I never could get into AoE2, the fact that all civilizations are fundamentally the same with a few unique technologies, some aesthetic differences and 1 or 2 unique units is just lazy as hell. It's especially bad when I tried to play campaign and you had the Ethiopian missions with white dudes in European outfits as playable "Ethiopian" units. It just took me right out of it.I have a long history of complaining about that and the overall inaccuracy of the Turks civilization.
Problem is that aoe2 has one of the most dedicated fanboy bases out there. Even at the most accurate criticism, they bury you to the ground.
AoE3 is a bit better on that account if only because they put effort into making the civilizations actually feel and play somewhat different instead of copy-pasted with some minor changes.