Age of Empires II HD arriving April 9

By +Frank B.
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Grand Master

+Frank B. Subscriber²

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Age of Empires II HD arriving April 9

Microsoft reveals updated version of RTS coming exclusively to Steam April 9; includes the Conquerors expansion

Microsoft today announced Age of Empires II HD Edition, a reimagining of the 1999 real-time strategy game. With Ensemble Studios closed, work on the updated version is being done by Hidden Path Entertainment (Defense Grid series, Counter Strike: Global Offensive).

Age of Empires II HD Edition includes every single-player campaign from the Age of Kings original and theConquerors expansion, totaling 18 in all. In addition, gamers can challenge other Steam players through the game's online mode.

According to Microsoft, Age of Empires II HD Edition has been remastered for high-resolution displays at 1080p. It also includes an "enhanced visual engine" sporting improved textures for terrain, water and fire, and ambient lighting effects.

Steamworks features for Age of Empires II HD Edition include achievements, leaderboards, matchmaking, and cloud support. In addition, gamers can share user created content through the Steam Workshop.

Lastly, Microsoft revealed the minimum system requirements for Age of Empires II HD Edition today. They are listed below, along with the game's debut trailer.

Minimum System Requirements:

Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 Pro

Steam Software Platform

900x600 minimum display resolution

Direct X 9 Capable GPU

1.2GHz CPU

1GB RAM

2GB HDD

Source: Gamespot

  • astropheed, +Majesticmerc, Harrison H. and 4 others
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Grand Master

Astra.Xtreme

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Best news but I hope the re-imagination doesn't go too far and they mostly preserve the original gameplay of AOK/AOC.

Agreed. I'll be a little disappointed if they remove the cheat that spawns Shelby Cobras. :D

  • statm1, neo1911 and +Majesticmerc
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Grand Master

techbeck

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Looks like I may be installing Steam. Would be nice if they would reduce a version that you can buy without Steam.

Agreed. I'll be a little disappointed if they remove the cheat that spawns Shelby Cobras. :D

Or Lumberjack, cheese steak jimmys, robin hood, rock on, and macro. :)

  • statm1 and +Majesticmerc
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Grand Master

Andre S. Veteran

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This looks like Age of Conquerors + a new renderer + some redone sprites + steam integration. It remains to be seen if there's any significant gameplay improvements; the controls are quite dated by today's (and by that I mean Starcraft 2)'s standards: there's no attack-move, no multi-building smart queuing, no unit order queuing, no queuing of researches with units, no camera hotkeys, etc. All these things would be relatively easy to add but it'd take the right vision. I can't wait to see more details.

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statm1

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I miss the day when you could install a new game without needing an internet connection.... Its not like Steam is saving companies from going bankrupt (with the exception I guess of indie games that wouldn't have been found without it...).

Grand Master

spacer

Posted
Posted

I like that they're updating the textures and sprites, but I hope they leave the old ones in there and allow you to play in "classic" mode. Similar to the anniversary edition of Halo. All you had to do was hit a button, and the game would switch in real-time between original and new graphics.

Grand Master

McKay

Posted
Posted

This looks like Age of Conquerors + a new renderer + some redone sprites + steam integration. It remains to be seen if there's any significant gameplay improvements; the controls are quite dated by today's (and by that I mean Starcraft 2)'s standards: there's no attack-move, no multi-building smart queuing, no unit order queuing, no queuing of researches with units, no camera hotkeys, etc. All these things would be relatively easy to add but it'd take the right vision. I can't wait to see more details.

The problem with updating the controls and mechanics etc is you risk alienating fans. They aren't buying this game for modern things, they're buying it for Nostalgia, if everything feels like AoE2, it'll go down better.

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