Just thinking about this game almost makes me cry in tears of happiness.
The game play is awesome, even random maps versus computers can provide countless hours of fun. The difficulties are perfect, my cousins and I play this game on LAN every now and again, and we are always looking forward to facing the Emperor difficulties.
The players of this game always weren't very high. Even in its heyday of the year 2005 the highest I ever saw the player count was 750+
It is unrealistic but that's what makes it fun, anyone can install the game and know what to do, unlike many strategy games released in this day and age.
This game is very similar to AoE2, but I wish it had been as appreciated as it.
Today for new players there isn't much point in playing it, the fun of online can't be experienced anymore, I mainly just play it for the nostalgia. But I can say this, it is the greatest game I have ever played.