Age of Empires

Age of Empires, abbreviated to AoE or AOE, is a history-based real-time strategy computer game released in 1997. more...

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Developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft, the game uses the Genie engine, the same 2D sprite based game engine used by Age of Kings and Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. The game allows the user to play as the leader of a historical tribe or civilization from the Stone Age up until the Iron Age.

Following generally good reviews, an expansion pack for the game was released in 1998 named Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome Expansion. Subsequently, several games have been released in the Age of Empires series, including two sequels (Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, Age of Empires III), expansions for the above-mentioned sequels and a turn-based version for the Nintendo DS (Age of Empires: The Age of Kings), as well as one spinoff game (Age of Mythology). The name \"Age of Empires\" is used both to describe this particular game in the series, as well as the series collectively. This game is sometimes referred to as \"Age of Empires I\" to avoid confusion.

Overview

Age of Empires requires the player to develop a civilization, from a handful of Stone Age villagers in skins to a large Iron Age civilization with weapons and technology. To assure victory, the player must gather resources in order to pay for new units, buildings and more advanced technology. While it is possible to set up the game so that winning is based on economic/technological achievements, in practice most players focus on developing military strength to conquer their opponents.

A major component of the game is the advancement through the Ages. There are four ages: the Stone Age (Paleolithic), the Tool Age (Neolithic), the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Researched at the Town Centers (at a considerable cost in resources), Age advances allow for the availability of more advanced buildings, units, and technologies. In order to advance from one Age to another, two buildings from the current Age must be built, and the player must have the required food (and in later ages, gold) in his or her stockpile.

Gameplay

Age of Empires consists of various single-player scenarios in which the player is required to complete specific objectives. These scenarios are grouped as \"campaigns\" for a certain civilization. Besides the campaigns, the other main mode of single player gameplay is the 'random map' mode (where the map is generated randomly). These are scenarios in which the human and CPU players begin with only a small settlement and must utilize the available resources to build a powerful civilization and victor over their adversaries. The random map game is the heart of the game's gameplay, while the 'death match' game offers a variant of random map play where all players start with very large resource stockpiles.

Read more at Wikipedia.org