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More outstanding empire building - thru the ages!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 56 / 60
Date: September 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I can still remember when I played the original AGE OF EMPIRES, wondering to myself if they would be able to make the same general strategy game using modern weaponry. As I loved the original AE, I held out hope that they would someday be able to pull it off.

Well, there is no reason to wonder anymore: our friends at SIERRA have done it. EMPIRE EARTH and its expansion set (both included in EE GOLD) takes us all the way from the dawn of mankind up thru the modern age and even into the future with spaceship and robotic battles and the like.

For myself, the most satisfying component of the game is being able to play with modern-day weapons. Build tanks, artillery and various troops for huge land battles. Build air-forces with fighters and bombers. Build navies with submarines, aircraft carriers, battleships and frigates.

Your civilians form the backbone of your military apparatus as they're the ones who collect the necessary resources (i.e.: wood, food, gold, stone, iron, etc) for your campaigns. You're the one in charge; how you utilize your resources is up to you. If you fail, you're the one who is accountable. If you are victorious, you're the one who deserves all the accolades and glory!

The most remarkable thing about the game for me is its symmetry. There is no one single "unstoppable" weapon in your arsenal. The most powerful weapon is the B-52, with which you can nuke your enemies. However, you had better protect it with great care; send it by itself on long-range bombing sorties and it's sure to be shot down by enemy fighters, anti-aircraft batteries or soldiers with STINGER missiles.

You may create TRIDENT submarines with powerful cruise missiles that can strike targets deep inland. However, these submarines are also the easiest for your enemies to sink: protect them at all costs!

Apache helicopters are devastating against tanks and other land targets, but are highly vulnerable to STINGERS and are downright helpless against enemy jet fighters. Jet fighters are susceptible to the fierce fire of anti-aircraft batteries. However, anti-aircraft batteries are hapless against tanks. All units have their strong points, and all units have their weaknesses, be they ground, sea or air.

If you like strategy games, I cannot recommend EE enough. If you like building armies, blowing stuff up and upgrading the prowess of your military, this is certainly the game for you. Just beware: it's about the most addictive game you will ever play!

An entirely absorbing game experience.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 42 / 44
Date: March 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The Empire Earth gold edition is identical to Empire Earth with the exception of including the expansion pack and an excellent strategy guide in one package that is about the same price as the original game!(to date) This game has some very attractive features which I shall mention. First, you know the graphics are excellent when you zoom in on your machine gun and you see shell casings flying as it fires. Second, the Empire Earth mission editor is one of the best editors I have used.(It is similar to AOE II) The editor, coupled with the expansion allows infinite options for gameplay. All this is great, but my favorite feature is the fact that this game allows you to fight in any era! From the battle at Waterloo, to the sands of Iwo Jima, to the mountains of Mars, It offers in-depth strategy gaming with ease of play. If you like Microsoft's Age of Empire series, you will love this game!

Earth's Empires are yours to control

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 24 / 24
Date: March 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

In "Empire Earth Gold Edition", you are given control of one of a number of real terran civilizations, each with its own pluses and minuses.

This game includes both the original "Empire Earth", and the expansion: "Empire Earth: Art of Conquest", as well as a 250+ page strategy guide.

Empire Earth's tutorials are very good, and help new users find out how to build and maintain their people from simple, almost prehistoric men to beyond the modern age. The graphics and game play remind me of Microsoft's "Age of Empires", but the game play is not limited to one era - you can play from prehistoric man right up to beyond the space race.

One of my favorite features is that you do not have to begin at the beginning. You can set the era your people start in from the default prehistoric to the space age. Try a game set in one very specific era (such as World War Two) for a quick challenge.

I really enjoy these "God" type games - ones where you control the destiny of an entire planet. This game gives me what "Age of Empires" does not - the ability to steer my people from humble beginnings to beyond the stars.

The inclusion of Prima's guide to Empire Earth only helps add to the decision to buy this great game. Prima's guide really explains how to play, and gives some great tips on winning and even tells how to use the built in cheat codes.

One of my higher recommendations.

What a game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 25
Date: April 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Attention Age of Empires lovers. Okay if you have played, conquered, and are now bored with the ease of Age of the Empires...you have met your match. Everything that frustrates you and bothers you about Age of Empires, has been corrected and or improved in Empire Earth. Although not released by the same company, the co-creator of Age of Empires also co-created Empire Earth. Here is the breakdown.

