Age of Empires II: HD Edition

If you’re interested in playing a classic RTS – remastered for modern computers – Age of Empires 2 HD should be a high-priority purchase. It makes AoE2 far more palatable for computers to run without actively changing the game. But AoE2 is an RTS with classic sensibilities, and it can be daunting for those used to simpler, more focused, and more modern RTS games. It will chew you up and spit you out if you aren’t careful.

Do you want a modern RTS with an absurd amount of polish and visuals that make you feel justified in purchasing that high-end gaming rig? Well, you’ll want to look elsewhere. In fact, I hear StarCraft II’s new expansion is pretty great. But if you want to relive the glory days of when the RTS was first coming into its own as a genre (with a glorious palette of pixel art), then you can’t do much better than Age of Empires II: HD Edition.

Small issues aside, I can’t deny I love Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. This is one of the most impressive remasters I’ve seen in years. Not only has the original game aged like a fine Cabernet Sauvignon, but its sheer amount of content and overall improvements to its visuals and gameplay are more than enough to make want to play this for dozens of hours in a row. RTS fans and history buffs, unite! The game you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived!