Age of Empires II (2013): Rise of the Rajas Review Summary

This DLC adds four Southeast Asian civilizations and attractive maps, making it one of the game's best, but bland repetitive campaigns and poor balance, especially for the Malay, hold it back.

Four new Southeast Asian civilizations: The DLC adds Burmese, Khmer, Malay, and Vietnamese civilizations. These four new factions are widely praised for their distinctive architecture, units, and technologies.

Best DLC for the game: Many reviewers consider this the best of the game's three DLCs. It is described as very well-made and highly enjoyable.

Well-crafted and attractive new maps: The new maps are well crafted and work well with the amphibious terrain. The new terrains are also attractive and well made.

Excellent expansion pack overall: The expansion is repeatedly called a good or even awesome addition. It is seen as a high-quality expansion that enhances the base game.

Amphibious terrain adds strategic depth: The new amphibious terrain is cool, nice, and intriguing. It opens up many more strategic options on the new maps.

Campaigns feel bland and repetitive: Many reviewers find the campaigns uninspired, with repetitive level design and little variety across missions. Optional missions are mostly base destruction or discovery, and the storytelling is inconsistent.

New civilizations poorly balanced: Reviewers widely report that the new civilizations are unbalanced, either overpowered or hopelessly weak depending on playstyle. Their gimmick-based designs raise serious balancing concerns and they need buffs.

Malay civilization balance problems: Malay are seen as extremely strong on water maps but useless on land maps without water, with overpowered harbors and fast age advancement. Their Karambit Warriors are both fragile and problematic in multiplayer rushes.

Campaign difficulty spikes and AI: Some missions are brutally hard or unfair, with enemies starting with max upgrades and endless waves. The AI remains dumb in specific scenarios, and the original campaign AI feels too easy compared to current.

Vietnamese civilization balance concerns: Vietnamese are criticized for uncounterable skirmishers and Rattan Archers with high pierce armor, and for seeing enemy positions from the start. Their campaign is also flagged as unfair and punishing for new players.

New civilizations added: The expansion introduces four new civilizations: Burmese, Khmer, Malay, and Vietnamese. These additions expand gameplay options with unique units, buildings, and bonuses.

Four new campaigns included: The content adds four new campaigns, one for each new civilization. These campaigns provide single-player content that showcases the new civilizations and their histories.

New unique units for civilizations: Each new civilization has a unique unit: the Burmese Arambai, Khmer Ballista Elephant, Malay Karambit Warrior, and Vietnamese Rattan Archer. These units have distinct stats and roles.

South Asian civilizations themed around elephants: The expansion focuses on Southeast Asian civilizations that historically used elephants, and includes elephant-based units and buildings. The Khmer, for instance, have a Ballista Elephant unique unit.

Battle Elephants available to all new civilizations: All four new civilizations can train Battle Elephants from the Stable upon reaching Castle Age. These units have specific stats and a powerful Elite upgrade.

More crashes than ever: The frequency of crashes has risen significantly. This points to serious stability problems.

Crash on standard launch: The standard game cannot be opened without it crashing completely. This is a critical blocking issue for affected users.

Increased disconnections reported: Players are experiencing more disconnections than before. This suggests ongoing network stability issues.

Unable to host lobbies: Players can no longer host their own lobbies. This removes a key multiplayer feature.

Runs at 60FPS: The game maintains a smooth 60 frames per second. This indicates good performance optimization.

DLC widely recommended: Many reviewers consider this DLC a worthwhile purchase and recommend it to Age of Empires II players. A common suggestion is that if only one DLC can be chosen, this is the one to get.

Essential for franchise fans: Fans of Age of Empires II regard this expansion as a must-have, often describing it as mandatory for anyone who enjoys the series. It is seen as a natural addition for dedicated players.

Positive general recommendations: Many short reviews simply recommend the DLC without detailed reasoning, indicating broad satisfaction. These affirmations contribute to the overall positive reception.

Great value on sale: Several reviewers emphasize that this content is worth the money, especially when discounted. Waiting for a sale or buying in a bundle is frequently advised for the best value.

Bundle purchase recommended: Reviewers suggest buying the complete bundle or Definitive Edition rather than this DLC alone, as it offers all content in one package. This is often more cost-effective for new or returning players.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00.

Session length: 4.0h.

Players report early friction from a first-hour resource grind, multiplayer instability, and mixed new-civilization impressions, but the game becomes enjoyable later through smoother multiplayer and interesting civilizations.

Friction: First hour spent garrisoning every 20 seconds to grind resources; Multiplayer disconnections and crashes; New civilizations feel boring, uninteresting, and overpowered; Initial impressions of certain civilizations can be boring.

Unlock drivers: Multiplayer in 5.0 runs smoothly and restore game works; New civilizations are interesting to play in skirmish and multiplayer; Burmese turn out to be really great after sounding boring.

Solo Campaign Completionist: Single-player campaigns, mission replays, and achievement hunting against AI. Motivation: Experiencing new campaign missions and completing solo achievements. Stance: buy.

Competitive Multiplayer Meta Player: Ranked or team multiplayer, meta builds, and counter-picking new civilizations. Motivation: Gaining a competitive edge and exploring fresh multiplayer strategies. Stance: buy.

Nostalgic Franchise Veteran: Long-term franchise play across multiple expansions, often with skirmish or multiplayer variety. Motivation: Continuing a decades-long relationship with the series and completing the expansion collection. Stance: buy.

Monetization: The reviews focus on paid DLC expansions for Age of Empires II HD and the Definitive Edition, with mixed opinions on DLC pricing and bundle value. Some comments mention DLC availability and single-player functionality issues. There is no direct evidence of in-game microtransactions, real-money gacha, loot boxes, paid power, or a cash shop. Under the provided rules, traditional DLC and bundle-price complaints alone cannot push the score above 20.

DLC adds extensive content: The Rise of the Rajas DLC includes four new campaigns, multiple Southeast Asian civilizations, new maps, terrains, architecture, and voice sets. It significantly expands the base game with many hours of additional gameplay.

Ongoing community and tournaments: The game maintains a high player population, active tournaments, leagues, and a dedicated fanbase. The competitive scene continues to thrive.

Game longevity and updates: Age of Empires II has been actively supported for nearly 20 years, with regular updates, bug fixes, and new content. This longevity is praised by reviewers.

Value and pricing of editions: Reviewers discuss the pricing of the Definitive Edition compared to the base game and DLCs. The HD remaster includes some DLCs in its base game, which is seen as a welcomed gesture, and the DLC price is considered low compared to cosmetics in other games.

Comparison to previous DLCs: The expansion is often compared to earlier DLCs like The African Kingdoms and The Forgotten, with mixed opinions on whether it matches their quality. Some feel not much has changed.