Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings doesn't reinvent the RTS formula but its one of the best games in the popular genre.
The gameplay is extremely smooth in Age of Kings making it easy to learn the basics of the game quickly. If you have ever played any other RTS game, you should know the basics already as this is exactly similar to other real-time strategy games. The interface is well thought out making it easier to control your army than in some other games in the genre. More importantly though is that Age of Kings is very fun to play.
The graphics in the game look good but not great by any means. Other RTS games were able to have more advanced graphics in their games, so why this game doesn't feature as good graphics is a question only the developers can answer.
The sound in the game is also good with plenty of variety. This is good because there is a lot of sound during the game, from the trumpet that sounds whenever your units are attacked to the celtic bagpipes played in the starting celtic campaign. The voice acting is also done well but not as good as other similar games.
The value of the game is amazing. This game offers dozens of hours of gameplay in the single-player campaign, the random map feature that creates a randomly generated map to play, various other game types like deathmatch, and great multiplayer action. The single-player campaign feature historical events ranging from the French Joan of Arc campaign to the Genghis Khan campaign. The random map feature is the single best part of the game and where you will spend most of your time.
This game is extremely enjoyable, that provides a good challenge to all RTS gamers, and if you are going to buy an RTS game this year it might as well be this one because the great experience you are getting out of the game.