If you haven ’ t had a chance to give it a try, now is the arrant time .
Updated with an HD Edition and Age of Empires II : definitive edition being released merely recently for the game ’ s twentieth anniversary, one of Microsoft ’ s top-selling games has received multiple revamps .
beyond fair ocular and gameplay upgrades, there ’ s tons of new content available deoxyadenosine monophosphate well. And this comes in the class of player-created mods which let you customize a whole bunch together of crazy stuff.
For old-school and newer players alike, I ’ ve compiled a tilt of mods you should check out for Age of Empires II : HD Edition. For a classic that has already been upgraded, who says you can ’ metric ton get a little more out of it ?
25. Summons HD Water Pack V2
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Though remastered in widescreen high-definition, Age of Empires has never actually been known for graphics quality .
With more than enough to make up for it in terms of gameplay, the classic look of most RTS games just hasn ’ t changed a lot over time .
But things have changed a lot recently. And now gamers are more particular about looks. specially for newer players to the Age of Empires series .
A bare improvement, certain. But you ’ five hundred be surprised at what you get, because the Summons HD water system battalion completely changes the appearance of rivers and oceans in the bet on .
From the unrealistic bright gloomy visuals of the master game, bodies of water now appear deep. The light reflections are just beautiful and give the game a much better feel overall .
24. Drums Of War
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hera ’ s another small improvement that could potentially have a huge shock on your experience .
The Drums Of War mod changes the default attack sounds of the bet on .
ever started a struggle and felt that there equitable wasn ’ t a sense of intensity in the position ? Drums of War gives battles a more cinematic feel, replacing the anti-climactic trumpet sounds with actual war drums .
There ’ s even a clip of the Mighty War Horn from the Lord of the Rings film ! This simple upgrade is certain to enhance that haste you get before each struggle .
23. Ozhara’s Soundtracks – Game of Thrones
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By now the Game of Thrones soundtrack has become one of the most recognizable all over the worldly concern .
once the orifice credits roll, that music gets you pumped for what ’ randomness to come. As a winnow myself I can relate .
well nowadays you can get the same have in AoE : two with Ozhara ’ south Game of Thrones soundtrack. It plainly changes the soundtrack and menu music with songs from the series .
Enjoy the epic GoT score from the foremost four seasons while engrossed in your AoE2 gameplay .
22. Enhanced Blood
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probably for older audiences, these adjacent two mods are simple enhancements for all you gore fans out there .
Though some games have options to remove blood and gore altogether, Age of Empires seems to have downplayed the visuals in this expression. What ’ mho war without blood, right ?
This first base one enhances the visuals of units killed in struggle, making the aftermath appear much more crushing. A bang-up addition to improve on the overall realism of the game .
21. Enhanced Blood II
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not being satisfied with Enhanced Blood, modder Silent Ape took it one gradation further with Enhanced Blood II .
far improving on the realism of bloody corpses of murder soldiers, death animations are further improved with this mod deoxyadenosine monophosphate well .
Taking from other mods, you can now see rake pip-squeak and spill from all units during battles. Dark, even immersive .
As put in a gossip on the mod foliate : “ it looks like battles are straight out of a Quentin Tarantino film ” ( most likely referring to Kill Bill ) .
All this combined with the first Enhanced Blood mod will definitely make watching the battle sequences feel much more real and exciting .
20. Tech Tree UI
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One of the handier mods on the list, Tech Tree UI is utilitarian for both raw and old fans of the game .
With 35 playable civilizations between the base game and all the expansions, it can get quite overwhelm .
Whether you ’ re trying to learn the plot or starting over with a new culture, Tech Tree UI is a great addition to your UI .
It just adds the technical school tree of the culture you ’ re play as in the bottom-center share of the exploiter interface. besides rather of showing the entire technical school tree at all times, it merely shows technical school that has not been learned so far .
A bang-up guide to keep track of your progress .
19. Nittlepicks Wonderful New Farms
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Another aesthetic mod, Nittlepicks Wonderful New Farms, replaces the dull colorless visuals of farms .
Adding animation to farm plants, you can now have blueberries, carrots, beets, and leeks. It ’ s a small change but quite detectable .
A great ocular upgrade to make your crop fields look much more vibrant .
18. Day/Night Cycle ENB
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far adding to the visuals of the game, you can even have a model day and night cycle. nice !
Since the world in AoE II doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate chew over change in time, modder ModPositive decided to make it possible .
cleverly making practice of moral force contrast, saturation, and brightness post-processing, everything in the global including buildings and units now reflect sidereal day, night, debris, and dawn .
17. Japanese Architecture
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Continuing on here we ’ ve got some more ocular upgrades – because who doesn ’ t want to make the game look vitamin a commodity as potential ?
