Age of Empires 2: Conqueror’s Expansion

Herald rating: * * * * *

Microsoft, PC

Review: Peter Eley

One of the best games ever, if not the best, has sold over 5 million copies worldwide. And just when it seems to be getting a bit tired, along comes this first-rate upgrade.

Expansion packs vary widely in quality, from almost complete new games to expensive rip-offs that contain just more of the same. Happily, the Conqueror's Expansion fits neatly into the first category.

It changes the original, which has to be installed on your hard drive, enough to almost merit a new number, Age of Empires 2.5, anyway.

The best thing is the new campaign structure, a traditional weakness of Age of Empires.

The Conqueror's Expansion adds heaps of historical battles, such as the Battle of Hastings, the Conquistadores efforts to topple Montezuma, El Cid's attempt to expel the Moors from Spain, and Attila the Hun's reign of terror in Central and Southern Europe.

The big change is the introduction of five new civilizations: the Spanish, Aztecs, Mayans, Huns and Koreans. The Aztecs and Mayan races give the game a new direction, both in units and graphics.

Central America had no horses before the European conquests, and units such as Jaguar warriors replace cavalry.

The Koreans are interesting. Although they have never been in the forefront of world history, al least not until this century, they were quite formidable.

The word among expert players is that unless you attack Korean civilizations early in the game, you can kiss goodbye to winning.

Two other features worthy of note are smarter villagers who automatically gather resources, and the ability to create ship formations.

There are lots of new maps, too. One is Britain, although oddly it takes a cavalry unit only about five minutes to ride from Cornwall to the tip of Scotland.

I don't remember it being that small