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Suprisingly ordinary!!!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 17 / 26
Date: May 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have to admit that I now feel very foolish. I believed the hype about "Rise of Nations." I read the large number of incredibly glowing reviews and the "fanboy" lovefests on the message boards. Everyone seemed to be saying that it is the best thing to hit the RTS genre in years. So I purchased it and now, after actually playing it, I'm sad to say that RoN is just an updated "Age of Empires" with some added features.

One heavily hyped feature is the "Conquer the World" single player campaign. It features a strategic "Risk"-like map on which the player can move his "armies", engage in diplomacy, attack "barbarian" or enemy provinces, or do nothing and just gather "tribute" from your current holdings. After you've completed this phase, you then press a turn button. If you attacked a province or are being attacked then the game "zooms" you into the RTS section of the game. This will all sound familiar to anyone who has played the "Total War" series of games, which introduced the concept of a combined turnbased/realtime combat system three years ago. However, compared to the turnbased element of "Total War" games (which is often derided as their weakest part), RoN's strategic map is very shallow and dull. The stategy is just so simple! It's also incredibly silly. Why even bother basing a game on history if it's just going to resemble a fantasy game- in one of my games the Aztecs conquered North America and then took over the British Isles during the medieval age!

The RTS section of the game is much better, but winning is mostly a matter of fast mouse clicking in order to out produce the enemy. Combat is the incredibly dull "grab a mob of units and send them against another mob of units" so typical of the RTS genre. Tactical finesse plays second fiddle to just queing up a couple of barracks and putting rallypoint near the combat. The addition of national borders and cities is nice, but combat in this game is just like any other RTS- "he who clicks the fastest and most effeciently wins!"

In summation, RoN is a decent RTS game. It is nicely polished and I had no technical problems with it. RoN will appeal to people who are either absolutely addicted to RTS games or are brand new to the genre. However, if you're bored of the RTS genre then I would not recommend RoN as something "new." In other words, don't be like me- "Don't believe the hype!!"

The Best RTS Yet

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: May 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I'm falling in love with this game. To me, it beats other similar RTS games such as EE and Warcraft 3, in terms of how fun it is to play (we play games to have fun right?). Honestly, the first time I played I didn't really like it, but that was because I wasn't paying attention to what the heck I was doing. That game ended in an armaggedon (meaning I used so many nukes that I destroyed all existing life on the face of the earth, hehe). My second game was much more fun though. One thing I should point out is that the AI is the best to date. For example, in one game, the Mongols suddenly attacked me with a massive force on my left flank, trying to take over my city on the western border. I got pretty scared that they'd succesfully take over the city, which happened to be my 'resource capital', so I instinctively sent everything I had to defend the attack, including my right flank. A few minutes later when I sent my troops to defend the left flank, to my disbelief, the enemy sends in another MASSIVE wave to attack my RIGHT city. I found out that they left an army just outside of my tower's line of sight, waiting for me to leave it undefended. In other words, I got whooped. Nevertheless, that was one fun game. Now, imagine playing Rise of Nations with other people online? Gamespy Arcade hosts the multiplayer system, which is absolutely free. From my personal online experiences, this game got my heart pumping; its THAT fun. Best of all, it has a easy learning curve. It took me just about 2-3 games to master the basics. This is a MUST get for all RTS gamers.

AOE, with a few twists

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: November 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Rise of Nations plays a whole lot like another Microsoft title- Age of Empires, and those familiar with that game will likely have little or no time spent adjusting to this one. However, there are quite a few differences that are noteworthy:

No walls, and far more special units- many of which are age-dependent and not produced by the fort. This tends to make gameplay focus more on moving armies around and attacking, as opposed to defending.

More options in terms of age advancement (all the way to the information age), which is more akin to Empire Earth than AOE.

More emphasis placed on cities, the number of which directly impact your resource gathering.

There is a ramp-up cost for units, so they get more expensive as you purchase them (and thus, it's harder to build a big army). Same goes for buildings, so you can't spam the map with forts and towers.

Different nations actually have different capabilities aside from special units. For example, some get resource gathering bonuses for certain raw materials. Certain nations favor specific tactical situations, such as the Spanish or English for naval combat and the Germans for land combat.

