Each to their own though. Personally, 1 saw more than enough of EE to get excited about Finally, I asked Goodman how much Age Of Empires had influenced Empire Earth, as the two titles bear more than a passing resemblance to each other. I'm getting the chance to do those things now in Empire Earth. That much is clear, as EE is a huge leap forward from those early days of the RTS, and its scope and ambition, if realised in the end product, could well put even the brilliance of Civilization in the shade.
Only time will tell if it's just another RTS with a few novelties or a huge step forward for the genre, but if AOE is anything to go by, Goodman and co could well have a product that joins the much-welcomed recent crop of games which further their genre. Empire Earth is without doubt one of the most stunning feats of endeavour since I Iannibal squeezed his elephants over the Alps.
Covering more than , years of inglorious war spanning 14 epochs, this is the kind of game you can take to school, play during history and get away with it on educational grounds. But let's not get carried away. Sure, the researchers for EE must have exhausted the world's supply of Prozac months ago, but the fact remains it's just a damn game. The influence of AOE is palpable, and diere are even sound effects like mining and building that are exactly the same. However, with this being a beta version, it's likely that the final sound files have yet to be added.
What of the famous epochs then? The epoch system itself actually works in the same way as technology progressed in AOE. In other words, once you've gathered enough resources and established certain key structures such as barracks and stables, you move onwards to new technology and a truly awesome amount of upgrades.
For example, once you reach into the Atomic Age, towers become 88mm AA guns and docks become naval shipyards. Likewise, special 'hero' units like Napoleon make way for the likes of Baron Richthofen. Basically, Empire Earth is all about speed. The faster you progress through the epochs the stronger your weapons, beliefs and heroes become, and thus you're more likely to trounce opponents.
We hate to keep going on about it, but the whole framework of the game is virtually a copy of AOE even down to the collection of food, wood, stone, gold and iron resources. When it comes to the multiplayer game Well, you'll hardly notice the difference. One notable difference though, is the option to call upon metaphysical powers. With a temple and a powerful priest you can bring forth such spectacles as volcanoes, earthquakes and tornadoes.
Wonders also play a very major part in the spiritual side of the game, with buildings such as the Tower of Babylon and Library of Alexandria helping to reveal the enemy strongholds and to convert enemy civilians.
Although we've been informed that the A1 has yet to be finalised it's nice to see most of the units have a brain. Unit path-finding is good, and military types appear to know their stuff when it comes to battle positions - they even have the good sense to retreat when being pasted. There are also four different behaviour patterns to choose from including guard mode, patrol mode, aggressive mode and defensive mode.
Our personal favourite is the 'explore' icon that unsurprisingly sets your selected unit wandering off into the wilderness. So, if you've had enough of manually exploring fog-of-war, you can understand what a stroke of pure genius this particular option is.
Even panicky farmers seem to have lost their usual simple view of life by adopting a brave 'never say die' attitude that keeps them glued to fields in all but the most violent attack. We only have one problem with the units at this stage of development and that's the way they keep getting lost behind buildings. But, it's a simple problem and should be easy enough to fix.
By far the most striking thing about EE is the whole atmosphere. The music varies depending on the epoch, and along with the graphical changes occurring throughout the game there's a real sense of purpose to the proceedings. EE also hints at a unique rawness that AOE never managed. The liberal use of blood and the ability to zoom right into the action helps of course, but there's something else there that we can't quite put our finger on So, with a couple of months to go before release Empire Earth is looking and feeling good about itself.
Our only major criticism at this point is the blatant lack of originality, but if Stainless Steel Studios is sacrificing that for good old fashioned playability, who are we to complain? Although Empire Earth bares many similarities to Age Of Empires, its one defining difference is that you can zoom right into the thick of the action. But can you really play from this view, or is it just a flashy feature that will look great but be useless in terms of gameplay?
Having spent the best part of a week playing the Beta, I have to admit it's nearly impossible to play from this view. However, it's pretty quick and easy to zoom in and out, so the best thing to do is issue your orders from the standard overhead view and then zoom in to take a quick look at the carnage, which you have to admit, looks pretty spectacular up close.
There has to have been a time - perhaps when you're waiting for that bus that never comes or when your mind is drifting while you're talking to the world's most boring person - that your thoughts have turned to what could possibly be the perfect computer game.
While this is subjective to a large degree, there are certain game concepts that just cannot be argued with. One of them is a game called Civilization which is arguably the most original and addictive game ever created. However, while RTS games are undoubtedly more exciting than their turn-based counterparts, they have never managed to display the sheer depth and complexity of the mighty Civilization.
Civs graphical simplicity allowed it to give gamers a huge and diverse amount of choices in which to play the game, and a technology tree that RTS games could only dream about.
