Empire Earth

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Title : Empire Earth
Author : Sierra
Release Date : 20011114
Binding : CD-ROM
Regular Price : $29.99
Amazon.com Price : $17.77 (41 %)
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Editorial Reviews :
Unlike Age of Empires, which takes on a single slice of history, Empire Earth offers you the whole darn pie! You'll start a civilization, directing your cavemen to gather resources such as food, wood, gold, iron, and stone. Eventually you'll advance through every era of history, all the way to the far-flung future where giant robots armed with lasers dominate the battlefield.
Empire Earth is the first game from Stainless Steel Studios and Age of Empires co-creator Rick Goodman, and is everything that hard-core fans who conquered the Age of Empires games could want. Stainless Steel Studios managed to pack more sheer gameplay, units, options, and replayability into Empire Earth than any other real-time strategy game had before it. Best of all, the game is very much based on the interface and gameplay concepts that made Age of Empires and its sequel so much fun, so players of the earlier games can jump right in.

The core concept should be familiar to any real-time-strategy fan. Empire Earth has your citizens (called peasants in Age of Empires) gather resources so you can build various buildings and units. You have to gather wood, gold, stone, and food, as in the earlier game, but Empire Earth adds iron to the mix. Food is gathered from various colorful animals dotting the map, wood from forests, and the minerals from deposits scattered around. Gather enough stuff and you can advance through the ages; there are 16 of them here, from humankind's prehistoric past all the way to the future some 200 years hence. At the beginning, you'll be fielding club warriors, and at the end, massive robot tanks. In the middle you'll build archers, knights, infantry, tanks, etc. All told, the game features 20 buildings and some 200 units.

One major innovation is the full 3-D graphics engine. The engine lets you rotate and zoom in anywhere, which yields some impressive visuals. More strikingly, the game engine can showcase huge numbers of units in full conflict, and you will see massive battles throughout the ages. The game offers full multiplayer, several historical scenarios, a campaign mode, and a random map generator that can be tweaked to play in any age against any number of opponents, which is a great option.

There are other key differences that set Empire Earth apart from the pack. You can build prophets, who can then summon mighty calamities on your enemy. Think of them as divine spells. You can start a plague, call a rain of fire, or summon a massive earthquake, for example. Artillery, aircraft, and naval powers are also represented. You can staff your outposts with citizens to make them grow into more efficient town centers, thus increasing your power over the map and control of resources.

This complexity is the game's greatest strength, but also its biggest weakness. This isn't a game for the timid, the new, or the slow. If you thought Age of Empires was complicated when compared to other real-time fare such as WarCraft, you haven't seen anything yet. This sophistication can be a bad thing for new gamers, but Age of Empires players looking for a new challenge are in for a treat. --Bob Andrews

Buyer Reviews :
I must admit the opening sequence won me over, to wit: 'Few men have the ability to decide the lives of others' or something similar was what held my initial joy. Watching the video scenes that ranged from a shaman in a stone age culture to a world war captain fighting with lasers and pulse machine guns intrigued me.

This game is simply astounding!

The gameplay is amazing... it is the kind of game you have to get a full glass of icewater and maybe a snack and sit down and crack your knuckles then begin a TOTAL conquer of an enemy. As a superior (online anyway) veteran of AOE and AOK I must admit I was challenged beyond belief but not too much to make it not fun.

I need not go into minor details of gameplay...this is an RTS game BUT it has some important differences. Everything I hated about Age of Empires has been fixed:

1) The resources dont run out after like 800 gold...you get 30,000 for each mine. This means you spend more time on war strategy (which becomes important in 14 ages) once you secure (and usually fight for) resources later.

2) Normally in AOE you can choose a strategy you like (i.e. rushing to imperial and creating 50 paladins) and win. In this game there are so many counters to certain units you must learn and use them. It is more realistic this way.

3) Watching the little World War I units run around and make waste of your enemy. It is so awesome to have an 'Age of Empires' style game that has machine gun units, snipers, bombers, fighters, tanks, Anti-aircraft (stationary and mobile), and many others.

4) Let 's not forget the enormous fun of prehistoric age...Normally we all enjoy 'starting fresh' in AOE with the stone age. Well! In this game the stone age is an achievement. We start in PREHISTORIC age!!! You can fight with guys that chunk rocks and guys with clubs and branches (literally this is it until you get 1,122 food for stone age and it is AWESOME fun)

5) Let's not forget the little details most of which I cannot possibly remember. It's the little gameplay details that are so improved that I love. The zooming, the 'explore' function (even citizens or 'scout canine patrols' can explore the unexplored and fight what they find. To illustrate, remember those online AOE games where you have destroyed him but he wont quit? Send 12 or 13 soldiers on 'explore' mode to seek him out. Just wait until you purchase it, the explore mode is a stunning achievement for RTS.

6) Remember, You can start out at any age, or choose any sets of ages for game (i.e. only Renaissance to WWII or any combo).

I can't say enough good things about this game. I probably love it because of my history background but I don't know if I could not love it under any circumstances.

BUY IT NOW...cmon...its enormous..you normally buy crappy games with little to 'em, get something engaging now!

Buy it and play for 2 or 3 weeks like I have and then you will be right here like me, writing my first amazon review. The only reason I come out of internet anonymity to write this review is because I love this game that much. Think seriously about getting it...I mean it.

(by sargon27)

Features/Technical Specs :
* Spans 500,000 years
* 12 epochs allow play through all of human history
* Battle on land, air, and sea
* Unleash natural disasters and plagues
* Enlist Napoleon, Patton, and other heroes to lead forces

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