What can possibly be said about this game that has not already been said. To describe it in one word, I would simply have to say "Excellent". For those who do not know about AOE2, well its a real-time strategy where you have to build an empire and defeat up to eight opponents.

Everyone that plays this game has a favourite civilisation. I like to experiment a bit with each of them, so I don't think that I have an absolute favourite. As each civilisation has it's own unique unit, all of which have their strengths and weaknesses, and technologies at their disposal it is quite difficult do say which civ is the best. It's quite hard to counteract the range of the British Longbowmen, the speed of the Celtic Woad Raider, or the sheer power of the Teutonic Knight, but there are ways.

Each civilisation has a unique unit and all receive a team bonus. Below is a rundown of the unique units for each civilisation.

The Britons: Unique Unit: Longbowman. The longbowman is without a doubt, the best archer in the game. With incredible range, a fully upgraded longbowman can outrange some castles. In numbers, they can easily kill units such as war elephants and teutonic knights. Also strong against barracks units, cavalry archers and monks. Can be very effective behind walls.

The Byzantines: Unique Unit: Cataphract. The cataphract is heavy cavalry unit with an attack bonus against infantry. So, in a one on one fight against the best infantry units, the cataphract should win. The lack of the blast furnace technology does affect the attack strength of the cataphract. Also strong against archers. The Byzantines have all the cavalry, archer and infantry units available to them. They also have all of the technologies that accompany them except for the blast furnace, which gives all cavalry and infantry +2 attack.

The Celts: Unique Unit: Woad Raider. The woad raider is an exceptionally fast infantry unit, very useful for tracking down all types of archer units and siege weapons. Also strong against camels and light cavalry. All Celtic infantry move 15% faster.

The Chinese: Unique Unit: Chu Ko Nu. The Chu Ko Nu is a medium range archer that fires multiple shots. Like the longbowman, can be very effective in numbers, especially against barracks units, cavalry archers, Monks, Teutonic Knights and war elephants.

The Franks: Unique Unit: Throwing Axeman. Infantry unit with a ranged attack. Strong against barracks units and skirmishers. Also has attack bonus versus buildings.

The Goths: Unique Unit: Huskarl. The huskarl is an infantry unit with extremely high pierce armour. Add to this the upgrades at the blacksmith and you have a unit that is almost immune to archer fire and so kills archers for fun. Due to their high pierce armour, huskarls can also be useful in attacking towers and castles.

The Japanese: Unique Unit: Samurai. The samurai is an infantry unit with a fast attack that has an attack bonus versus other unique units and is also strong against infantry.

The Mongols: Unique Unit: Mangudai. A cavalry archer with an attack bonus versus siege weapons. Also strong against swordsmen, monks, teutonic knights and war elephants.

The Persians: Unique Unit: War Elephant. A slow, powerful, well armoured and difficult to destroy. Elite war elephants cause area of effect damage. they are strong against swordsmen and archers. Again, in large groups the war elephant can rip through a town in just a matter of minutes. The elephant is very slow, which is it's main weakness.

The Saracens: Unique Unit: Mameluke. The mameluke is a camel unit with a ranged attack. Excels against other mounted units, also strong against barracks units, monks and teutonic knights.

The Teutons: Unique Unit: Teutonic Knight. A very slow infantry unit, with very strong armour that makes it very difficult to destroy. Strong against swordsmen, skirmishers and stable units. The teutonic knight also has an extremely powerful attack, which makes it a very dangerous enemy. The knight's main weakness is that it is very slow.

The Turks: Unique Unit: Janissary. The janissary is a hand cannoneer with longer range and no minimum range. It has a very powerful close attack, but is inaccurate at range. Strong against barracks units, Monks and Teutonic Knights.

The Vikings: Unique Unit: Longboat, Berserk. In Age of Kings, The Vikings are the only civilisation that get two unique units. The berserk is an infantry unit that slowly heals itself. Very good against skirmishers, camels and light cavalry. The longboat fires multiple shots. It is strong against demolition ships and cannon galleons.

What I really like about this game is the multiplayer option. If you are lucky to have access to a network, then this really is the game to play. Up to eight players can play across a network, with the slowest computer determining the speed of the game, or indeed across the internet on the Microsoft Network. Play in teams, or just have a free-for-all to find out just who is the true king!

Microsoft have released a new expansion pack for Age of Empires: The Age of Kings called Age of Empires: Conquerors. This expansion pack adds 5 new civilisations, new units and also give each civilisation a unique technology. They have also made the A.I. better. I will eventually add the new civilisations to the above list. I also hope to add some screen shots too.