In single player, the strategic map mode. The presence of a turn-based map and real time battles makes this game somewhat similar to the Total War series. However, the strategic mode is significantly simpler than that of any Total War game, and of course there's no such thing as building cities during combat in Total War.

Upgrades are based on research done at the library, which can be purchased (if you have the resources) regardless of your age. This allows for significant flexibility, though of course you'd be well advised to advance ages in order to get more powerful military units. Age advancement is quite important, and can't be ignored. As in Empire Earth, it's entirely possible to end up strafing your opponent's hapless horse cavalry with jet fighter/bombers. Being on the opposite end of such an arrangement is rather embarrassing.

There are a host of units available to every nation, though some are more effective for certain nations than others. These are usually unique units that replace the standard ones, and come with their own distinct look. The normal units also have different looks depending on your nation, though some share the same graphics. This makes the battlefield look somewhat segregated by nationality, though in fact most of the units are statistically identical.

The computer has a good range of difficulty levels and acts very similar to the AI in Age of Empires. They'll still swarm you with scouts and try to attack with a handful of bowmen at the beginning. Sometimes they charge stupidly at an incredibly fortified position and get cut down by the score. However, they do often remember to bring artillery, which is at least an improvement. At higher difficulty (with handicaps) it can get pretty rough. This is especially the case if you allow the game to go up to the modern age, since they can and will use nukes on you (in fact, they seem to save up just for that).

You can own multiple wonders, and each adds resource or other bonuses to your side. These can really come in handy, especially later in the game.

The game has great graphics, good music and sound, and is very stable. Internet games, though lacking the strategic mode, are quite fun and also stable. There are many different multiplay modes and a host of rules to play around with. The random map generator is also great, as it was in AOE. Multiplay also has a lot of fun diplomacy options. This is more than can be said for many other RTS games.

There are downsides to the game, though. I found the time limits in single player campaign mode to be irritating, unrealistic, and often unnecessary. There should be a way to disable them. The unit cap is set at 200 (270 or so with rare resources and wonders) and that is a bit too low. With the amount of citizens you'll have running around getting resources, it doesn't make for a very big army. Although the paper-rock-scissors nature of the units is very pronounced, it does seem that hording one kind of unit works just as well as making a balanced army. The only difficulty is figuring out which unit that is. For example, light infantry in the gunpowder age is quite sufficient for taking on anything else. The ramp-up tries to dissuade such tactics, but only partly succeeds. There are clearly some balance issues during specific ages for the various nations, though if one looks at things from an overall perspective, it seems to work out. Last of all, the game is remarkably devoid of voice. In fact, I don't think there's any voice effects save for the taunts. It is a somewhat minor thing, but after playing the likes of Command & Conquer and Warcraft, I had to wonder whether all my soldiers were mutes. The historical aspect of this game is also significantly watered down from Age of Empires- many of the unique national units don't even exist in reality.

All in all, I must say that there was remarkably little to complain about in this game. It has several innovative RTS features (e.g. national borders, attrition damage, and Armageddon) and has some actual strategy in it (the `real time strategy' genre is largely misnamed- most games in it are tactical, not strategic). The appeal of being able to roll over your opponent's spear-chucking ancient warriors with main battle tanks is quite a motivation to keep playing multiplayer, and the conquer-the-world mode has awesome replay value. Though Rise of Nations may not be the thing for a hardcore turn based strategy gamer, it's definitely great RTS material and is worth checking out either way.

An outstanding RTS game (4.75 stars)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: March 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am a big fan of strategy games and have devoted untold hours of my life to real-time strategy (RTS) titles such as the Age of Empires series. However, Rise of Nations is unquestionably the best such game that I have played so far. It is really not a revolutionary improvement over these other games, but simply takes the next evolutionary step and improves upon the formula in many different ways. While the game does have a few tiny flaws, with the expansion pack (Throne & Patriots) installed, this game approaches a perfect rating of five stars for me, which would be a first for me since I have never given such a rating to any game.

