Age of Empires II: The Conquerors

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Age of Empires II: The Conquerors
Apple Macintosh
Release
Genre(s)Real-time strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Age of Empires II: The Conquerors is the first

Mayans, Spanish, Koreans, and Huns
), four new campaigns, eleven new units, twenty-six new technologies, new gameplay modes, new maps and different minor tweaks to the gameplay.

A second expansion,

The African Kingdoms. A third Steam expansion, entitled Rise of the Rajas, was released in December 2016. In November 2019, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
launched with all previous expansions included, as well as a new expansion titled "The Last Khans". In January 2021, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition released yet another expansion, "Lords of the West", adding the Sicilians and Burgundians.

Gameplay

The Conquerors introduced various new gameplay features and tweaks, including the new game modes Defend the Wonder, King of the Hill and Wonder Race. Additional maps, some based on real-life geographic locations, and new winter and tropical terrain textures were also included.

In-game, infantry are now able to garrison in battering rams, protecting the infantry while increasing the ram's speed and attack, while ships are now able to use formations for more effective fighting. The graphics are left unchanged, but five new civilizations have been added: the Spanish, Huns, Koreans, Mayans and Aztecs. In addition to new units, the in-game upgrade lines have been extended to provide more unit choices. The Aztecs and Mayans lack the ability to train cavalry units, which is partially balanced by the fact that they start with

Eagle Warrior infantry units, who have many of the advantages that cavalry have. Both civilizations also lack access to gunpowder
units. The Huns are also unique in that they do not build houses to support their population, from the start being only limited by the fixed population limit of the game.

Micromanagement is made easier by an improved scripted

onagers
will not automatically fire if their attack is likely to harm friendly units. Additionally, a button has been added to the mill, which allows farms to be paid for in advance, so that when an existing one is exhausted, it will automatically be replanted without requiring manual input from the player. Chat commands have been introduced in order to communicate more effectively with allied computer players.

Campaigns

The Conquerors adds four additional single-player campaigns. These are based on

Montezuma's defense against Hernán Cortés, and the adventures of El Cid. The fourth campaign, "Battles of the Conquerors", is actually a group of unrelated individual scenarios, each based on a significant historical battle. These include the Battle of Tours, the saga of Erik the Red, the Battle of Hastings, the Battle of Manzikert, the Battle of Agincourt, the Battle of Lepanto, the Battle of Yamazaki, and the Battle of Noryang
.

A hidden scenario is also available on the game disc: the Saxon Revolt (original German title: Anno 782 - Sachsenaufstand). The historical background of the scenario is the war between the Frankish king Charlemagne and the Saxon duke Widukind. More specifically, the scenario covers the Battle of Süntel and the Massacre of Verden in the year 782. The player controls the Franks against the Saxons and their allies.

Attila the Hun

The Attila the Hun campaign begins as Attila assumes leadership of the Huns through the death of his brother

Catalaunian Fields, alongside the Visigoths, led by Theodoric, and the Alans. After defeating all three of these enemies, Attila advances into northern Italy as he plunders Aquileia, Verona, Padua, and Milan. He is then summoned to a meeting with Pope Leo I
in Rome, and the Pope somehow convinces him not to attack Rome.

El Cid

The El Cid campaign begins as Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar becomes

Lérida until finally arriving in Valencia, which he defends from the attacks of Berenguer as the Valencians construct a Wonder. He rules there until Yusuf puts the city to siege. He is killed by a stray arrow in a failed raid, and his wife Ximena de Asturias
puts his corpse on horseback to give the impression that he is still alive, so that his soldiers will not lose heart as they defeat Yusuf's forces.

Montezuma

The Montezuma campaign opens with the Aztecs responding to various prophecies by taking possession of numerous shrines in the jungle, over the opposition of their opponents, the

Tenochtitlán which Cuauhtémoc and a band of raiders eventually destroy, forcing the Spanish out of the city. They then defeat the Tlaxcala and Spanish in the Battle of Otumba
(which was actually a Spanish victory in real life) and capture some horses and gunpowder carts to be able to train cavalry and cannons. They finally defeat the Spanish Army, Spanish Navy, and Tlaxcala from their reclaimed city of Tenochtitlán.

Battles of the Conquerors

The

Yi Sun-Shin's invention of the turtle ship as his last stand against the Japanese forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi sees the Japanese defeated in their desire to expand into Korea
.

Soundtrack

The game disc itself is a mixed-mode CD (containing both data and audio tracks). Track 1 appears as the data track, and track 2 is the soundtrack as a

Red Book audio track. According to Gracenote,[citation needed] it is called "Subotai Defeats The Knights Templar". As in the PC version, the file is very long and uses small transitions to separate tracks. It lasts 30 minutes and 48 seconds. The Age of Empires Collector Edition Soundtrack CD's tracklist gives many of the names of the individual tracks. The tracks were composed by Stephen Rippy and Kevin McMullan.[3]

These are the tracks that appear on the audio part of the game CD, in order of playback. The tracks are not separated, but instead are one long track with floating transitions. Some of the tracks are featured on the "More Music From The Ages" CD, though these are usually only available as prizes from Ensemble Studios.[4]

Reception

In the United States, The Conquerors had sold 221,000 units and earned $6 million by October 2000, according to

Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[8] indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[9]

PC Gamer US named The Conquerors the best expansion pack of 2000.[10]

During the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences honored The Conquerors with the "PC Strategy" award; it also received nominations for "PC Game of the Year" and "Game of the Year".[11]

References

  1. ^ "UK releases". Eurogamer.net. 2000-09-01. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  2. ^ "Age of Empires II: The Conquerors - PC - GameSpy". pc.gamespy.com. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  3. ^ "Interview with Age of Empires III lead composer Stephen Rippy". music4games.net. January 2, 2007. Archived from the original on March 26, 2007. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
  4. ^ Forum Login
  5. CBS Interactive
    . Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  6. ^ Asher, Mark; Chick, Tom. "The Year's Ten Best-Selling Games". Quarter to Three. Archived from the original on 2001-02-02. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  7. ^ Edge Staff (August 25, 2006). "The Top 100 PC Games of the 21st Century". Edge. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012.
  8. Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the original
    on February 21, 2009.
  9. Gamasutra. Archived from the original
    on September 18, 2017.
  10. ISSN 1080-4471
    .
  11. ^ "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details Age of Empires II: The Conquerors". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 24 July 2023.

External links

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