Age of Empires II: HD Edition

In Age of Empires II: HD Edition, fans of the original game and new players alike will fall in love with the classic Age of Empires II experience. Explore all the original single player campaigns from both Age…

50 9 April 2013

Real Time Strategy (RTS) Strategy Historical Warfare

Age of Empires II: HD Edition is a real time strategy (rts) developed by Ensemble Studios, released 9 April 2013 on PC (Microsoft Windows).

Verified 18 Oct 2026 Sources: IGDB , Steam , Wikipedia

What Age of Empires II: HD Edition is

Age of Empires II: HD Edition is a real time strategy (rts) game developed by Ensemble Studios and released in 2013. It was published by Microsoft Studios. It is available on PC (Microsoft Windows) only. It runs on Genie Engine.

The premise, in the publisher's words

The player has control over a society and guides them through four different time periods or "ages". The game begins in the Dark Age, where very few buildings and units are available. After a short time when requirements are met, the user gains the ability to advance their civilization beginning with the Feudal Age, where more upgrades, buildings, and units become available. The next age is the Castle Age, in which the powerful Castle may be built, and used to produce powerful units including the unique unit of each civilization. Finally, the user can reach the Imperial Age, which is reminiscent of the early years of the Renaissance. Once the user has reached the Imperial Age, they gain…

Description from the publisher · source

How it plays

It is played from a bird view / isometric perspective. Its themes are historical and warfare. It supports multiplayer for up to 8 players online, and includes co-op. Local play supports 8 players. Available modes: Co-operative, Multiplayer and Single player. There are 294 achievements to unlock.

How it was received

Age of Empires II: HD Edition holds a critic score of 50 out of 100. That places it above 6% of the 612 rated real time strategy (rts) games in our database, which average 72. Games released in 2013 averaged 70, so it scored 20 points below the year average. Players rate it 67, 17 points higher than critics did — a gap worth knowing about before you buy.

What you need to run it

The minimum specification calls for 1.2GHZ CPU, 1 GB RAM and Direct X 9.0c Capable GPU. At 1GB of RAM, it will run on essentially any working PC — that is below what a budget laptop ships with today. Install size is roughly 2GB.

Full requirements and PC checker →

What it launched against

Age of Empires II: HD Edition launched on 9 April 2013, within three weeks of BioShock Infinite, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon and Age of Empires II HD. All of them reviewed better.

Released around the same time: BioShock Infinite, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Age of Empires II HD.

Cheats and codes

We have not confirmed any working cheat codes for Age of Empires II: HD Edition yet. Rather than reprint a list we have not tested, this section stays empty until one is verified.

Know one? Send it in and we will test it →

Official trailer

Sourced from the publisher’s YouTube channel.

Screenshots

All media

Age of Empires II: HD Edition gameplay screenshot

Dlc

Age of Empires II: HD Edition - The Forgotten

7 November 2013

Age of Empires II: HD Edition - The African Kingdoms

5 November 2015

Age of Empires II: HD Edition - Rise of the Rajas

19 December 2016

Parents

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings

30 September 1999

Quick answers

Age of Empires II: HD Edition — frequently asked questions

When did Age of Empires II: HD Edition come out?

Age of Empires II: HD Edition was released on 9 April 2013 for PC (Microsoft Windows).

What are the minimum PC requirements for Age of Empires II: HD Edition?

At minimum, Age of Empires II: HD Edition needs 1.2GHZ CPU, 1 GB RAM, Direct X 9.0c Capable GPU graphics, 2 GB HD space of storage.

Does Age of Empires II: HD Edition have multiplayer?

Yes. Age of Empires II: HD Edition supports multiplayer, including co-op for up to 8 players online.

How many GB is Age of Empires II: HD Edition?

The PC version needs about 2 GB of storage, going by the storage line in the system requirements ("2 GB HD space"). Updates can add to that, and console versions have their own sizes, which are not listed here.

If you like this