Age of Empires

Age of Empires is an RTS which was created by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft in 1997 for PC and Mac. The game also got an expansion pack, Age of Empires: The rise of Rome, in 1998. AoE and its expansion pack were later released together as the Gold Edition. You're able to play single-player or multi-player with a maximum of eight players.

You're able to choose from 12 civilizations, each with an unique tech tree. Which means that some civilizations got stronger military units, but aren't able to build all buildings, or research all economic technologies. In the game you can advance through four ages: The Stone Age, the Tool Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Each advancement will grant you more buildings, research and units.

There are four resources in this game: Wood, gold, stone and food. You need wood for creating buildings and certain military units, like archers, ships and catapults or for researching new technologies. You can acquire wood by chopping down the forests or by trading with other players (the AI doesn't give you anything), and you will need a market for that. Food is required for training new units and for research. You can acquire food by hunting animals, fishing or farming. Gold is needed primarily for research, but also for creating the more advanced military units and priests. You can acquire gold by simply mining the goldmines shattered around the map, or by trading wood, food or stone for it. You'll need a trading ship for that (a market isn't required here, just sail the merchant to an allied or enemy dock and you'll receive gold). Stone is needed for building watch/sentry/guard/ballista towers, walls, and some is needed for research. You can acquire stone by mining the stone mines shattered around the map.

The game features four single-player campaigns in which you have to complete certain objectives, like simply defeating your enemies or obtain some valuable artifacts. The campaign follows four civilizations: the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Babylonians and the Yamato civilizations. You can adjust the difficulty in five levels: Very easy, easy, moderate, hard and very hard.

Aside from the Campaign mode you can also play a random map, in which the computer randomly generates a map. You can also play death matches in which you have very much resources. It's also possible to create your own maps and play them single-or multiplayer.

The graphics of this game are very nice for a 2D game. Some people say this is a cross between Warcraft II and Civilization, but I think this game is unique. The sound is also remarkable, it really fits in with the game. Stephen Rippy was the music director. He created the original music in Age of Empires using sounds from actual instruments from the periods in the game, as well as their digital samples. The tunes were the result of extensive research on the cultures, styles, and instruments used. The game won numerous awards, including Gamecenter's 1997 Game of the Year and the 1998 AIAS Computer Strategy Game of the Year award.

In conclusion: This game is a true classic, and I think it's the best game in the series. If you manage to find it somewhere just buy it, I don't think it costs very much since it's more than ten years old.