The game retains most of the mechanics and features of Age of Empires: players must build a civilization starting from the initial Dark Age, and progress through the Feudal Age, Castle Age and the Imperial Age. It was developed by Ensemble Studios and released by Microsoft in 1999 for Microsoft Windows.
Age of Empires II (full name: Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings) is the second installment of the Age of Empires series.