It appears to be obvious then, that any game that could marry the timeline and complexity of Civilization with the edge-of-the-seat excitement of an RTS game, would surely be the perfect strategy game, or at least as damn close as you're ever going to get. That hypothetical game has finally arrived, and its name is Empire Earth.
Empire Earth takes you from prehistoric times right through to modern times and beyond, covering every important stage of human evolution along the way. It's mighty ambitious, and the developers have not skimped in terms of diversity of units and technology as you are taking on a massive tour through human history. You'll discover the obligatory mass slaughter along the way that only the human race would ever think of imposing upon itself at every opportunity.
In terms of look and feel, you will be on familiar ground right from the moment you load up the game and dive into the prehistoric era. In fact it's not unfair to describe it as AOE with a lot more epochs and a lot more units, so similar are the two titles. This, as we all know, is no bad thing. This one of the best RTS games we've ever seen, so any game that claims to be AOE with knobs on surely can't be a bad thing, right?
Well, yes, and no. While there's nothing particularly wrong with 2D strategy games, we have come to expect proper 3D in just about every genre these days, and it's something of a shock to find that Empire Earth, although 3D, has ditched its free-roaming camera and instilled a fixed-angle view, although you can still zoom in and out.
This has obviously been done for gameplay reasons so you don't get lost while you're swirling around but its looks suffer accordingly. And, the problem we have with EE is not purely aesthetic. You'll often find yourself swirling your mouse round to look behind buildings, only to remember that you can't. Almost imperceptibly, 'true' 3D has become as important to gameplay as it has to aesthetic prowess, and while it's not an insurmountable problem in EEs case, it's certainly jolting for the first few hours of play.
The only redeeming feature in this particular area is the ability to zoom in very close to units so you can see the amount of detail on them. This is more or less a novelty feature however since you never actually play the game from this viewpoint, and unless you want to play the game with no clue what the enemy is doing, you will play with the camera zoomed as tar out from the landscape as you can get.
Apparently, a 30 camera is fully supported in the code but didn't make it into the final product. Technically then, EE does itself no favours. However, once you get beyond the game's technical limitations, there is much to enjoy. At its core, EE is basically a very simplistic real-time strategy game. Build, explore, fight, it really is that simple. Unlike most games of this ilk however, EE takes you through many eras of time, and the units and buildings you create all change to reflect the time period you are playing in.
As was the case with AOE, there are only a few resources to collect in the game: wood, stone, iron, gold and food. All these resources are needed to create your buildings and units, and in time-honoured RTS tradition, you will find yourself collecting these resources while at the same time attempting to crush your opposition with military units.
It's a winning formula, and in fiFit's a much more appealing one since you get a mind boggling selection of units to play around with. From prehistoric times right through to the Nano age, you will get what at times seems to an endless supply of new vehicles and ground units of all shapes and sizes.
Empire Earth is a brilliant real time strategy genre without rules. Empire Earth 1 is a real time strategy game by Sierra Entertainment. This game basically with some additional campaigns and features. The Gameplay and graphics is very reminiscent of the Age of Empires series, with cities taking the place of town centers. But different the evolution from stone age to the Nano Age seemed an innovative idea. They are quite different games, the campaigns of Empire Earth are historically accurate and a bunch of fun to play.
Empire Earth will once again set the standard for real time strategy games with the latest technology and features. Empire Earth 1 will show you all the faces of ancient and modern warfare. Civilization points earned after completing objectives can be used to buy specific improvements for buildings, peasants, or military units. Everything from swordsmen to cyberbots can be built faster, stronger, and cheaper, giving players unheard of customization opportunities for their society.
Additional building improvements can be researched and individual unit types will specialize for a modest cost of gold, wood, iron, or stone. Players cannot rely on one unit type, as it is still a highly developed game of rock-scissors-paper, or, in this case, spear vs. Still, commanders can shape their strategies around key weapon types using these advancements, giving even more depth and variation to the solid design.
While Empire Earth may be an offshoot if not spiritual successor of Age of Empires, it doesn't have the meticulously clean and crisp graphics of that series. The polygons comprising the host of tanks, ships, planes, and people are somewhat blocky even at the best resolution and even worse when viewed close up.
After a while, the flat-faced characters develop their own charm, but it is an acquired taste. Movement animations are fairly good. Planes tumble from the sky convincingly and ships sink realistically. Ship battles look better than air and land battles, as the multi-tiered water makes for neat submarine and torpedo effects.
The camera, unfortunately, fails to take full advantage of the polygon playing field. While it does a fine job of scrolling in for intimate cut-scenes, there is no swivel command, which would have been helpful in locating hidden units behind trees or buildings.
Also, the polygon count adds up quickly in multiplayer games with high populations, resulting in major slowdown for lower end computers. Continuity through the ages requires not only cohesive graphics, but sounds as well.
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