Age of Empires
| Platforms: | PC |
| Publisher: | Microsoft Game Studios |
| Developer: | Ensemble Studios |
| Genres: | Strategy / Real-Time Strategy |
| Release Date: | October 15, 1997 |
| Game Modes: | Singleplayer / Multiplayer |
On one level, Age of Empires is simply a real-time strategy game (like Warcraft II) with Assyrians and Babylonians instead of orcs or aliens. Gameplay will be instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with the genre. Each player has a group of units, ranging from basic builders to powerful warriors, and a host of structures ranging from humble houses to towering temples. Starting with but a few lowly units, players gather resources and research technologies, all the while building up power and increasing their numbers. A click-and-drag movement lassos a group of units; a right click sends them off to battle. Up to eight players can struggle for dominance, including over the Internet, and custom maps and scenarios are of course supported as well. So far, so – familiar, if not boring.
Civilization Craft
Yet, on another level, Age of Empires is much more than the sum of its parts. The single most compelling aspect of this game is its feel, its atmosphere. Instead of science-fiction, or fantasy, the game draws on ancient history for its inspiration. No, this is not a serious historical simulation, but there is real history in the details that make up each civilization. There are twelve different “empires” to chose from –itself a significant leap beyond the normal two or four – and each one is actually, meaningfully different.
Each civilization has its own strengths and weaknesses, loosely based on their historical characteristics: the Assyrians field a mighty army, the Phoenicians a powerful navy, the Persians hosts of elephants. The civilizations differ in economic and technological terms as well, with some boasting better farming and others faster villagers, for instance. With the default technology tree in place, each civilization also has its own, unique research path. One will develop the most powerful ships, but never get the best archers. Another might aspire to powerful Legion infantry, but be sorely lacking in cavalry, while yet another might be ignorant of siege craft but be blessed with extremely effective holy men. Winning with the Hittites, then, requires a very different strategy than winning with Yamato. Even the interface screen changes a bit to reflect the different cultures in play.
Ensemble Studios has done a good job in making each civilization look different as well as act different. Basic structures for all empires are identical in the Stone Age, where most games begin, but at each successive Age (Tool, Bronze, Iron) the buildings take on unique aspects. By the time players are well into the game, each side looks different enough that the fiction of controlling distinct civilizations is maintained. Other visual touches are spot-on as well. The gradual deforestation of the land is marked by tree stumps littering the plains, while beasts slain by hunters gradually decay into bleached skeletons to dot the landscape. There are several types of trees (with differing values as sources of lumber), four types of animals (not including the birds that soar overhead), fish, and whales which can be harvested, along with gold and stone. The world map, though smallish by imperial standards, is nicely contoured, with hills, cliffs, and beaches. Elevation matters in combat, and units move faster going downhill than uphill. The overall look of the game is thus very detailed, and very satisfying. A full-featured editor is included, so custom scenarios should be ubiquitous with time.
This campaign map is a nice touch, but it’s more about a pretty picture than tactical awareness.
While the mechanics of Age of Empires are simple, the underlying structure is a bit more complex. In a random game, the most common sort of contest for the solo gamer, each civilization begins with three villagers (the only units which can actually build) and a town center. Each center supports up to four units, and each house built thereafter supports an additional four units, up to the maximum of 50 units a side (more or less). Each villager costs a certain amount of food, while combat units cost various combinations of food, wood, or gold. Every civilization can build the basics, but advanced structures depend on the culture’s specific technology tree, and some cultures get bonuses unique to them.
Where Age of Empires shines is in the diversity and detail of its units. Depending on the allowed technologies, a civilization might develop multiple variations of siege engines, archers, infantry and cavalry units. As each civilization has different abilities, and no two are precisely alike, this assures that combat between players will likely also be combat between opposing tactical systems. Some units, like priests, offer capabilities that, if not unique, are unusual and extraordinarily well thought out. Priests can convert enemy units, breaking up attacks and providing free augmentation to the recruiter’s intake (and unlike new construction, these conversions can occur regardless of how much housing a player has).
The game isn’t flawless, by any means. Players expecting a serious historical sim will be disappointed. It’s really tactical combat mated with a strategic resource engine, not a true “strategy” game by the strictest wargamer’s definition. Nonetheless, Ensemble and Microsoft have delivered quite a masterpiece, a game no one should scratch off their list without a good, close look.
System Requirements: 90 Mhz CPU, 16 MB RAM, Windows 95/NT 4.0
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Tags: Free Download Age of Empires Full PC Game Review
chromax on
MyX. on
chris on
Well Done mate! you gave this “Masterpiece of Its time” as i call it, the proper attention it should have 😀
Many thanks! 😀
Testing if it works.. 🙂 my fav rts .. or one of them, together with Red Alert
So will this work on Windows 10 and without the CD? My laptop has no CD ROM
These are very old games. Almost none of em work on Win10.
Only XP or earlier.
You can play this game for free on newer versions of Microsoft on Voobly.com, the community is quite large still.
how to download this game ?
I had Age of Empires running with an .iso file and it worked on windows 10 perfectly, until i had to keep reinstalling it and it erasing it’s data, but that was something going wrong on my side.
If it doesn’t work for you running Windows Vista or later, try a Virtual machine.
I recommend Oracle Virtual Box or VMWare.
I fell in love with this game from a BETA version sent inside a PC Gamer magazine in 1997. Since then, I’ve purchased and played EVERY version over the decades. Wanted to go back and see if it was as much fun as i remember!
Did not work on Windows 8 or 10. I have an old Dell mini laptop that has XP – it worked fine. Extracted to a folder on my Desktop, clicked to install the DPLAY60a and then clicked the Empires application icon and voila!
Thanks to OLD PC GAMING for making this available!
windows 10 is for plebs,,,, windows 7 is where its at…
Hi! This is the ORIGINAL game? untouched?
It’s pure? It’s have patches added?
Ripped copy. Some stuff removed like the intro movie, but still playable.
What exacly has been removed?
It have any patch added?
I use the “portable” version that comes with it… “directplay” or something.
Because the files that need mounting are only the original game (without the expansion), but the portable compressed file comes with the original + expansion, and seems like it has the patches. So they are completely different versions.
There are two versions on the downloaded file. The files that need mounting are only the original game (without the expansion), but the portable compressed file comes with the original + expansion, and seems like it has the patches. So they are completely different versions.
Oh right. I included both the original (directplay rip) version and cd. Forgot. Use whichever you want.
The file is corrupted, not working.
archive or iso?
Is ther any colorfix for windows 7, 32 bit ??
For color issues in win7, stop explorer.exe process.
necessity is the mother of invention
good job
excellent
good games
I never played this game before, just done some campaign missions now. Game is superb and very fun to play. It’s not annoying if you fail something and need to restart mission. Music is one of best i ever heard in video games… There is little problem with AI: units can’t find way around something big (river, forest for example), so you must lead and keep pointing them where to go. But it’s easy to deal with it.
where can i download this game..
🙁
https://oldpcgaming.net/tips-on-running-games/
Hello ,
How is it going ?
I wanted to know this the game is in French please?
and is it the same for all the games on the site?
Thank you so much .
All of the games are in English.
Also, many old games need old computers or an old operating system (windows xp) to play them.
Re Goodnight ,
Thank you for your reply .
WOLOLOOOOO