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Age of Empires

EMAIL PRINT pc

8.4 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 9 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 19 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Microsoft

Developer: Ensemble Studios

Genre(s): Real-Time Strategy

Players: 8

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: October 1, 1997

Summary

Age of Empires is an epic real-time strategy game spanning 10,000 years, in which players are the guiding spirit in the evolution of small stone age tribes. Starting with minimal resources, players are challenged to build their tribes into great civilizations. Gamers can choose from one of several ways to win the game, including: world domination by conquering enemy civilizations, exploration of the known world and economic victory through the accumulation of wealth. Age of Empires was developed by Ensemble Studios and features the expertise of Bruce Shelley, co-designer of the hit strategy game "Civilization." [Microsoft]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Age of Empires III

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Computer Games Magazine

Gamers with an interest in history, and no aversion to a rather abstract rendition of same, should love the atmosphere and feel of the game. And anyone who appreciates a solid, lovingly-crafted work of design should appreciate the overall quality of this product.

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Gamezilla!

The first fully mature real-time strategy title... This is a great game, builds on the best of both "Warcraft 2" and "Civ 2" (would you rather they ignored previous successful games as models?), and quite frankly is the best game to ever come out of Microsoft.

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Computer and Video Games

It's refreshing to find a game that's so strong in single-player mode - not that I've got anything against multi-play, you understand, it's just that a lot of software publishers are using the strength of their multi-player mode as an excuse for the weakness of their games in single-player mode. Age Of Empires, needless to say, triumphs in both departments. With the exception of "XCOM 3," this is the best game I've played in a year and a half. [PC Zone]

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PC Gameworld

My only real complaint is that upon completion of a task, villagers will just stand around doing nothing. This can lead to some annoying micro-management tactics...Problems aside, Age of Empires is one of the most enjoyable and addictive real-time strategy games I’ve ever played.

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All Game Guide

Combines great graphics, real-time strategy and an intriguing plot (our own history!) to raise a phoenix from the ashes of wayside, ordinary strategy games.

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PC Gamer

It's very much a product of "WarCraft II" cloning, but Age of Empires is a surprisingly sound and enjoyable real-time strategy game. [Dec 1997, p.240]

Game Revolution

Despite its flaws, Age of Empires is great fun to play. The graphics and sound effects are of high quality, and the computer plays a respectable game. In fact, there is a very large selection of AIs to choose from in the scenario editor.

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Adrenaline Vault

The micromanagement got a bit tedious at times and I found myself having to do too much just to keep things running. I thought the scenario editor was quite good, although I wish I'd been able to have more control over the amount and location of resources, which could have made for even more interesting scenarios.

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GameSpot

The system can go very far with some fine-tuning, but as it stands it seems downright schizo. Is it a simplified "Civilization" or a modestly beefed up "Warcraft"? It's almost as if the designers started out to create one game and ended up with another.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Thomas gave it a9:
I loved this game in 1997 and I still love it now. People will say the graphics have aged but I don't care, besides the elevations everything looks real, and though it does have some flaws (units standing around after they've completed something) it is still a great game.

Desmond L gave it a9:
Age of Empires has little problem of AI. But is fun to play.

Hallowfax gave it a10:
AI was the worst thing of this game, but it was the best AoE in my opinion.

gbarules2999 T gave it a6:
A little lame, I must say. While it is a fun little diversion and doesn't eat up your hard drive, the graphics have not aged well, the AI is very stale, and the game wasn't that groundbreaking ten years ago. While you can get the first and second game for ten dollars, just play with it to see where AoE II came from. Don't expect anything better. Go play Rise of Nations instead.

Disguised gave it a10:
Age of Empires is such a good game.Tthe reasons I like it is that it's just basic gameplay with many missions and map choices and good cheats.

Lolla V. gave it a6:
Quite mediocre, especially if compared to the AWESOME, perfect-scored AoE II.

Lucsan gave it a9:
Excelent RTS.

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Age of Empires

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