Reception of The Age of Kings was highly positive. The design team focused on resolving significant issues in Age of Empires, but noted on release that some problems remained. Despite using the same game engine and similar code to its predecessor, development of The Age of Kings took a year longer than expected, forcing Ensemble Studios to release Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome in 1998 instead. There are three additional single-player game modes, and multiplayer is supported. There are five historically based campaigns, which constrict the player to specialized and story-backed conditions. Players aim to gather resources, which they use to build towns, create armies, and defeat their enemies.
The Age of Kings is set in the Middle Ages and contains thirteen playable civilizations. An expansion, The Conquerors, was released in 2000. Released in 1999 for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh, it is the second game in the Age of Empires series. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft.
