Age of Empires 2 - The Conquerors

Microsoft

Due September

Review: Peter Eley

It seems like Age of Empires 2 has been around for ages. Not that it's boring yet, but those Vikings haven't got any classier, and as for the Turks ...

So fans of Microsoft's best game to date will be dying to get their hands on the Conquerors expansion pack.

Microsoft pulled the same trick with the original Age of Empires, letting it hang around for a while before bringing out The Rise of Rome, which gave it another year.

The Conquerors looks to be an ambitious package, adding five new civilizations from the period beyond the Middle Ages setting of Age of Kings.

Ensemble, who developed the game for Microsoft, are using the internet as a marketing tool to build up pre-release excitement. They've let slip that the civilizations will be the Huns — yeah, go Attila! — the South American Aztecs and their nemesis, Spain and its Conquistadores, another American culture, the Mayans of pre-colonial Mexico, and the Koreans.

Microsoft are promising new technologies, unique units and campaigns for each civilization.

Although it's a great game, perhaps the greatest, AOE 2 was a bit weak in its historical campaigns, and it would be good to see them given more realism in the add-on. One welcome new feature will be smart villagers who won't just stand around dumbly after building a mill or logging camp, but begin to beaver away.

E-mail: peter eley@herald.co.nz