I must say that this game is the best game I have ever played.  I bought this game a year ago and I have been getting better and better ever since.  For those of you who don't know, Age of Empires 2: Age of kings is a game where you choose from 13 diffrent ancient civilizations( Teutons, Celts, Byzantines, Persians, etc) and build a Powerful Empire, then you destroy other players empires.  The diffrent civilizations have almost completely diffrent technologies so it is impossible to get bored.  The best part of AOK is multiplayer.  I have made so many friends and have had so much fun.  The most popular types of play online are Random Map (RM) and Deathmatch (DM).  Random Map is where you start with a limited supply of resources in a dark time or the Dark Ages and work your way up.  Death Match is where you start in the Post-Imperial Age with a huge supply of resources and basically get straight to the battle.  Of course there are Scenerios, and Regicide but those aren't as popular.  Another fun aspect of online play is the rating system.  With this sytem you can see how you rank up to other players.  In conclusion I would like to say one thing, BUY THIS GAME!  YOU WONT REGRET IT!