There are a lot of mods that change the appearances of buildings per civilization, but the japanese Architecture somehow stands out to me .
Replacing buildings of asian civilizations with more detailed, naturalistic textures barely makes the bet on look much better than the original .
If you ’ rhenium tired of different civilization buildings looking excessively exchangeable, check this one forbidden. You can even explore all the other architecture packs on steam to customize the bet on further .
16. Sheep Launcher
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There are literally hundreds of pages worth of community content available for Age of Empires II. Sifting through some of the more popular mods, I was surprised at some of the things modders have come up with .
ever wondered what it would be like to shoot sheep from cannons ?
I bet you never have, because that would just be wyrd .
But thanks to modder Gallas, you can do just that !
vitamin a bare as it sounds, all the mod does is replace all projectiles with sheep .
If you ’ re up for some dazed fun then merely fire this one up. If anything, you ’ re indisputable to get a good laugh .
15. Cartoon Empires
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If you thought Sheep Launcher was pathetic, Cartoon Empires gives the game a blockish cartoon front .
If you ’ re into that kind of thing, well this could be a fun mod to play around with. Just to take a violate from the normal appearance of kernel war .
What ’ south specially fishy about this matchless is that the modder was merely doing it for fun and decided not to complete the skins .
That means some skins have been replaced while others will still show the original game skins, giving the universe a foreign feel to it. I still think this was a cool idea, although besides bad it isn ’ t in full a completed piece .
even if you ’ re up for some unmindful playfulness, here ’ s a commodity manner to waste a few hours !
14. Game of Thrones Taunts V2
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Another one for the GoT fans, Game of Thrones Taunts replaces the in-game lecture files with democratic Game of Thrones lines .
Ygritte ’ s “ You know nothing, Jon Snow, ” or “ Valar Morghulis ” are merely some examples of whole dialogue you ’ ll learn with this pack installed .
just another playfulness mod to play around with if you have the fourth dimension. And if you ’ re a fan who loves crossovers .
13. Far Side of the World
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Moving on to some of the more serious entries, I picked up a bunch going through some of the user-made capacity for the game .
specifically I ’ ve found a distribute of interesting mods that add hours on hours of gameplay to AoE II .
With Far Side of the World you ’ ll be leading a portuguese crew on a naval expedition across the earth. With different islands and regions to discover you get to sail through the seas, hire the best sailors, and make improvements to your embark along the way.
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Along with the new storyline to playthrough, this scenario includes custom sounds and graphics to make your experience all the more immersive .
12. Sea of Thieves Mod
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so far another sea-based scenario for AoE II, except this time you get to play as pirates. Yes !
In this brawl map you can play along with five other friends .
Build unique ships and crusade for authority over the seas and islands .
Some users have mentioned that there ’ sulfur more to do in this function than in the actual game ( if you can believe that ! )
therefore if you ’ re looking to expand AoE II up to the soap, this would be a capital target to start .
11. Hunger Games
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Taking the basic concept of the Hunger Games series, there ’ randomness been an inflow of conflict royale games like PlayerUnknown ’ south Battlegrounds, Apex Legends, and Fortnite .
And they ’ re democratic for a reason .
Though the writing style has been largely dominated by shooters, this modder known as Mr. N introduces his take on the idea for Age of Empires II .
particularly impressive as this is his first published scenario for AoE II, you ’ ll be able to play as two villagers struggling to survive. With no resources, you are set in the center of the map alongside everyone else and tasked with finding each of your villages .
Hunger Games for AoE II is playable with AI, but I would recommend enjoying it with some friends. May the odds be ever in your party favor !
10. DOOM Episode 1-3
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Would you believe that person actually created an AoE II scenario to recreate Doom ? That ’ randomness right !
Doom Episodes 1-3 are actually three playable single-player scenarios bringing the one and alone Doomguy into the earth of AoE .
The martian Civilization, Union Aerospace Corporation, and Phobos Teleportation Gate are the first three servings in the series, while modder Hellknight61 has mentioned that he has two more on the way .
With update plot mechanics and sounds from some of the original Doom games, open the gates to hell and fight off the demons with this impressive mod .
9. Thrones of Iberia
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As historical accuracy was constantly a potent suit for AoE II, there is tons of extra message on-line that adds playable scenarios based on meaning events from the past .
Do note, however, that most of these require DLCs to play .
In Thrones of Iberia we ’ re taken back to medieval Spain .
During the time of lanthanum Reconquista, Christians aim to reclaim territory that has been overrun by Muslims .
This one is packed with an updated diplomacy system, an exciting newfangled map, arsenic well as an update economic system. A capital addon you ’ ra surely to have hours of fun with .
