Age of Empires II HD is going to Africa this week

I hear the drums echoing tonight

The team at Forgotten Empires is keeping the real-time strategy dream alive in 2015. On Thursday, Age of Empires II HD will get a new expansion called The African Kingdoms.

Running down this latest trailer, you can expect to find four fully voiced campaigns for the new civilizations (Malians, Berbers, Ethiopians, and Portuguese), reworked water battles, and a Sudden Death mode.

As for new maps, we’re looking at five random maps, eight real-world maps, and ten special maps. With that latter group, the developers hope to “challenge team play in unconventional ways” and “force players to cooperate.”

Lastly, there’s going to be improved AI and balance updates, though Forgotten Empires hasn’t gotten into specific changes yet. Look for detailed patch notes on November 5.

I’m happy to see games like Age of Empires and Age of Mythology still going strong, but I’d be even happier if Blizzard would remaster the classic Warcraft titles. They know we want it.