Ensemble Studios might be closed, but Age of Empires 2 is still very much alive. For one, a 50,000$ team tournament is scheduled for March 2014[1], and a 20,000$ 1v1 tourney has just finished a week ago!
There is a UserPatch that is in active development, adding such things as widescreen, multi-monitor support and fixing tons of bugs that have existed for 14 years[2].
Of course there's also the new HD version, which is in active development, but also kind of bug-ridden. A popular AoE2 caster and commentator by the name of ZeroEmpires has a nice quick video on the current AoE scene[3].
AoE2 is still a triple-A RTS game, even after more than a decade of abandonment ;)
e; 0ad is really nice as well. Actually, I've not played it a lot at all, but from what I've experienced it's better than Age of Empires 3. It lacks some of the strategic aspect of AoE2 but wins in other areas (such as, not having archaic graphics, and supporting monitors > 1280x800 out of the box.)
There is a UserPatch that is in active development, adding such things as widescreen, multi-monitor support and fixing tons of bugs that have existed for 14 years[2].
Of course there's also the new HD version, which is in active development, but also kind of bug-ridden. A popular AoE2 caster and commentator by the name of ZeroEmpires has a nice quick video on the current AoE scene[3].
AoE2 is still a triple-A RTS game, even after more than a decade of abandonment ;)
[1] http://www.aoczone.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=96960 [2] http://userpatch.aiscripters.net/ [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_uOIV3SkAc
e; 0ad is really nice as well. Actually, I've not played it a lot at all, but from what I've experienced it's better than Age of Empires 3. It lacks some of the strategic aspect of AoE2 but wins in other areas (such as, not having archaic graphics, and supporting monitors > 1280x800 out of the box.)