Age of Empires II HD Edition
Release date: April 9, 2013
Publisher: Hidden Path Entertainment
Score: 9/10
First off, this is not a new game, it is a remake of the 1999 classic Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, with highly enhanced sound and graphics. That being said, it is a remake of AOE2, which is by far my favorite RTS of all time! I spent so much time playing this game, and even when Starcraft came out, I took this over that for the longest time. This and CounterStrike are the only two games I have ever went out of my way to a LAN party for, and never regretted it.
Now, what this game adds that the old one did not: a massively improved graphics engine, improved online and LAN features, and Steam Workshop. The final item is the one I am most excited and most frightened for. Excited because it allows the community to potentially build a massive library of mods and complete makeovers of the game. Coincidentally, that is also the reason I am so scared to have it there. The one thing I do not want to see is a huge amount of people creating bad TDs and MOBAs out of this. I do want to see is people doing creative things with the units, and possibly creating new scenarios and fun things for it.
Why only a 9, with all of the huge praise? It is a remake of a (almost) 15 year old game, and did not add too much to it. There could have been more poured into the graphic increase to the game, they could have went completely over the top with it and made it super gorgeous, like StarCraft II, added more units, and everything like that.
That being said, I have been playing it now for a few days, and will probably continue to play this for years to come. I love it! Rachel (my wife) is playing the game with em too, and is loving every second of it!
Keep Calm and Geek Out,
CJ