Age of Empires II (Retired) vs Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
Age of Empires II (Retired) is a strategy game from Skybox Labs (2013) while Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is an FPS strategy game from Gearbox Software (2005).
Quick answer: Age of Empires II (Retired) rates higher, 8.1 to 7.4 on the GamingPickz Score, and Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is the cheaper at $9.99.
What each one is
Age of Empires II (Retired) is filed under Strategy. In contrast, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 under FPS and Strategy.
Age of Empires II has been re-imagined in high definition. With the release of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, this product will not be updated further.
Based on a true story. Set during the famous airdrop before the invasion at Normandy, where Sgt. Matt Baker and his squad of 101st Airborne Paratroopers were scattered over the French countryside.
Story, characters and reception
No Wikipedia detail on file.
Plot
On June 6, 1944, Sergeant Matt Baker participates in the initial jump off , taking place hours before the Normandy landings . When their plane is hit by anti-aircraft fire, killing Private David Muzza, Baker is thrown from the plane and separated from his squad. After landing, Baker eventually manages to regroup with Staff Sergeant "Mac" Hassey, radioman Private First Class Kevin Leggett and Lieutenant Colonel Cole . (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator platform Metacritic . Philip Morton of Thunderbolt gave the game a perfect 10/10 rating and called it as "exactly what the genre needed". He praised the gameplay that he described as "honed to near-perfection". (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Age of Empires II (Retired) | Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 8.1/10 | 7.4/10 |
| Steam rating | Overwhelmingly Positive (96%, 102,820) | Very Positive (88%, 2,173) |
| Critic aggregate | 68/100 | 87/100 |
| Price | $19.99 | $9.99 |
| Install size | — | — |
| Steam Deck | verified | unsupported |
| Released | 2013 | 2005 |
| Developer | Skybox Labs | Gearbox Software |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Age of Empires II (Retired) vs Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, 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 II (Retired)Strategy gameBrothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30FPS strategy gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Age of Empires II (Retired)Strategy, RTS, MedievalBrothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30FPS, Action, World War IIThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Age of Empires II (Retired) ✓Score 8.1 · 96% on Steam · 68 criticBrothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30Score 7.4 · 88% on Steam · 87 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Age of Empires II (Retired)102,820 reviews · 3 add-onsBrothers in Arms: Road to Hill 302,173 reviewsReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Age of Empires II (Retired)$19.99Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 ✓$9.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Age of Empires II (Retired) ✓VerifiedBrothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30UnsupportedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Age of Empires II (Retired) takes 2 of the marked rounds to 1. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueAge of Empires II (Retired) and Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Age of Empires II (Retired) (GamingPickz Score 8.1)
- The cheaper right now: Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 ($9.99)
- Better on a Steam Deck: Age of Empires II (Retired) (verified)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Age of Empires II (Retired) (102,820 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
StrategyMultiplayerClassicHistoricalSingleplayerTacticalAction
Where they differ
RTSMedievalBase-BuildingCity BuilderResource ManagementReal-Time
FPSWorld War IIShooterWarFirst-PersonMilitary
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Age of Empires II (Retired) is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Age of Empires II (Retired) | Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | Direct X 9.0c Capable GPU | — |
| Minimum CPU | 1.2GHZ CPU | — |
| Minimum RAM | 1 GB | — |
| Install size | — | — |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Age of Empires II (Retired) · Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Age of Empires II (Retired) and 0 for Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
If you like one, also try
Common questions
How different are Age of Empires II (Retired) and Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 in scope?
Age of Empires II (Retired) has drawn 102,820 Steam reviews and ships 3 add-ons. Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 has drawn 2,173 Steam reviews.
Is Age of Empires II (Retired) or Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Age of Empires II (Retired) rates higher (8.1 to 7.4). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Age of Empires II (Retired) or Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30?
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is cheaper right now at $9.99, against $19.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Should I get Age of Empires II (Retired) or Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30?
Age of Empires II (Retired) rates higher, 8.1 to 7.4 on the GamingPickz Score, and Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is the cheaper at $9.99. 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
How 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.