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This is a difficult, rewarding action/strategy history sim

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 49 / 49
Date: December 07, 2001
Author: Amazon User

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.

I have played it - and it's AWESOME

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 63 / 71
Date: September 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

First of all, let me reply to the criticism this game has received. How can one review it if they haven't played it? Well, there are screenshots, movies, and info all over the internet you can find. Also, many people have already tried the game at an electronics expo, and they are all equally stunned by the huge scope, great graphics, and overall perfection of this game. And, since the middle of August, thousands of people (including me) are participating in the public beta testing of Empire Earth. Trust me, I've played it, I've seen it. Also, someone said that this is just another Age of Empires, boring old RTS. Well let me tell you: this game is NOT Age of Empires. The gameplay is very different, and takes some time to get used to if you are an Age of Kings player. The sheer scope of this game, with 14 historical epochs, makes it much much larger than any other RTS ever. When playing the ancient epochs, it feels like Age of Empires. When playing the middle ages, it feels like Age of Kings. When playing the world wars, it feels like - nothing else out there. When playing the future epochs - it's even cooler.

Now that I've addressed that, there's not much more to say except: BUY THIS GAME. If you like strategy games, you will LOVE this one.

I've played the demo and it rocks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 57 / 63
Date: October 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Let me preface this by saying this game is going to be the best RTS game in a long time. It's funny; there are quite a few games coming out now that are just going to make these companies even more rich: EE is going to be number 1 for a long time.

In the Demo, you have 4 tutorial missions and then 2 regular missions from a campaign. The visuals are stunning. If you liked Age of Empires II, you will love this game. There are citizens who are your villagers, and they are smart, just like they are in The Conquerors X-pack. There are many new features that will be new to RTS players:

1. Hospital: It heals your units if they are close
2. University: Just like any ole' college, except if your units are close to it, they cannot be converted by priests/monks/etc.
3. Wonders: Now the wonders you build actually do you some good. For example, building Alexander's lighthouse will enable you to see every naval activity on the oceans and rivers. Building the Colliseum will increase your build limit and DECREASE your opponents build limit. Very cool.
4. Unit balance: Never before have I seen such balance in military units. AOE tried to combat this, but you could still wreck ungodly havoc on your enemies with a herd of Paladins. No more in this game. You HAVE to support your units with auxillary units or they'll be crushed. Tank rush has been 100% eliminated because of this. In other games that boasted this, it was true to a certain extent, but this game actually delivers true military balance on the battlefield.

Some other new features is the addition of prophets/evangels/etc. They can call upon the wrath of God and unleash earthquakes, firestorms, all that good stuff.

The visuals are beautiful, the sounds are better than any other RTS game on the market right now. Enemy AI is better than any I've seen too, and I've seen most every RTS out there. It's almost like the producers took the best features from AOE, Starcraft, and the Command and Conquer series of games and rolled them into one, giant, kickin' game.

I would download the demo and play it while you're waiting for the release date. This game is going to be very special indeed.

An Incredible game! A must buy for expert and novice gamers.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 33 / 34
Date: November 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

If you can only pick one game to buy this christmas, it should be Empire Earth. This game is like having 10 games in 1. When you compare the scope of Empire Earth to Age of Kings, Age of Kings has 4 ages while Empire Earth has 14. In addition, the 14 epochs of Empire Earth have as many or more units that age of kings!

Now, I'm not one to jump on the bandwagon, and I've heard everyone raving about this game. I thought, 'sure, I bet it's great'. I must say, after playing it for almost a week solid, I have to jump on the bandwagon, this game IS incredible! I don't want to put up the huge list of features, but in short:
Great multiplayer, great AI, great single player campaigns, and an amazing scenerio editor are just a few.

In fact, the only negative for the game is that the multi-player online system (won.net) could be better by adding more chat features and ranking systems. But that has nothing to do with the ingame play. On modems, the game runs smooth as silk! I just can't say enough for this game.

