Um, I've had a pretty good look at this new game called Empire Earth
...Will it turn AoKH into a ghost town? Maybe, maybe not.
Not to be anti-motivational, MammothIce, but EE isn't really anything like Call to Power or the other Civilization games that preceded it. Well, except that it spans all of human history. But that's about the only real similarity.
No, EE is much more like AoE and AoK than anything else. It is an RTS game in which you harvest resources, construct buildings, research techs, train units, and try to wipe out your opponents all in real time.
There are many small ways in which EE is a significant improvement over the RTS games that have preceded it. It has a fascinating weapons system that requires the use of real tactics in battle --- no more melee-style rushes. It uses its town centers quite differently, giving important bonuses if you keep your buildings close together like a real city or town. It has REAL heroes who actually effect the outcome of battles in decisive ways.... plus lots more. (LOTS more!)
None of these particular changes are revolutionary, but when all of them are rolled together as important, provocative refinements of the RTS genre, they will be very, very addictive.
And there are at least three revolutionary improvements over previous RTS games:
- Complete camera zoom control which allows (and sometimes requires) you to zoom in to ground level among your troops as the weapons flail and the blood flies.
- The aforementioned 500,000 years of civilization. (Imagine doing everything you're doing right now, but you can do it in ANY era! No more faking it when you want to make a scenario about Napoleon, the Romans, or World War II --- or the year 2400!)
- A next-generation editor that will make you cry for joy when you realize how much it can do, and how easy it is to master.
Whoa! Sounds like I just wrote the death sentence for AoK, didn't I? But hold on and don't jump to any conclusions...
There are two very important things that I believe will keep folks coming back to AoK, even while they're spending sleepless nights playing EE.
- What EE gains in breadth of scope, it loses in its detailed treatment of any given era. So, yes, there are units for each of 12 major epochs, but in any given Age there aren't as many as there are in AoK. The upshot is this: If you love the Middle Ages, if you're passionate about Richard Lionheart and King Arthur, chances are you'll come back to AoK.
- Detailed modeling. EE uses a polygon-based modeling system for creating its units. AoK uses a pixel-based system. Pixels use up a lot more memory, so you are restricted to fewer units overall. But they allow a much finer level of detailing. So which is your cup of tea? Hundreds of thousands of people are going to give up the detailed modeling of AoK for the sweep and innovation of EE. But plenty of people are going to come back for AoK's terrific artwork.
Afterall, I recently had a breather from my work on EE... and guess what game I'm designing for in my free time? Don't get me wrong.
Empire Earth will rock the planet.
But even I can't deny that AoK has pleasures of its own.
[This message has been edited by SSSI_Gordon Farrell (edited 08-10-2001 @ 02:06 PM).]