1) Age of Empires was too easy. Okay veteran AOE players know, all you have to do is mass produce Castles and certain units, and there is now stopping you. Not so with Empire Earth. There are far more units, and some units are not affected much by others. So if you like archers...watch out for swordsmen, if you like swordsmen, watch out for spearmen...and if you like spears watch out for archers...such is the game.

2) Age of the Empires was to limiting. With maximum amounts of 200 units it made things incredibly difficult to really do anything. How would you like a population cap of 1200 divided equally among the players involved...What that means is if you only have two players you get 600 units.

3)Age of Empires was too short. Playing a Deathmatch in Age of Empires things were far too easy. Moving up through the ages took only as long as it takes to build a building. Plus getting to the top age didn't take long at all. Well now there are a total of 16 ages...if you just push through to get to the top ages quickly, you will find yourself beaten. The computer is much more aggresive.

4) I will admit that the first thing that drew me to Empire Earth was the diversity in units that you could produce, although I will say that I prefer to have the game end before the nano-age...the one where humans are replaced by robots, and lasers are fired instead of bombs and bullets. But it's still cool to play when it's that intense.

Downsides.
You're right I wouldn't be being honest if I didn't not inlcude some downsides. Here it is.

1) For those just starting with strategy/sim games...don't buy this. There are a whole lot of things going on at the same time, and if you are not experienced you'll get frustrated and lose intrest in the game incredibly fast!

2) It is a memory hog!. If you are buying this game...save up and buy a memory upgrade at the same time. This game will use up ALL of your virtual memory in a hurry, unless you have alot to spare. In this day and age you can find 256 megs of ram for around 15-30 dollars, not only will it make the game enjoyable, but it will make everything on your pc run smoother.

All in all, the pros heavily outweight the cons...bottom line...buy the game!

GREAT GAME FOR A GREAT PRICE

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 18
Date: April 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is perhaps the best game I've ever had the privilage to play. The games graphics are awsome and the game play is insane it is so realistic. All the military units are historically correct and there is a large amount of civilizations to choose from. If you liked the Age of Empires series, you will love this game. There is no poulation limit like on AOE of 200 men now you can have up to 600. The game itself it very cheap and definitley worth more than its retail price, only running you about fourty bucks for the game the expansion and the strategy guide all together. The AI is intelligent and some what difficult, even on easy. You'd have to master the game before you even think about playing on the hardest difficulty. There are a total of sixteen ages and hundreds of units to build from. The campaigns are great and also historically correct. You'll get your bang for your buck with this game!!! Take a look at the screen shots on amazon to get a little taste of what the game is all about.

What a game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 12
Date: December 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Well I just beat two computer players on the hard setting for the first time. Of course, it took 7 1/2 hours and about 10 nuke bombers.

Bought the game 2 months ago for $29 + tax at Wal-Mart. Amazon is a better buy.

About the game:
1) great graphics and sound. I run a 2.53 GHZ Dell with 64 meg video NVIDIA card and 256 meg ram. Game runs great.
2) Awesome gameplay. I tired of beating the comp on Age of Empires Conqueors so I bought this and am not sorry. As noted in 1, the graphics are much better than AOE II. However, the graphics are similar to Age of Mythology.
3) Lots of weapons to choose from. Keep the production up and you will win.
4) Hope this review helped. Can't wait to get home and play the Expansion pack today.

My new crack

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: January 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

No game has ever been more addictive to me than this one. I've always been fan of strategy games, and I've been a fan of military history since I was 12. "Empire Earth" serves all my needs, and it's gameplay is fast, kinetic, and exciting.

In the original version you have a choice among several civilizations (the expansion adds Japanese, Koreans, and some other civilizations). There are campaign missions you can play, although frankly I find them dull and some times ridiculously hard. The real catch is the "random map" game, and that is where the game rocks among others.

You are really in control of what the game will play like. Besides the usuals like difficulty and what kind of map, you also can put a limit on how much men each side can have, and - the best choice - you can choose which time period you begin and end in.

For example, if you leave this option alone you will start in the prehistoric age (cavemen throwing rocks) and end in the Nano age (we are all robots). You can update your civilization by constructing new buildings (mostly new settlements) and then paying the right amount of resources. Now, some times this might get boring, and maybe you're more partial to a certain time period. You can then choose to begin at a sooner time period and end at your favorite or preferred time period - or even just have it go right to the time period and stay there. Now, let's say you like the World War II (Modern) Era. You just have to tell the game to begin and end at that time period...viola!

