Age of Empires: Definitive Edition vs Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is a strategy game from World's Edge (2019) while Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a strategy game from Hidden Path Entertainment (1999).
Quick answer: Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings has the higher Metacritic, 92 to 69.
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
What each one is
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is filed under Strategy. In contrast, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings under Strategy.
Age of Empires, the pivotal real-time strategy game that launched a 20-year legacy returns with modernized gameplay, all-new 4K visuals, 8-person multiplayer battles and a host of other new features. Welcome back to history.
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft. Released in 1999 for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh in 2001, it is the second game in the Age of Empires series. The Age of Kings is set in the Middle Ages and contains 13 playable civilizations. Players aim to gather resources, which they use to build towns, create armies, and defeat their enemies. There are 5 historically based campaigns, which conscript the player to specialized and story-backed conditions, and 3 additional single-player game modes; multiplayer is also supported.
Story, characters and reception
Reception
Sales In the United States, Age of Empires debuted at #7 on PC Data 's computer game sales rankings for October 1997. It secured places eighth and 13th the following two months, respectively. By the end of 1997, Age of Empires totaled sales in the country above 178,000 units, for revenues in excess of $8 million. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Sales In January 2000, three months after its release, Microsoft had shipped two million copies of The Age of Kings . The game topped sales charts in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, and South Korea. It spent the next two and a half years on top 20 sales lists. (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Age of Empires: Definitive Edition | Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.1/10 | — |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (84%, 15,619) | — |
| Critic aggregate | 69/100 | 92/100 |
| Price | $19.99 | Unknown |
| Install size | 20 GB | — |
| Steam Deck | playable | Untested |
| Released | 2019 | 1999 |
| Developer | World's Edge | Hidden Path Entertainment |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition vs Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Age of Empires: Definitive EditionStrategy gameAge of Empires II: The Age of KingsStrategy gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Age of Empires: Definitive EditionStrategy, RTS, Base-BuildingAge of Empires II: The Age of KingsNo descriptive tagsThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Age of Empires: Definitive EditionMetacritic 69Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings ✓Metacritic 92Metacritic's critic aggregate, from the game's Wikipedia reception where it was never on Steam.
Content and scale
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition15,619 reviews · 1 add-on · 20 GBAge of Empires II: The Age of Kings—Reach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition$19.99Age of Empires II: The Age of KingsUnknownRead live from Steam and subject to change.
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings takes 1 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The better reviewed of the two: Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (Metacritic 92)
Where they differ
StrategyRTSMultiplayerBase-BuildingSingleplayerCity Builder
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Age of Empires: Definitive Edition and 0 for Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Age of Empires: Definitive Edition and Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings in scope?
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition has drawn 15,619 Steam reviews, ships 1 add-on and installs in 20 GB. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings lists little scope data.
Is Age of Empires: Definitive Edition or Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings better?
Neither carries enough reviews for us to score it reliably, so we do not call a winner. The table above shows what each does have.
Which is cheaper, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition or Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
Should I get Age of Empires: Definitive Edition or Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings?
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings has the higher Metacritic, 92 to 69. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
All comparisonsHow we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.