times are also quick and painless (Warlords:Battlecry, which had less impressive graphics and maps, took longer to load).

So, is there anything bad about The Conquerors? As far as the expansion pack itself is concerned, the answer is no. I'm sure debates will rage about what units are too powerful and which units are too weak, but I found them to be balanced well. Dangerous units like the Petard are available to all races, which evens out the playing field. My only minor complaint is that save game files aren't time stamped, which makes it difficult to figure out what your most recent save game is when saving/loading.

Overall, The Conquerors is a first rate expansion pack that greatly enhances Age of Empires II. The campaigns are fun, the new units are interesting, and the random map generator makes the game endlessly replayable. In a series that keeps getting better and better, The Conquerors continues the trend.

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Reviewed by Trent Lucier