Age of Empires II: DE - Chronicles: Alexander the Great Review Summary

Memorable and varied missions: Missions are noted for their variety, challenge, and uniqueness. Players enjoy the different mission structures and the innovative designs that make each mission memorable.

Outstanding voice acting: The game features top-notch voice acting that significantly enhances the storytelling and immersion. Players consistently praise the quality and variety of voice performances.

Excellent campaign design: The campaign is highly praised for its design, variety, and engaging missions. Players find it to be one of the best in the series, with a lot of detail and flavor.

Engaging storytelling: The game's storytelling is captivating and well-executed, with strong character development and immersive narrative. Players appreciate the engaging and detailed way the story is told.

Variety in gameplay: The game offers a diverse range of gameplay mechanics, objectives, and scenarios. This variety keeps the gameplay fresh and entertaining, contributing to high replayability.

High game difficulty: Many players find the game's difficulty to be overwhelmingly high, with issues of imbalance and certain modes, such as the hard mode and legendary difficulty, being particularly challenging.

Poor mission design: Players report that missions are often poorly designed, with issues ranging from being overly scripted, repetitive, and boring to feeling rushed and frustratingly difficult.

Unit and balance issues: There are significant concerns about unit balance, with new units often being poorly balanced and overall unit performance being questionable, leading to an unbalanced gameplay experience.

Frustrating and unbalanced gameplay: The gameplay is often described as stressful, simplistic, and frustrating, with mechanics that feel unbalanced and poorly designed.

AI and enemy issues: The AI is noted to be challenging but not very intelligent, and the constant waves of enemies, especially in legendary difficulty, feel unbalanced and punishing.

Campaign and single-player focus: The game offers a rich single-player campaign with unique mission designs, historical scenarios, and a Chronicles mode that is more linear and scripted. It provides a story-driven experience with specific difficulty levels and thematic objectives.

Variety in mission design: The game features a wide range of missions with diverse and distinct scenarios, innovative mechanics, and replay value. Missions include time-focused objectives and varied gameplay challenges.

Multiple difficulty levels: The game includes multiple difficulty settings, ranging up to Legendary difficulty, catering to different player skill levels and preferences.

New units and civilizations: New military units, civilizations, and unique technologies add variety and depth to the gameplay. DLCs introduce additional scenarios and units, enhancing the overall experience.

Tower defense and strategic gameplay: The campaign includes tower defense modes where players defend against waves of enemies. Strategic decision-making and resource management are key gameplay mechanics.

Game crashes and freezing: The game frequently crashes and freezes, causing significant disruption to gameplay. This issue is prevalent across multiple reviews.

Smooth performance reported: Despite the issues, some players report that the game runs smoothly without any crashes or bugs.

Campaign data loss: Some players have experienced loss of campaign data, which can be frustrating and demotivating.

High PC requirements: The game has high PC requirements, which may limit accessibility for some players.

Highly recommended for AoE II fans: This DLC is highly recommended for fans of Age of Empires II, particularly those who enjoy single-player content and classical antiquity. It is praised for its engaging gameplay and historical depth.

Future content expectations: Players are looking forward to future content, including new civilizations like Rome, Carthage, Egypt, and Gaul. There is a strong desire for more expansions and historical chronicles.

Must-buy for RTS fans: This DLC is considered a must-buy for real-time strategy fans. It is highly ranked among other DLCs and is recommended for its excellent addition to the Chronicles series.

Worth the money: Many players find this DLC worth the investment due to its high-quality content and enjoyable gameplay. It offers a satisfying experience for both history enthusiasts and strategy game fans.

Buy on sale: Some players recommend buying the DLC on sale to get the best value for money. This suggestion is aimed at those who are budget-conscious but still want to enjoy the content.

Community fair range: $15.00 - $25.00.

Game completion: 20.0h.

Story completion: 15.0h.

Session length: 2.0h.

The game starts slow and boring but becomes more fun and intense as the campaign progresses, with a sense of progression and new elements introduced in each mission.

Reported time to anchor: 1h.

Friction: Slow and boring start; Repetitive missions; Unit spam.

Story-Driven Historian: Engages deeply with the story and historical elements, prefers single-player campaigns. Motivation: Rich narrative and historical context. Stance: buy.

Casual Narrative Enjoyer: Casual, prefers lower difficulty settings, enjoys narrative-driven gameplay. Motivation: Enjoyment and a good narrative experience. Stance: sale.

Veteran Challenge Seeker: Strategic, enjoys high difficulty settings, dedicated to long-term play. Motivation: Challenge and depth of gameplay. Stance: buy.

Monetization: The reviews for this DLC are mixed. While users appreciate the effort put into the maps and unique designs, there are significant concerns about the pricing and technical issues. The DLC is seen as expensive, and some users have encountered bugs that hinder their gameplay experience.

Steam award mention: Reviews mention the Steam 'Labor of Love Award,' indicating recognition or appreciation for the game's ongoing support and updates.

Video guide reference: Some reviews include links to video guides, suggesting players seek external resources for assistance.