Gameplay: The formula is simple and familiar, but well done nonetheless. You collect resources to build structures to build units to conquer territory (or create wonders) to rule the world. That simple. However, you can customize much of the gameplay. You can control the size and geography of the map, the number of opponents, the victory conditions, the number of ages played, and much more. The real improvement that this game offers is the national borders concept. Instead of having to build walls to keep out the enemy, national boundaries expand and contract based on the territory that you develop and/or conquer. Also, unlike games such as Age of Empires, your civilization lives and dies based on cities, not just random collections of buildings. This factor really adds a lot to the game, since some of the fiercest and most exciting gameplay can center around fighting an opponent over a single strategically placed city. In my last game, I fought a computer opponent for over an hour over a city as it went back and forth between us. Eventually, the computer's forces won out and I had to come up with a Plan B.

By the very nature of these sorts of games, there is micromanagement involved. You have to be aware of the new technologies available, when to jump to the next age, where your armies and navies are, what new resources are available, what the enemy is doing, and so forth. However, the micromanagement has been streamlined and does not feel overwhelming to me. Much of the technological research and age advances take place in the library. Also, the resource requirements are pretty reasonable (unlike Empire Earth) and you'll be advancing through ages at a nice pace. Resources don't get depleted, so a citizen can work that same farm from the stone age to the information age. And there is a wide range of units available, including special units like generals, spies, and commandos. Additionally, the AI in this game is pretty good, but sometimes predictable. Your citizens are usually smart enough to find work to do if you don't immediately assign them. Also, computer opponents can be quite a challenge, even on moderate difficulty. You can play this game as simply a technology race with no fighting involved. However, who buys these sort of games not to see what a row of trebuchets can do to an enemy city or to see flamethrowers go in action against tanks? (I certainly don't, but there is a pacifist option available.)

I haven't played online, but this is an option, too. I also haven't played the Conquer the World campaign, but I have played the Napoleonic campaign that comes with the Throne & Patriots expansion, and it is excellent. It is the very best blend of turn-based and real-time strategic gameplay I've seen.

Graphics: Rise of Nations is a good-looking game. Unit animations are convincing and many look like their real-life counterparts. That is, my Zulu warriors looked like Zulu warriors (at least in the earlier phases of the game), not like European soldiers. The architectures are well done and the water looks more realistic than any I have seen in an RTS (until AOE 3, I suppose). You can zoom the camera in or out, but there is really no reason to (having it zoomed out will give you a broader view of the battlefield). I wish that there had been a little more diversity in regard to how some of the terrain looks and perhaps even weather changes. But this is a very minor gripe.

Sound: Everything is great in this area. All of the weapons sound as they should. I wish there was a bit more voice acting from the units; at least special units like generals and spies should say a few words as they go into action. However, the music is phenomenal. It sounds passionate and triumphant at times, and when things go badly, it sounds poignant and downright tragic.

Technical issues: The game was perfectly stable on my computer--no crashes, freezes, or other problems which are too common with games nowadays (I do have the patch installed). I wish that the game had shipped with a more informative manual. If you don't want to buy the Sybex strategy manual (which is quite good), there are a number of manuals for the game that you can download from the internet for free.

Replayability/Value: Real-time strategy games are one of my favorite gaming genres largely because of the great replayability, and Rise of Nations is no exception. You can have a unique experience every game, and there are many ways to customize that experience (you can even review games, which are automatically recorded in their entirety). If you are even remotely a fan of computer strategy games, then I would consider Rise of Nations a must-buy. I also highly recommend the Throne & Patriots expansion, which adds new functionality to the game.

Rating: 4.75 stars (out of 5)

Best Realtime Strategy Game, Ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: November 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I find it hard to believe that several people on here thinks Rise of Nations is just another strategy game. It is not. It's better than Age of Empire, it's better than all of strategy games i have played.

You get to control a nation with special attributes (there are 18 nations total). You can play from any age to any age (i.e. from ancient to enlightenment or to information technology or to medieval, whatever you want).

This is not a game where you can win by throwing everything at your opponent. Most strategy games can be won this way, but not this one. I have beaten opponents with much smaller army,than theirs (at least in the enlightenment age) using good strategy in combat.

