Rise of Nations (PC CD)

 

 

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What do you get when you combine 'Age of Empires' with 'Sid Meier's Civilization' and add a little bit of 'Risk' to the mix? The answer: Rise of Nations. To be fair though the game is much more than the sum of its parts, and it does offer a few interesting new ideas that put it above your usual historical RTS.

Anyone who's familiar with Empire Earth and other games of its type will feel right at home with this game. You are basically given command of one nation (there is a choice of up to 18 of them including the British, Germans, Romans, Aztecs, Chinese, Nubians and Turks) whose destiny you must guide through eight historical epochs, from ancient times to the modern era.

Build cities, research technologies, construct wonders, establish trade routes and defeat your enemies. All the tried and tested hallmarks of the Strategy genre are here. What makes Rise of Nations different is that it is a lot more in-depth than yor average strategy game. Like 'Civilization' you can construct cities which the enemy must capture in order to win. This means you have concrete objectives and goals, as you and the enemy factions wrestle to control these important strategic sites.

Another great feature is the 'national border'. Your strength is measured in how much territory you control, which is shown by a coloured line that shifts as you increase or lose your power. You can increase this power by building forts and cities as well as researching new technologies. The larger your borders, the greater amount of gold you produce, and hence the more soldiers you can train. If you cross an enemy's border without officially declaring war your own soldiers suffer attrition damage. This adds a whole lot of interesting new strategies to every level.

The game has internet and LAN multiplayer, a 6 level tutorial, a single player Skirmish mode, and one campaign. The campaign allows you to play as a nation of your choice. You start out on a 'Risk' style turn based map of the world, and your objective is to conquer every territory on the map. The game's length stretches from the Bronze Age to the near future, giving you a varied experience whenever you play it. You move your army, which is shown as chess style figure into enemy territory. Just like the 'Total War' games, it then switches to a Real Time level where you must complete a number of tasks such as conquer neighbouring tribes, or hold out against enemy attacks for 15 minutes, in order to win. By subduing enemies you win tribute, gain 'top trumps' style cards (which can be 'played' to give you advantages in future battles) and depots to train new armies.

The camapign can be difficult to get into, and it's not as pretty as the 'Total War' style campaigns but it's still a lot of fun to play.

Overall this is a varied and brilliant game. It can be difficult to get into, as it can sometimes overwhelm you with the options, but if you stick with it it'll soon become one of your favourite games. The graphics are getting really old by now (the game was released four years ago) but it still looks ok. I gave this four stars, but with the expansion pack 'Thrones and Patriots' it easily becomes a five star game. Buy it!

Must say this is just the best RTS game imo. Advance through ages, manage an economy and military. Decent graphics seeing that its made in 2003 and ALOT of content. Very fun LAN game to play.

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