I'd easily recommend this over Civ 3, Star Wars battlegrounds, and Battle Realms.

So if your looking for a 'sure winner' game, you can't go wrong with Empire Earth. People will be playing this game for years to come.

Age of Empires 3++

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 27 / 27
Date: December 01, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game might be called "Empire Earth" but in all reality, it's the next bold installment in the "Age of Empires" saga. While it sports a different name and a new home (Sierra), the lead designer of "Ages" has done much more than make a mere sequel. While AOE2 was the next logical step from AOE1 historically and technically, Empire Earth takes a giant leap forward encompassing all aspects of human history and even takes a stab at the future (which is a little depressing considering there are only a couple of ages after the modern age. Are they trying to tell us something?)

The interface is basically the same as AOE with many of the same old buttons and features, but the graphics are now 3D, and it allows you to take your perspective all the way to the ground to get an up-close view of your troops, your buildings and the combat in progress. The 3D graphics really do make a huge difference in visual quality. I was never really disappointed with AOE1 or 2's 2D stuff, but now I'm spoiled.

The scope of the game eclipses the AOE series so completely that there really is no going back for me. While both the previous games only had 4 "ages" each, Empire Earth gives us 14 total "epochs" to play in. Imagine starting in the stone-age with cave men tossing stones and beating each other to death with clubs, then potentially transcending to a future where giant mech's wreak havoc and cyborgs rule the earth. My personal favorites are in the "Atomic era" which includes WW1, WW2 and the modern era.

With 14 eras to play in, there are hundreds of units to build. Advancing to the next epoch can make all the difference between victory and defeat. While most of the era's prior to WW1 offer new versions of old favorites (cavalry, archers, siege weapons, etc.) the Atomic ages offer aircraft and the game takes a real leap forward. There's something special about building a fleet of Aircraft Carriers, parking them in a safe spot, launching dozens sometimes hundreds of F-14's like a huge swarm then sending in a squadron of B-29's or B-52's to drop nukes on your enemy. Airports and carriers work a little differently from other units; relying heavily on waypoints, which can take some getting used too.

The future ages present yet another level with cybernetic units. In the "Nano-epoch", the last age of the game, you can build 10 different types of mechs, all with their own distinct advantages and disadvantages. Of course, there are also futuristic versions of all the previous units to play with as well.

I've been playing this game religiously for a little over a week and I've only begun to scratch the surface. I've yet to play all the epochs and there are some units I haven't even seen yet. I haven't even begun any of the historical campaigns yet. Playing any one epoch is worth the price of the game and can stand on its own as a quality product. With 14 epoch's, the variety seems almost endless.

One thing worth mentioning is the difficulty of the game. Amazon mentions it in their review and I must agree. I've been playing the AOE series since the day the first one came out, and I'm fairly decent at them, but Empire Earth is kicking my (...). Even set to "easy" this is a very complicated game. The computer seems to take advantage of it's ability to multi-task, something that I can only try to keep up with. The skirmishes seem to take hours to finish, and often I find myself being defeated after hours of play. It can be a little frustrating at first, but if you're not afraid of a real challenge, with extremely dynamic game-play, this one is for you. A must buy for ANY old Age of Empires fan.

I Have Been Beta Testing This Game For A While Now...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 29 / 30
Date: October 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

