Age of Empires: Collector's Edition (2000)

Age of Empires is a real-time strategy game where players build a great civilisation out of an Ice Age tribe over a period of 10,000 years. Players accomplish this by exploring their surroundings, conquering other civilisations and accumulating wealth. Key elements include building and controlling units and managing resources. Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings starts the player out in the Dark Ages, roughly when Age of Empires ends. The goal remains the same: use advanced technology and troops to establish your civilisation's dominance. But now the player has better toys: each of the 13 civilisations have unique buildings, soldiers and advantages. The Teutons have Knights, for instance, while the Vikings have Berserkers. Winning the game requires military dominance or the construction of wonders of the world. The single-player game is fun, but most players love Age of Empires 2 for its wildly popular multiplayer component. Thousands of civilisations rise and fall every day as gamers around the world compete in matches over the Internet. This bundle includes Age of Empires: Gold Edition, containing the original Age of Empires and Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome Expansion, plus Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings and Age of Empires II: The Conqueror's Expansion. The bundle is great for fans of the series to have all of the titles in one place; and for newbies it is less expensive than buying all the titles separately.

Storyline

Age of Empires requires the player to develop a civilization from a handful of hunter-gatherers to an expansive Iron Age empire. To ensure victory, the player must gather resources in order to pay for new units, buildings and more advanced technologies. Resources must also be preserved, as no new resources become available as the game progresses, meaning if you cut a tree down, the tree will not grow back. Twelve civilizations are available, each with individual sets of attributes, including a varying number of available technologies and units. Each civilization has technologies unique to them, so that no civilization possesses all the technologies possible within the game. A major component of the game is the advancement through four ages. These are the Stone Age (Mesolithic/Paleolithic), Tool Age (Neolithic/Chalcolithic), Bronze Age and Iron Age. Advancement between ages is researched at the Town Center and each advancement brings the player new technologies, weapons, and units.