Worth the cost when you wanted to wait for AoE2. Now it serves a lesson to show where gaming has been coming from.
Which is essentially a bad thing. You need to experience this game BEFORE its sequel. So you can feel the genius rise when you play sequels, and see the improvements and thought the creators put in this game.
Honnest to say, even though I'm no true RTS'er, if I do want to play one, I would still prefer its sequel above this.
But in my childhood, speaking many many years ago, the game was probably a pinnacle of my games-collection.
Though the gameplay (again, for its time) was exciting, the storylines and such never really felt unique. Sure, there were certain requirements, things you had to do, but the cinematics were old and unsatisfying.
Don't buy this just to find out how its Cinematics were.
Buy it for being nostalgic. No other reason :P
In final.
The only reason it still diserves a 7 in 2009 is because it should be recognised as a classic that 'got things going'.
I don't know if AoE invented it, but it sure embodies the roots of RTS for me.