MAGNIFICENT! This game at first struck me as an advanced AoC with the few good points of Cossacks added in. The graphics are beautiful now and they are still improving them. With a capacity of more than 1000 units (I think it will settle at 1200 or 1400, but it may be even more), the scope of the battles can be tremendous. Unlike the age-race that some envisioned, this game is an intricate balance of diversity and dynamicism. Even with the vast array of units, every single one has a formidable counter that can't be overcome by sheer numbers; Gone are the days of mass archer or knight rushes, a balanced army and economy are the only true paths to victory. There is not and never will be a standard opening in this game; Players will be able to evolve different but equal strategies based on their own prefered style of play. The micromanagement has been shifted from the economic to the military side of the game, where it belongs; A poor general(player) WILL lose to a lesser force. The custom civ feature is a welcome addition to any who have ever had the frustration of deciding what bonuses would be most enjoyable (and exploitable) for their own play style. The AI is brilliant and some of the top players haven't yet been able to master even the medium difficulty level (although I own the AI except on hardest), it has a fluid plan that adapts to the stratagies sent against it and is nearly as entertaining as a competent human player (lack of chat nothwithstanding, although it does occassionally talk a little smack..."What a lovely wonder I will enjoy seeing it fall" , things to that effect). Every building and unit has a real purpose (no filler) and figuring out how to use them is but one of the steps on the path to mastery. This game will overwelm the RTS world in the same fasion that Age did, but it will do it swifter and more completely. No other game on the horizon will touch this game until at least Age of Mythology and I honestly have to doubt it will be able to keep pace, despite it's more enviable (i.e. later) development allowance. I still will anticipate AoM greatly, but many will prefer the more realistic approach of this masterpiece of programming. For a game to attempt so much...and achieve it in totality is mind-staggering. Don't wait on this one as it will be the standard by which other RTSs are judged for the forseeable future.
-true__ibnFrey

Beta tester also, I LOVE IT! (and so does my honey...)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 32 / 35
Date: November 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

(...)

My fiance and I have been participating in the Public Beta, which has been going on since August (i think). I've played various RTS games over the years (Warcraft, Warcraft 2, Starcraft, C&C, AOE2) and I really loved AOE2 Age of Kings/The Conquerors. My fiance's favorite game of all time is Starcraft, which I only mildly enjoyed. I was skeptical and was dragged into it by my beloved, but as it turns out, both of us love this game! We've been playing it every night for the last month. It's incredible addicting and rates very high on the fun factor because it combines all the best qualities of some other treasured games. I would describe this game as a combination of AOE2+Civilization+SimCity with Black&White graphics and better (and getting better) AI. The Beta version is a work in progress and really has gotten much better and more balanced with every update. Neither of us can wait 'til the final release comes out.

The Beta Version of the game only covers 4 epochs or "ages" (Renaissance Through World War I), while the final version of the game is supposed to have something like 12. I was already amazed with the sheer number of units and diversity of the kinds of units and upgrades you can use in the 4 epochs. It's going to be even more overwhelming when you have access to all 12 epochs. EE has similar units to those in AOE2, but with several extra specialized units (like prophets, medics, snipers, bombers, etc.) The cool part about this is that you have much greater flexibility in customizing your own strategy against other players. For example, I've been building tons of prophets, which can be really frustrating for your opponents (hehe), and snipers, which are excellent for hiding in the foliage and foiling your enemy's expansion plans. Also, upgrades are done at the unit level, not at a building, and are very specific. This means that you can spend resources upgrading only the units you use, instead of, for example, upgrading all infantry units at the Blacksmith like in AOE2. Additionally, you can use the custom civilization feature and customize all your own civilization bonuses. My fiance and I always use this instead of choosing the predefined civilizations.

EE also has some unique types of building in addition to the types that are available in AOE2. Some of these buildings have an "area of influence", like in SimCity, that provide some special bonus to the units/buildings within it. These buildings include (but are not limited to) the capital, hospital, university, and temple. This means that you need to do a little bit of city planning to get the most out of your buildings. You can build Wonders, like the ones in Civilization, which give you additional special bonuses. Also, buildings become obsolete as you progress through the ages, while others become available.

