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I'm a fan of both Age of Empires 1 and 2. Age of Kings is a fitting improvement of the first game. The timeframe is medieval and the civilizations and technologies are appropriately tailored to that era. Graphics-wise, the game is as attractive as the first, probably more so. The buildings are proportioned better, so that a castle looks big compared to the peasants who built it. The sound effects are decent, as is the music. There some interesting maps available, and the new scenarios (Joan of Arc, William Wallace, El Cid, etc.) should keep you occupied for a while. Also, there are other game options, such as Regicide, Defend the Wonder, and Wonder Race. The AI is smart, but not unbeatable. You can now find idle villagers much easier, can queue things, units can be garrisoned, and combat units can be placed in various stances and formations. However, the game still suffers from some of the problems the first game had. For example, there is a great deal of micromanagement required. Fishing ships, instead of looking for more fish, will just sit in the water unless directed toward a fishing spot. Computer opponents tend to quickly team up against you, unless you put them on separate teams and check "allied victory" at the beginning of the game. Diplomacy is still a rather weak part of gameplay. Also, it seems that computer opponents sometimes don't quite understand the objectives of some games (such as holding a wonder for a period of time), and thus will not pose much of a challenge. Despite these shortcomings, the game has a lot to offer. It also comes with an editor that allows you to tailor much of the gameplay to your liking. I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes real-time strategy games, or enjoyed the first Age of Empires game.

This game rocks. My whole family is addicted to it even my anti-violence mom. The gameplay is great with 18 civilazations u can play as each one with its own unique abilitys and strengths. the graphics aren't stupendous but aren't bad either. i have played the game for hours upon hours and it is still fun. As you play u find new strategies and new approaches to the computer. also the computer puts up a good fight if u have The conquerors installed. unlike the Age of Kings where the computer makes tons of villagers and almost no army. but overall it is a great game that is definetly worth the cash.

1. Farmers start a new farm once the old one is done, you can queue. any one who ever played AOE-I knows how great that is :).
2. The addition of Gates makes for nice Castle building
3. Villagers automatically start a new task when they finish a work type building (granary, storage, town center)
4. UNIT FORMATIONS!!! my personal favorite only second to the Farm queue. It adds a whole new dimension to battle tactics. huge improvement from AOE-I
5. Advanced unit commands. Follow, Protect, Patrol, they just make this game so much nicer.
6. the ability to toggle around to your inactive (we'll call it that) villagers. "where's my whip"

All this improvements have the feel of AOE developers playing their own game and saying "gee wouldn't it be nice if we had this" they realy polished this game. It belongs in anyone's greatest games list. Easy!