Addressing the different mix of powers, the developers have attempted to inject new conflicts and dynamics with the Age of Kings expansion. The Conquerors adds five new races, the Spanish, Aztec, Mayans, Huns and the Koreans, into the mix, giving players the opportunity to rediscover the different powers advantages and interactions. In the case of the Koreans, both the War Wagon and the Turtle Ship offer a clear advantage during offensive attacks while the Spanish almost become a little bit too strong with their Conquistador, which is available without researching gunpowder and is able to travel long distances much faster than a hand cannoneer from Age of Kings.

The two New World races, the Aztecs and Mayans, do not have mounted units since horses were not native to that part of the world. Since they were not extremely strong powers in real life, they are a challenge to play as they seem to be at a small disadvantage in the game as well. While these two races are geographically set apart from all of the other races, the addition makes a bit of sense while playing against the Spanish, but it's a pity other colonized territories were not included in this expansion. Maybe the next version of the title will feature colonized races and territories as the age of exploration, or the age of colonization. Either way, it will be interesting to see if that title would err on the side of political correctness or accuracy.

To make the "New World" setting all the more authentic, you can now choose to play the real world map, but still have the option of types of geographical settings like Mediterranean, continental and so forth. Though the real world map puts players in the area that the races would end up, the location is not always exact. Also, the real world maps tend not to have the whole world but rather the whole continent and surrounding landmasses so that the map is not overwhelmingly water based. In addition, while recreating the world maps, the scale is also not exactly consistent. It is really difficult to build a full city in an appropriate real world area. When it comes to Florida, a building can impose on the entire southern tip – which is fine if you want to build the University of Miami.

In addition to the new races and map settings, The Conquerors includes several new campaigns that add a great deal to the game. While campaigns have been present in each of the Age of Empires titles and expansions, the campaigns included here are Attila the Hun, El Cid, Montezuma and Battles of the Conquerors. In the scenarios, some of the action is contrived almost to the point of cut scenes but without changing the perspective, and there are clearly defined mission objectives to be carried out. Of course, the components opponents generally have the distinct advantage of having established villages when the scenario starts, so the campaigns can be very challenging.