Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition ▶ Trailer
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition screenshot 1Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition screenshot 2
StrategyRTSCity BuilderMultiplayerBase BuildingHistorical

11,798 playing#86 on Steam by players#86 on Steam

Peak in the last 24 hours: 23,732

Peak in the last 7 days: 27,487

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Steam store

Game description

42 Civilizations, 229 Campaign Missions, Singleplayer, Co-Op, Multiplayer, In-Game Editor, Mods, Cross-play...It is good to be the king.

Basic info

DeveloperWorld's Edge, Forgotten Empires, CaptureAge, Tantalus Media, Wicked Witch, Feral Interactive
PublisherXbox Game Studios
PlatformsWindows · macOS
Steam DeckPlayable
Release dateNov 14, 2019
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows 10 64bit
ProcessorIntel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64x2 5600+
Memory4 GB
GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce® GT 420 or ATI™ Radeon™ HD 6850 or Intel® HD Graphics 4000 or better with…
Storage15 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 379 reviews from the past 1 year

89.9/ 100
Top 20%

Steam rating: Very Positive (95%)

Metacritic: 84 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 20, 2026)

Decades after the original, players still rate Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition 89.9, top 20% of the games we analyzed.

👍 Strengths

147 reviews say they love it, and some have played the series since childhood. 33 praise the remastered visuals, noting more detailed unit models and modern polish that keeps the charm of the original. 32 credit its strategy depth, from economy management to civilizations with their own bonuses and playstyles. Content Volume ranks 6th of 1351, Gameplay 150th of 1396, and Tech & Support 17th of 1399.

👎 Where it falls short

20 say it is hard for newcomers to learn, with a steep curve, complex hotkeys and an interface that feels cluttered. 19 raise balance concerns, saying new civilizations and heroes from add-ons tip the scales. 17 find matchmaking frustrating, with long waits in team games and wide skill gaps that leave beginners outmatched. Multiplayer ranks 128th of 642, and Pricing & Fairness 331st of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“fun despite being bad at the game, played since age 6” · 147 reviews
“character models are more refined and detailed” · 33 reviews
“economy management and strategy layers kept players addicted for 25 years” · 32 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 40% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Strategy +4.07 · Depth of builds, tactics, and meaningful choices
Positive “economy management and strategy layers kept players addicted for 25 years” · 32 reviews
Negative “you have to remember complex rules, feels like Excel sheets not a game” · 2 reviews

Progression 3% · Difficulty 11% · Onboarding 13% · Freedom 3% · Controls & feel 6%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 17% of reviews · Top 40% of the games we've analyzed

World +2.87 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Negative “Removed civilization history tab, sad for history lover” · 3 reviews

Story 8% · Characters 0%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 27% of reviews · Top 1% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +4.49 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Positive “single-player content very rich, RTS fans must play” · 12 reviews
Negative “matches can be very long, 2 hours per game” · 1 review

Variety 6% · Replayability 5%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 26% of reviews · Top 40% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +3.63 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “character models are more refined and detailed” · 33 reviews
Negative “graphics small and dated, not impressive by modern standards” · 2 reviews

Audio 11%

Playing with others, the community and servers
Mentioned in 28% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Playing together +3.42 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals
Positive “meaningful multiplayer bonding with father across years” · 14 reviews
Negative “difficult to gather enough players for co-op now” · 6 reviews

Community 14% · Servers & Connection 2%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 26% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

Balance +0.24 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched
Positive “balance is excellent, civ variety is huge” · 5 reviews
Negative “hero units and new DLC civilizations damage mechanical balance and integrity” · 19 reviews

Anti-cheat 1% · Pricing 11% · Matchmaking 7%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 30% of reviews · Top 5% of the games we've analyzed

Developer support +0.65 · Updates, patches, and how devs respond to players
Positive “still receiving big updates and balance changes after 1999 release” · 30 reviews
Negative “patches too harsh, devs abandoned updates, forced to play pirated version” · 3 reviews

Stability 7% · Performance 8%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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