Multiplayer games are a blast. This is where it really shines (the computer AI is also much more intelligent than most games - it finds the weakest part of your overall strategy and tries to exploit it. It does decoy attacks and launches its main attack elsewhere, brilliant). National borders is also a really nice feature, as it is far more strategic now to place your cities, than AoE ever was.

The graphics are incredible, though you may experience compatiblity problem with older video cards. And you really do need a fast computer for the game to shine.

You should at least try their trial version -- goto http://www.bighugegames.com, and play it for a while.

A Truly Phenominal Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: December 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

My fiance and I are both HUGE fans of RTS (real time strategy) games - we love Empire Earth, Age of Mythology, Age of Empires, all those games. We got this one and it is one of our favorites by far!

Basically in Rise of Nations you control a country from the ancient age through the information age, spanning about 6000 years. You go from basically cave men to flying stealth bombers.. it's great! One neat new feature is that they added borders .. so through different means you can expand your borders and other countries can't build there unless they take over one of your cities. They also have an interesting nuclear weapon implementation that I don't recall seeing before - where you can use a certain number of nukes .. and if you exceed that number, you automatically lose. So there is a real strategy involved in getting nukes quickly and trying to use a certain number before the enemy in order to prevent them from using nukes on you!

One of the best features that I have used alot with my fiance is that when you are playing multiplayer, you can not only be on the same team, but be controlling the same country if you want. So it's not you and your friend just on the same team, you REALLY have to work together to manage resources since you are using the exact same guys. I am doing a poor job of explaining it, but its a fun feature.

Overall, I have really enjoyed this game. It's top-rate and deserves the five stars I am giving it. The bottom line is that games should be FUN, and this game definitely is!

Best strategy game I've played, EVER!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: June 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I love this game, it has the perfect blend of "civilization III" and "age of empires". Age of empires was too easy, and civilization III was too much a strategy game for me. But this game hit the spot. I just got it and i can't stop playing.
I also like it more than Age of Empires because it goes all the way into modern times, and you can get machine guns and commandoes.
Overall this is the best strategy/war (not to be confused with first person shooter) game i have ever played.

Hype of Nations

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 19 / 33
Date: May 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I've never considered myself a real-time strategist. Since Westwood's seminal *Dune II*, I've beaten about every major RTS on the American market. Yet game play hasn't evolved enough to sustain my interest.

Same goes for turned-based strategy, though I've been clicking "Next Turn" since the original *Civilization*. These too, have stuck by the formula with insufficient innovations to maintain replay value.

So when PC journalists began to herald an RTS/TBS revolution last year, I took notice. Developer Big Huge Games and game 'zines alike trumpeted a game to bridge the gap between the excitement and mechanics of real-time war games with the scope and sophistication of turned-based empire builders.

Folks, I am still waiting. In the meantime, I received Big Huge Games' *Rise of Nations*; beneath all the hype it's a disappointingly conventional RTS.

From the get-go, it's necessary to sort game from advertisement. Favorable reviewers all around have gushed some variation of the following:

1. *RoN* is a sophisticated RTS.

2. *RoN* is an epic RTS.

3. *RoN* is a hybrid between RTS and TBS game types.

4. *RoN* is a sophisticated, epic hybrid between RTS and TBS types.

While I haven't tested these claims online, my single-player conquests invalidated these claims.

*RoN* rigidly adheres to RTS tradition. Gameplay confines to the B3 principle: Build bases, Build units, Blow up. The developers include a Risk-style "Conquer the World" mode which offers raiding party actions, but otherwise missions are solved by building a base, amassing resources, and then smashing a computer-controlled base with a large, clumsy army. Like most modern RTS games, *RoN* offers rudimentary diplomacy, research, and economic features to upgrade your forces. Likewise, it offers a choice of combatants distinguished mainly by military power and texture skins variations. Finally, *RoN* arrays stereotypical unit types and superfluous gimmicks... like most RTS games, the player will quickly learn that building a bunch of tanks and rushing the enemy base works most of the time.

