Xbox Series X PC

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Real Time Strategy (RTS)Strategy

Time to beat: about 43.7 hours

Overview

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is a 2019 real-time strategy video game developed by World's Edge and Forgotten Empires and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is a remaster of the 1999 game Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the original. It features significantly improved visuals, supports 4K resolution, and includes all previous expansions from the original and HD Edition. In addition, the game includes an expansion to the HD Edition called The Last Khans, which adds four new civilizations based on Central Asia and Eastern Europe, as well as four new campaigns. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition was released for Windows on November 14, 2019, and was ported to Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on January 31, 2023.

The core gameplay elements are shared heavily with the original. Players compete alone or in teams to build medieval economies and armies. The object of the game is win by various means (gathering all holy relics for a religious victory, for example, or constructing a "wonder"), or, more commonly, by forcing the other players to surrender through conquest.

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings was developed by Ensemble Studios and released in 1999. Ensemble Studios was acquired by Microsoft in 2001 and ultimately shuttered in 2009, just after their final project, Halo Wars, was finished. Hidden Path Entertainment developed a high-definition remaster of Age of Empires II, HD Edition, which released in 2013. Among other features, HD Edition added Steam Workshop integration for custom content. Concurrently, a group of modders had been developing additional content and bug fixes for the original game, called Forgotten Empires.

On August 21, 2017, at Gamescom, Microsoft announced Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition was in development by Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media, and Wicked Witch Software. On June 9, 2019, Microsoft revealed the gameplay trailer at Xbox E3 2019. It released on the Xbox Game Pass for PC in addition to Steam and the Windows Store on November 14, 2019. A port to the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S was announced during the 25th anniversary livestream on October 25, 2022, and was released on January 31, 2023. The console version features both gamepad and mouse and keyboard controls, and optional cross-platform play with PC version.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition received "generally favorable" reviews on review aggregator Metacritic with a score of 84/100 from 32 reviews. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received "mighty" approval, being recommended by 92% of critics. Windows Central's Cale Hunt praised the improved artwork, animations and quality of life additions but criticized the AI pathfinding and pointed out a need for further balancing. Fraser Brown from PC Gamer summarized the game as "A polished, wide-ranging update that brings the classic RTS into the modern age."