One last thing that I really like about EE are the "Heroes". You can build either a warrior or a strategist, which is a special unit that has tons of hitpoints and can do a lot of damage. However, you don't really want use this unit to attack since you can only build one of each. Instead, Heroes have an "area of influence" and troops that are within this area of influence are super-energized for some reason or other. Neither of us can pinpoint exactly what it is yet, but we just know that our units are definitely more effective when a Hero is around. Also, a Hero can emit a "battle cry" which totally ruins your enemy's troops' morale. I'm not sure if all the Heroes have it, but Elizabeth definitely has one foul mouth.:)

The one negative thing I can say about this game is that every now and then the AI does something really irritating, like have a few units wander from the pack, chasing a citizen, into the line of fire of a tower, but this is to be expected I suppose. (Nothing really can be more irritating than having a monk in your group trying to convert an enemy unit you're attacking instead of healing your group, and then converting the enemy unit right before it dies... argh. Good news: EE doesn't have any monks. Yay! Instead, there are medics and priests.)

EE is such a complex game (already, and this is just the Beta) that I don't think I can cover all the things I already love about this game. I think it will be replacing AOE2 as my favorite game. If you love RTS games, I think that you will definitely enjoy EE's complexity, customizability, and scope.

An RTS for the Ages

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 33 / 37
Date: November 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

First a little background on the development of the game:

Empire Earth is a new RTS game by Sierra Studios which is led by Rick Goodman. Rick Goodman was the prime developer of the Age of Empire games, hence the obvious simularities between these two games. Rick left Ensemble Studios to create his own company in order to make a game that he wanted to play. And this game turned out to be Empire Earth. Empire Earth is a 3D RTS game that covers the entire half million years of human history. From the Paleolithic Age with cavemen to a future age called the Nano Age with laser battle mechs. Hence my title of "An RTS for the Ages".

Now, let me just start off my "review" by saying that I'm not really that big of a fan of RTS games, I normally like realsitic WWII wargames. However, I heard about this game about 6 months ago, IIRC. The shear scope of this game pulled me in as I have a Bachelor's Degree in History. I had played Age of Kings and was amused by it for about 2 or 3 months, but I found the game to get a bit redundant at times, due to its rather limited resource gathering. But the big draw to Empire Earth was it's 3D graphics. At last the RTS gaming community finally gets to get down on the ground with their troops. Not only that, but they get to see hundreds (about 200 or so) of nicely animated units with pretty good special effects. Blood "explosions" when a unit gets hit, smoke from muskets and cannons that actually drifts once fired, smoke from artillery impact points and crumbling buildings, and fire from damaged structures and units.

Now another point about some of the negative reviews on this board. Some complain that the graphics just aren't as smooth or sharp as they are in Age of Empires. Well, they can't be really. If they were as highly detailed as they are in those games, Empire Earth would require a 64MB video card. The amount of VRAM that it would take to display graphics as sharp as Age, would be tremendous. Could the graphics in EE better, of course, but it would make the minimum system specs jump up at least to a 6-700 MHz machine with a 32MB card.

But the graphics are just one highlight to the game. The ability to customize your civilization down to a certain unit type is awe inspiring. You can also upgrade up to like 5 or 6 different aspects in each unit from hitpoints, attack rating, range, speed, blast effect, and various types of armor. If you don't use one unit, then you don't have to upgrade it. Which isn't entirely different than AoE, but with the Civ Builder, each generic type of unit, such as "Ranged Infantry" which covers a whole lot of units, can get certain bonuses without the micromanaging.

Alright now that I got that mushy stuff out of the way, here's a breakdown of the 14 epochs, yes 14. 14 in as such as one of the 12 epochs (the 20th Century one) has been broken down into 3 epochs, (WWI, WWII, and Modern). The other 11 epochs include, the Paleolithic (or Prehistory), Stone Age, Copper Age, Bronze Age, Dark Ages, Medieval Age, Rennaissance Age, Imperial Age, Industrial Age, 20th Century--(WWI, WWII, Modern), Digital Age (21st Century), and Nano Age. So be prepared to go from clubs and slings to NUKES! and beyond. Should be fun. All coming to a desktop near you in the week of Nov. 14th.