*RoN* rushes with Blizzard-style play mechanics founded back with the original *Warcraft*. Players use a central building to generate labor units, units who mine a small range of archetypal resources from battlemap hotspots and typically hoof them back to the central building (though *RoN* mercifully permits players to build collection camps on-site). Players then spend these resources by ordering labor units to build factories, laboratories, and fortifications around the central building. Each has its own build queue for military units, and/or unit upgrades as well.

Bases are not sprawling, well-defend affairs as in the Westwood model. Fortifications lack sufficient range and hit points while costing too much to build; discouraging base-camping and encouraging aggressive play. One usually wins by destroying selected enemy buildings. A 200-unit population cap per player constrains their entire infrastructures.

Frankly, I find this game-style dated. That doesn't stop Big Huge Games from trying to adorn their product with trappings of the turned-based empire genre. *RoN* notably introduces a "library" of additional building and unit upgrades. This library also improves caps and modifiers for resources, and improves the next notable introduction, national borders. National borders act strictly as a weapon, by inflicting "attrition" damage on any enemy unit or building caught on the wrong side of a shift. Per *Civilization*, a number of "wonder" buildings unlock special powers and modifications. And the players can advance through levels of technology called "Ages". BHG emulates Stainless Steel Studios in offering peaceful technology or resource races as an endgame option for skirmish and multiplayer modes.

And that's it. Big Huge Games might call its combatants "civilizations", its labor units "citizens", and its bases "cities"; in practice it's still the Blizzard RTS military model. The intricate tech trees of the *Civ* and *MOO* series are here trimmed down to lines of yet more unit upgrades. Borders have no cultural or political purpose-they just act as a force shield. Economy is still a shallow matter of collecting resources and uncovering crates to build powerful armies. Missions are limited mostly to combat, the non-military options being woefully underdeveloped. Yes, *Rise of Nations* is straight RTS, no more sophisticated than *Starcraft* or epic than *Empire Earth*.

With *RoN* put into perspective, I can see its virtues more clearly. It's a fast-paced entry into the "historical" genre, for those who want to upgrade armies from the stone age to modern times in an afternoon. A plethora of civilization-specific units and advantages lends a style choice to whichever side you play. BHG keeps base buildings to a minimum, and players can immediately build all units available for a given age, so long as they have the resources and the factories. Resources are widely available and players have plenty of room on each map to spread their bases and amass armies. BHG also incorporates good unit AI and path-finding. If the player doesn't want to worry about an extended campaign or story-line, *RoN* is all about skirmishes and multiplayer.

Perhaps as much as the hype these traditions fail to please me. I'm tired of the arbitrary 200-unit population caps and mindless B3 routine. Westwood games may be even more dated in their play mechanics, but at least they concentrated each game on a story and well-executed themes, instead of developing a loose collection of skirmish variations beneath a thread-bare claim of being "historical".

BHG could have broke the mold; the idea of a true epic RTS is one of the great unrealized ideas in PC gaming. They played it safe instead-but had the gall to call it something it is not. Make no mistake; dedicated RTS gamers will probably love this game for the same reasons I dislike it. But serious TBS gamers may be disappointed all around. *Rise of Nations* is no real-time *Civilization*; it's as conventional a military RTS as they come. Just don't buy the hype if you buy this game.

Super Fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 18
Date: May 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

...It plays a lot like Age of Mythology. Graphics are super and the game installed without a hitch. I haven't tried multiplayer yet...but the single player game is great for everyone. The game offers a variety of tutorials and scenarios for every level of expertise. While it doesn't break a lot of new ground, it is very enjoyable and worth a look.

Extremely Addictive

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: June 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have always been an avid fan of stategy games, preferring turn based strategy games over the RTS genre. I bought Rise of Nations, thinking it had to be a good game but ready for a dissapointment. I must say, I am very impressed! I won't waste anyone's time writing the same thing others have written about this game, so I will just say that I am in full agreement with the positive points made by previous reviews. They are correct and couldn't agree more with them. I have played Empire Earth and AOE, and though they were OK, this is MUCH better overall. Go get it and play it! The only problem is that you may lose some sleep playing this, I have been up to the wee hours myself playing it.

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