We all know about computer gaming. We all know that before learning anything about the electronic world we could still play games on our computers all day. Good games have become increasingly scarce. The games today are either too heavy to run on our current computers or are too unbalanced to play. In these times we still remember the golden days of computer gaming.

Today we are going to talk about one of the greatest franchises to hit our screens. Age of Empires is the game we all found as the best of the strategic genre. Its classic graphics and stable game play makes it still a widely played game. Even after 13 years we find it irresistible. This was also one of Microsoft’s first ventures within gaming and certainly not the last.

The Franchise Age of Empires spans over 7 games including expansions. The first 4 games focused on the pre enlightenment era. The first game focused more on Rome and its enemies whilst the second series diversified into the Middle Ages. Various Campaigns over Europe and the Middle East were available. People start out with historical heroes and their journeys and hardships. All in all over 15 civilizations were playable and the civilizations were also cut in between visual lines into Arabic and Non Arabic Architecture. This series had one official expansion by the name of The Conquerors. The game play was only tweaked up to give better stability and the campaigns were extended to the Aztecs, the Huns, the Spanish and a mix-up of Historical Battle replays. The popularity of the game gave rise to popular online custom maps which spread to give what Defense of the Ancients now gives to Warcraft.

The third series came late In the 2000s and was well received. Its was changed from its original gameplay and the storyline featured in the campaigns gave you the chance to run a fantasy crusade against an evil order over 3 generations. The game also shifted from its European source to introduce war in the Americas and the arrival of Indians as a playable civilization. Heroes were given various abilities and better 3d graphics were introduced to gain a larger popularity base. The Age of Empires 3 franchise had 2 expansions namely, the War chiefs expansion and the Asian Dynasties expansion. Both came with diverse changes to the game and its playing. The war chiefs’ expansion put the player in the boots of Indian civilizations and gave missions relating to the War of American Independence and the subsequent gold rush into the West. The second expansion related to the dynasties of India, Japan and China. With new developments as diplomatic enclaves the whole system of play became increasingly hard and unadjustable. Multiplayer game play became nonexistent due to the lack of balance in the game.

A giant at its inception and an innovator in the genre of strategic and real time games the Age of Empires series is still widely played among circles of older gamers. It sparked new versions, counter games and a host of multiplayer custom maps that to this day prove to give the players a good time.