16. Age of Empires II. 20 Best Classic PC Strategy Games

It is interesting to note that Age of Empires is one of the few classic strategy games that were released on consoles.

In our previous compilation, we wrote about the remastered Age of Empiers II, which focused mainly on improving the graphics. In this summary, however, there was room for the original edition of this timeless classic.

The fact that a game appears in virtually unchanged form in both the classic and the modern top rankings of its genre should speak for itself.

However, if I were to explain why Age of Empires deserves the honourable title of a classic, I would simply say that the game is the quintessence of what we expect from a decent RTS. The huge number of factions and great balance of gameplay, plus the fantastic recreation of atmosphere of the era made the game an engaging experience for many hours. Add to that a large number of single-player campaigns and well-executed multiplayer to get a recipe for instant success.

Age of Empires II had a console edition, at a time when no one had ever heard of Halo Wars. The game was released on PlayStation 2, and its port, published by Konami, was one of the few options available for console strategy game fans at the time. The unique character of the Platform forced the developers to reduce the resolution, making the game less clear than on the PC. Add to this is game pad controls, which made it virtually impossible to quickly micro-manage units, which is what often separates victory from defeat in an online RTS match. Still, the developers are to be commended for their bravery, as even today, real-time strategy games are a niche genre on consoles.

Many of us have a lot of fondness for this title. Many players spent long hours building their village's fortifications and preparing units to attack the opponent's settlement. For those who remember the glory days of this series, the second part of Age of Empires is above all a truckload of memories from a bygone era of digital entertainment. There is a lot of truth in saying that they just don't make strategy games like that anymore.