Age of Empires 2 Update: Rise Of The Rajas DLC Set In Southeast Asia; Epic Strategy Game Still In Demand

Age of Empires 2 HD is shaking up the RTS world with its brand new DLC called Rise of the Rajas. The new Age of Empires II expansion is set in Southeast Asia and introduces four new civilizations.

Here are short descriptions of Age of Empires 2 DLC civilizations as seen on Steam:

Burmese - Assemble the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia through a legion of Battle Elephants that can demolish the most powerful of defenses. The Burmese unique unit is the Arambai, a ranged cavalry unit with a deadly but low accuracy attack.

Khmer - Construct the largest religious monument in the world and amass an immortal army of devastating siege weapons. The Khmer unique unit is the Ballista Elephant, a mounted scorpion that can be upgraded to fire two bolts simultaneously.

Malay - Conquer Southeast Asia with the vast island empire of Malay and upgrade your docks to harbours which can shoot arrows. The Malay unique unit is the Karambit Warrior, an extremely cheap infantry unit that can quickly overwhelm its foes.

Vietnamese - Lead your people to independence and wage guerilla warfare with an extremely powerful arsenal of ranged units. The Vietnamese unique unit is the Rattan Archer, a heavily-armored ranged unit that is effectively impervious to enemy archer attacks.

Players should expect 4 new fully-voiced campaigns in Age of Empires 2 Rise of The Rajas DLC: Gajah Mada, Suryavarman, Bayinnaung, and Le Loi. A "slow but powerful cavalry" called The Battle Elephant will also be available as a generic unit to the new civilizations while another unit called the Imperial Skirmisher, an upgrade to Elite Skirmisher, will only be available to the Vietnamese and its allies. Players might also see a shift in playstyle with the inclusion of a new terrain type which will be featured on each of the five new random maps.

Age of Empires II returns, but did it really go away? The HD version of Age of Empires 2 came out in 2013. An expansion called The Forgotten came out later that year, followed by The African Kingdoms in 2015. The first Age of Empires II title however came to the PC in 1999.

Age of Empires 2 HD: Rise of the Rajas will be released next week Dec. 19 but pre-orders are now available.