22-Nov-2001 His mission, should he choose to accept it, is to review the most eagerly anticipated real-time strategy game of the year. "Oh alright then," says Chris Anderson His mission, should he choose to accept it, is to review the most eagerly anticipated real-time strategy game of the year. "Oh alright then," says Chris Anderson
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. Over the years it's lost some of its appeal with the arrival of a legion of real-time-strategy games which came on the scene, spilled Civ's pint and threw sand in its turn-based face. 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. Civ's 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.
In the beginning... 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. It looks and feels like Age Of Empires, largely because it's been designed by the same guy who worked on AOE (Rick Goodman). 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. AOE is 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.
Dimensional dilemma 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 EE's 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 far out from the landscape as you can get. Apparently, a 3D 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.
Time travel 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 EE it'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 be an endless supply of new vehicles and ground units of all shapes and sizes. Imagine AOE taken way past its four epochs to its logical conclusion with futuristic warfare and you pretty much have EE in a nutshell. For this reason, it's supremely playable and totally engrossing for the length of time you spend playing it. Our only reservation is its long-term appeal. We went from the first epoch right through to the end of the game in just two days, at two different difficulty levels. Either we are unbeatable at strategy games, or the designers made it too easy to upgrade from one epoch to the next (I suspect the latter – Ed). There is no doubt that if you like real-time strategy games, you will not be at all disappointed in EE, but unless you want to play with the pre-defined scenarios and campaigns once you finish the game 'proper', you may feel a little short-changed at the length of time it takes you to complete it. That said, Empire Earth is a very solid RTS with a huge amount of depth and variety in terms of units and buildings. Even if you only play it for a couple of days just to get through all the different epochs, it's worth the asking price for that alone.
Chris Anderson
// Overview
Verdict
Excellent while it lasts, which is not as long as we would have liked
Uppers
Covers all crucial eras in the history of mankind Mind-boggling variety of units and buildings Great sound effects throughout
Downers
Impressive but nothing we haven't seen and played before Irritating AI Too easy to complete
There are 12 main epochs in the game, and they all bring with them new units and technologies. It seems a little easy at times to get from one era to the next, particularly if you have ample resources, but it's always exciting when it happens and you get new toys to play with. Here are some of the epochs you will find in the game.
This is where it all begins. First things first, get a scout dog and look for food.
In the Bronze Age you can create a granary and no longer have to hunt or forage for food.
Horses come into play in the Middle Ages, and upgrades feature units on horseback.
At last, lots of units with guns. In the Imperial Age too, whenever that was.
Cannons and Elite guards make an appearance, amongst other things.
Note how the graphics change to reflect the time period. Very nice.
World War II. And here's a few Sherman tanks I made earlier.
Look, you're in the future now, with robots and everything.
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Covers all crucial eras in the history of mankind
