A couple of years after the launch of Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, it seems like the sequel will also be getting an upgrade. The ESRB has released a ratings page for Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition, strongly indicating that we’ll be hearing something about the game very soon.
For those of you not in the know, Age of Empires 2 greatly expanded upon the feature set of the first game with a bigger campaign, more factions, and new mechanics. It was well-liked by the real-time strategy community and became something of a mainstay of the genre, right up there with Starcraft, Warcraft, and Command & Conquer. Age of Empires 2 also spawned some of the most memorable cheat codes in gaming history—after all, it’s not every day that you see a bunch of sports cars mow down a cadre of War Elephants.
Here is the ESRB description for Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition straight off the rating board’s website:
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
Windows PC
Rating Category: T (Teen)
Content Descriptors: Mild Blood, Mild Language, Violence
Other: Users Interact (PC)
Rating Summary: This is a real-time strategy game in which players control empires from the Dark Age through the Imperial Age. From an overhead perspective, players complete campaigns, build structures, gather resources, and command/deploy military units (e.g., infantry, horsemen, war elephants) against nearby civilizations. Players can zoom in on military units, while they use swords, bows, and cannons to eliminate enemy forces and structures; battles are accompanied by weapon clashes, cries of pain, and explosions. Some battlefields depict impaled soldiers on spikes, and a handful of cutscenes depict images of soldiers impaled by arrows. One still-image sequence shows a large bloodstain on the ground along with blood splatter on parchment. The word “bastard” is heard in the game.
The ESRB rating for Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition is a strong indicator that we’ll be hearing something about the game soon. Typically, an announcement is made within a few weeks after the ESRB posts the rating on their website.
There are several questions that remain: Will this also be restricted to the Windows Store as the previous Definitive Edition had been? What will multiplayer be like? We’re sure to get answers to these questions whenever the game is officially announced. Hopefully we won’t be waiting too long.
