Age Of Empires: Collector's Edition

I had been looking at the Age of Empires series for a long time, and when I saw this game was XP compatible, I got it. And WOW, am I having a blast with this game. It includes Age of Empires 1 and it's expansion back Rise of Rome. Age of Empires 2 (Age of Kings) and it's expansion pack The Conquerors.

I can only speak now of the original Age of Empires game, because that's all I've played so far (probably 20 hours, so far). And the reason I haven't played any of it's expansion pack or AOE2, is because I'm having so much fun. I love the "real-time stategy" part of the game, it really keeps you on your toes.

I can easily sit down and play for an hour or 2 and not even realize what time it is.

I have experienced no problems with the game, and highly recommend it! Especially to anyone like me who realizes that Age of Empires 3 and many of the other newer PC games with their high graphics and such are just a bit too much for our computer (and our computer is not like a dinosaur either). BESIDES, these games should be all about the experience and gameplay, NOT eyecandy.

I'll add more about the other games when i try them

What hours of enjoyment! I was new to the whole strategy genre when I came across a trial edition of this game. You don't have to be a strategy game or RPG geek to enjoy this game.

A List of Surprising Things You Will Enjoy
-You get to single handedly raise a civilization from the Dark Ages through the Imperial Ages commanding the Japanese, Mongolian, Viking, Spanish, Briton, Huns, Franks and Native American powers (and much more).
-When you click on a worker or soldier, they answer your call in the native language of the civilization giving it a feeling of authenticity
-You can save whenever you want wherever you want giving you a way out if your plans to defend or conquer fail. I save using something like KJvsCM1 (Koreans and Japanese vs Chinese and Mongols)and add 2, or 3 or 4 every few minutes. This saving technique really lets you backtrack and try things out in different ways
-each civilization has its own unique soldiers or buildings. Japanese have Samurai, Koreans have Attack Wagons, Chinese have Elite Archers and so on
-It isn't all death and destruction. You can build up an invincible defense force early on (a couple rows of stone walls with Bombard Towers at even intervals along with archers for good measure) and just have your monks collect relics and bring them back to your temple or church. Or, you can just build a "Wonder," a work of architecture which is the culmination of your civilization. Keep it defended for a certain time and you will win.
-The easy click-and-make feature for farmers and soldiers (which each cost a certain measure of gold, wood, and/or food and putting the peasants to work making a building for you is quite enjoyable. You begin to realize the importance of limited resources and the Market (which you can make to buy and sell resources). When your trees are gone, they're gone. When your gold and stone mines are dry, they're dry.
-The campaigns are just about worth the entire 5 stars themselves. They have you help each figure of history, William Wallace of Braveheart Fame, Joan of Arc, Barbarossa, Genghis Khan etc throw off their oppressors and expand their empires. There is much more depth here than I realized, being a student of history myself, I was surprised at how much detail each step went into. It isn't exactly a history lesson but living history
-The Online Multiplayer option is also quite a catch. Go online and team up with or play against friends customizing your civilization, the number of computer players, population, rules for victory etc. This is "What if" strategy at its finest. What if the Japanese at the height of the Edo period took on the Mongols at the height of their empire? What if the Chinese took on the Huns? What if the Celts took on the Vikings? The replay value is almost unlimited and for such a cheap price too.
Check it out. you won't be sorry (save for if you get addicted to it start refusing to come out of your room. Come on folks, that is what the "Save anywhere, anytime" option is for.

The game itself is a lot of fun - I always play The Conquerors. My issues were with using this particular product.

Problems encountered:
1) When I installed this game on my ASUS UL50V Laptop which uses Windows 7, the game changed my screen resolution. Rather than being displayed on the entire screen, the game was displayed in the middle with 2 empty areas to the left and right. This does not happen with the Gold Edition of Age of Empires II that I had been using before (and continue to use).
2) I tried to play this game using the install data I already had on my laptop from the Gold Edition, but it would not work. You have to install the game data from this particular game disk.
3) When I tried to install this game on my older Dell desktop computer which uses Windows XP, my CD rom would not even recognize that the disk was in the tray.
4) Finally, the whole reason I got this game was so that I could play multiplayer with my little nephew. So I used the Gold Edition disk for my Dell desktop, and I used the Collector's Edition disk for my Asus laptop. I got both games to the main menu where you select game modes, etc. I had set up a multiplayer game on my laptop. I joined that multiplayer game on my desktop. Everything seemed to be working out, so I hit "Start Game". To my dismay, I got a message saying something to the effect of "You cannot play multiplayer using different versions of the game."

In conclusion, I recommend obtaining the Gold Edition version of Age of Empires instead of the Collector's Edition. Not only did the Gold Edition work on both of my old desktop and my new laptop, but the quality of appearance on both was as expected. If you want to play multiplayer using two computers in your household, make sure you use two disks which are exact copies of each other. The Collector's edition may be cheap and all on one cd, but it produced problems which I never encountered when I used the Gold Edition.

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