Oh I almost forgot. Why only 4 stars? Because we're still using hitpoints. But then again, with as much unit stat micromanagement you can probably adjust each unit to about their historical toughness. Also, one reviewer mentioned that their short swordmen were cut down by javelin throwers without doing hardly any damage to them. Well that's the Rock-Paper-Scissors relationship used in the game. It forces you to use combined arms to deal with a threat, which removes the ol' tank rush RTS tactic.

Full of Promise

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 20 / 20
Date: October 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I am an avid strategy game player. I particularly enjoy most RTS games. I picked EE up after playing AOE for months and hearing so much good about it. I had high expectations because of the amount of breadth in this game; so many ages; so many units; so many possibilites.
I was somewhat disappointed, but let me get to the good first.
1) The ages are amazing. Each with their unit upgrades and stats. The ability to trample infantry with a brigade of elephants is delightful. Watching my curaissars decimate my opponents spearmen made me squeal with glee. Each unit has it's own specialty. In particular the medics, with their ability to heal is of great value.
2) The Prohet is amazing. This unit can, with a wipe of his hand, obliterate fleets with a hurricane, level walls and towers with an earthquake, annihilate armies ith plagues, and reduce buildings to ash with firestorms and volcanoes.
3) The premise is simple. Only five types of materials are needed: stone, iron, gold, wood, and food. Each unit costs a different amount of each. This basic type of resource gathering is a staple for RTS.
4) The pace is just enough to keep interest. Definitely necessary for a game with so many ages.
5) I have found the AI to be challenging and aggressive. In AOE the AI is not as good.
Now, to the bad.
1) Irriating lock-ups plague some games. I haven't had nearly as much trouble as some of my friends. I think it may have to do with the quirks of each individual's game system.
2) The availability of every resource is a problem. Each resource pile begins at 200,000. True, you can adjust availability, but only to an extent. It turns out that every player can build at roughly the same rate. There is no resource scramble like there is in AOE. Strategy then becomes defense oriented.
3) The prophet. Yes, he is great because he is powerful, but he is far too powerful. How many players enjoy seeing their invasion fleet wiped out by a hurricane? Or their cleverly placed and successful army crushed by pestilence? What good are walls if they can be felled so easily and readily with an earthquake? A small group of prophets can slaughter a civilization. A balance needs to be struck.
4) I felt because of the breadth of the game there should have been more technologies and buildings to reflect those technologies. The buildings are quite basic which is true to the simplicity of the game, but as the ages wore on I found myself wondering what real difference there was between an age when the only thing that I did was upgrade my units. The first real changes don't come until the modern age.
5) Aging up occurs too slowly. Sometimes between ages the cost of aging up leads me to believe that the process of aging is simply to slow the game down.
In all, the game is an average strategy game. More cumbersome than AOE in terms of gameplay, and less enjoyable. I look forward to the expansion and have hopes that it will speed things up a bit, add some new buildings and achievements and create a better balance.

Empire Earth is Fun for Years

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 16
Date: November 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The game was a pleasant surprise for me, though I had been following the development from the beginning and even taken part to the beta program.
While there are 14 epochs, the game is so massive, that after a week I have only played a few of those. I have seen my kids spend countless hours playing the future epochs. Starting from the pre-historic age is more suitable for me, as I like to play it more slowly.
There is an excellent scenario editor, that allows you to build almost any kind of scenario or game movie. The campaigns are massive, but due to the scenario editor you can wait for much more from user made scenarios.
Labeled as a real time strategy game may frighten some people away, but you really should take a closer look. Depending on the game type one can play a tactical or almost action type of game, adventure in some scenarios, against computer opponents or a multiplayer game. The possibilities are countless. As stated by many this really is many games in one.
Some of the good parts include: one of the biggest ever manuals (over 240 pages), very little crashes and bugs, great graphics and effects, good computer player AI, unbelievably versatile scenario editor.
On bad computers and when zoomed in too close, the graphics may look ugly. It may take more time to learn Empire Earth than you thought. Those downsides are minor, compared to all the good sides.
This game surely is a winner and will be played for years.

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