The only downside to the gameplay, besides the annoying campaigns, is maybe the AI tendency to send their peasants right into enemy lands to be killed by towers or enemies. It makes you wonder how much time the AI spends on building peasants. OK, so maybe it's not annoying, but it's kind of odd. Hopefully the upgrades will fix that.

As for this collection, you may just want to buy the original game and get upgrades from Sierra. The guide-book in this Gold Edition is great, but the expansion (Art of Conquest) is...well...lacking. Each civilization gets their own special skill, but while some are fitting (the British get to construct the unit SAS unit) some are strange. The Koreans get fanaticism (because we all know how crazy Koreans are), and the French get camoflouge. This means French units, after a while of inactivity, become invisible. They have this skill since the prehistoric age! This means, for all ages, French units have a strong advantage over other civilizations with their ability to cloak themselves and lay ambushes a la guerillas...even during the Dark Ages. The additional future age may entertain sci-fi fans while others may roll their eyes and think "Great, more all-powerful spaceships." The new campaigns are odd too - Russia takes over the world, then some people go back in time to stop it. Not too strong in storyline.

However, just speaking about the game "Empire Earth" proper, it is a wonderful game. Perhaps one of my all-time favorite RTS games or strategy games period.

Very good game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: November 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is a very good game for the price. Made by the maker of the Age of Empires game, it offers many hours of enjoyment.

My only real complaints about this game is the fact that it really comes down to who can build walls and defensive towers the fastest early on, and who get to the nuclear age first later in the game. There is really not alot of realism or strategy in between. It certainly is alot of fun while it lasts though.

Multiplayer battles are where its at with this game. Playing online versus several hard computer opponents with a friend as an ally is a blast.

The graphics are very good for the genre and fit the game well.

The sounds and music are done well, although the music does get boring after a while (more audio tracks would have been nice).
Effects like explosions and such are all crisp, realistic and nicely done.

Botton line, if you want a really good game at a great price EE Gold will certainly fit the bill, but if you want a better RTS game, go for Rise of Nations.

great choice... new to "real time strategy" games... excellent value...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: August 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I bought this to try a "real time strategy" game versus the "city building" games I usually play.

It's a different experience and challenge, let me tell you. There are only two ways to win, blow up ALL the other guy's people and people buildings, OR keep HIM from blowing up YOURS until you've built (and defended) monuments called "wonders".

A key difference of "real time strategy" from "city building" is that the only reason you build your economy is to have the resources to build your military and your monuments. Another is that once you've defeated the other guy, the game ends. You can't keep building.

I recommend this game and package for those who would like to try real time strategy. It's a good deal because you get the game plus expansion plus third-party strategy guide. The guide is very helpful. The game won Game of the Year so it's highly regarded by expert rts gamers.

My teenage son, who plays lots of rts, said the game was good too. He confirms the comment that EE is fun because it has modern civilizations as well as historic. I wouldn't know yet: I am still enjoying going from the prehistoric to the stone to the copper ages for now!

One of the best RTS titles ever.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Simply put this may be the last RTS game you will ever need. It can fill any RTS niche and do it all within one game. You can select any era of play starting with the prehistoric age where your citizens must hunt and gather as they had not learned how to farm at that point and you can play up through an advanced space age with giant mechs, robots, and laser infantry. Most often I'll pick one age and not advance past it. If I want to play a modern day game I can sellect the Atomic II era and play with Apache Helicopters and B-52 nuclear bombers. You can zoom all the way in to ground level and while it is a nice feature it is almost useless in a combat situation. It is best when you are finishing off an enemy and you want to see the action close up. Another nice thing I like is that the aircraft fly realistically. Airplanes take off, fly around and then have to land when they run out of fuel.

I've seen some reviewers give bad ratings due to their computers locking up. This is not a problem with Empire Earth. I had the same problem but did a little research into it and found out that the Zone Alarm firewall program has some compatability issues with Empire Earth as well as a few other games. I switched to Symantec Internet Security and haven't had any problems since. Note that Zone Alarm will lock up your machine if you are playing Empire Earth EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT PLAYING ON LINE. Once again, this is NOT a problem with Empire Earth.

To sum it up, this is the RTS that I keep coming back to even when there are more advanced RTS games on the market. Keep an eye out... Empire Earth 2 is coming soon. :)

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