8. The Rise of the Joseon Dynasty
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It isn ’ triiodothyronine coarse for games to feature korean history .
well thanks to modder jwj5787_Rook, we can get a glimpse of this with The ascend of the Joseon Dynasty .
The ancient kingdom of Goryeo is about to fall and is to be replaced with a rebellious general .
There are 8 playable factions, each with their own backstories and winnings conditions. Play as different generals and lead your armies to victory either by defeating rebels, capturing the capital, or collecting relics .
7. In the Name of the Serpent
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Bassi has become one of the better known AoE II modders for his captivating recreations of historic events .
The beginning of two that I found to be the most concern focuses on Mayan history in the form of the Itza .
According to ancient Mayan history, the Itza return to their abandoned capital Chichen Itza. Informed by their priests that the merely means to survive is to appease the God of Resurrection known as Kukulkan .
Play through the Itza ’ s travel to pacify the Feathered Serpent Kulkulan, while dealing with rumors of invaders from the west .
An excite “ physique and destroy ” scenario with add submergence from the epic poem customs soundtrack by established composers Derek and Brandon Fiechter .
6. Rise of the Totonacs
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Another one from Bassi, but this clock it places you at the helm of the Totonacs .
These are an autochthonal Mexican tribe led by Cacique of Cempoala. At war with neighbor Mexican kin Zapotecs and Tepanecs, defend your fatherland and lead your people to victory .
Another complete playable experience exchangeable to In the name of the Serpent, but with a completely newly map and storyline .
5. Rise of Genghis Khan
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Take the reigns as Temujin here, better known as Ghengis Khan .
He is surely one of the most long-familiar conquerors in history so you know this one will be fun .
Unite the war tribe and build your conglomerate .
From acclaimed creator Filthydelphia comes the upgrade of Genghis Khan. This scenario comes with a few update gameplay mechanics to fit the historical context – dominate tribes with a unique foray into mechanic, hold feasts to improve authority, and loot cities of brawny taiwanese dynasties .
You may even take wives ( as Genghis Khan was known for ) boosting the economy and imprint alliances .
4. Dandolo
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The last of the historical scenarios is Dandolo, which takes us through the rise of Venice .
set in the twelfth century, you lead Venice with Enrico Dandolo against rivals Byzantium, Pisa and Genoa .
In this wholly new AoE II political campaign you can play through 5 single-player scenarios which bring Venice to victory .
In the form of authoritative build up and destroy gameplay, the mod includes the Crusaders and historically significant battles .
What ’ sulfur most celebrated about this one though, is that there are evening 10 custom videos that aid you actually get into the major events in venetian history. very aplomb added touch !
3. Nocturne’s ALPHA WOLF
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An matter to custom campaign with a fresh accept – Nocturne ’ s Alpha Wolf lets you play as a wolf .
Yes, you read that right .
With 6 missions in total, lead your tamp down to survival against different classes of homo enemies .
decidedly a unique experience worth checking out. not precisely your authoritative AoE II experience, but in truth fun .
If you ’ re not convinced yet precisely skim through the overwhelmingly positive feedback and see for yourself .
2. Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship RPG CO-OP
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There are so many LoTR mods out there, but this one peculiarly caught my attention .
Fans of the series know that although the journey to Mount Doom was an amazing feat, what made it all the more particular was the company we all witnessed among Frodo, Sam, Legolas, and of course Gandalf .
similarly, LoCoDoN ’ s Lord of the Rings mod focuses on just that : the fellowship .
A scenario best enjoyed with friends, play with 7 others as either Frodo and Sam, Gandalf, Aragorn, or Gimli, among a few other favored LoTR characters .
And there tons of new contentedness here with each character having singular abilities, and some new cutscenes, random encounters, plus shroud areas to explore. This about feels like a new game in itself !
Fight your way through the Caradhras, the Mines of Mora, Balrog, and ultimately Sauron in this epic adventure to protect the One Ring .
1. Age of Fantasy
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As the modder himself explains here, many AoE II content creators have touched on the illusion genre reasonably good. But I ’ ve constantly noticed one big thing missing : a complete fantasy universe .
Some guys focus on particular topics like Game of Thrones or LoTR. But what about wholly customize fantasy gameplay ?
Age of Fantasy aims to give you a completely new fantasy experience .
With a abstruse new global consist of 31 bracing civilizations to play equally, this mod makes a complete 180 from historical significance to create a fantasy game out of this RTS .
Explore a brand-new populace with everything from wizards, dragons, orcs, charming, and dwarves. This may not be your personal favorite mod here, but I think it deserves a set of credit for basically reinventing what an Age of Empires bet on could feel like .
