Empire Earth

"A superb concept all ruined!"

I got this item while wandering in the usual computer software stores that occupy a few hours of my time a month. I've been playing strategy games... just about my whole life. I absolutely loved Red Alert 1 and Red alert 2, but I spent more time in StarCraft:Brood war (around an hour a day for 4 years) than any other strategy game that every came out. And i thought that I had finally discovered a valuable cache when this game came out, Empire Earth. When I began playing it, I already knew it was an entirely different style of gaming. I went home and began custom games (I always start out by playing custom). I started at the first age, and for the next 4 hours, I spent marveling at the enormous number of units and the 13 ages that you can go through. That one game took about 6 hours, and I decided never to play another game that began at the *first* (prehistoric) age.
First of all, I would like to say that the different departments (of the same company) responsible for making this game spent completely different amounts of effort. I know that the graphics section tried to make everything as perfect as possible, but some still complain that the units were too small. The sound sectors also did a good job overall, and the game layout was fine. The time spent was on effects and most other areas of gaming was high. Unfortunately, the malfeasance of one section managed to ruin the whole game. This was tHe gaming section responsible for giving the idea and the gameplay. I will shortly tell you why.

Gameplay:6/10

Im seriously thought about this a long time. The gameplay is simply wrong. Like nearly every other strategy game, you build up a base, and attack the other person. The first wrong idea was the idea to make a total of 13 ages. Upgrading to each age takes around 3 or 4 minutes, plus a LOT of time spent on gathering the enormity of the resources to move on. The first problem comes to place. The units from one age above is totally superior to only one age below. For example, if you are one age behind them, and they already have planes, there is absolutely no way to defend. The game soon becomes to a race to see who gets to the later ages (2 of the ages occur in the future). Two good players would obviously upgrade at about the same time. The defense for the bases was PATHETIC. The defense towers were so strong that it was plain sad. The base itself takes around 10 minutes to make, and the upgrades take very long. You don't need around 70% of the units. Spellcasters, on the whole, were very well done. However, if the enemy went all defense, there is usually no way to penetrate the defenses. However, the spells themselves were very well done. There are 4 types of resources (gold, stone, lumber, food), and each unit costs a certain amount of each (most units costs only one, two, or three types of the resources).

The campaign was fun and had a good storyline, and included 4 countries. However, each mission took a very long time, and wasn't worth all the trouble to go through everything.

Graphics:9/10

The graphics were wery well done. The special effects were complete and realistic. The structures look realistic as well. One of the facts that wasnt so nice was that units were too small. However, the graphics did take a lot of time considering the huge numbers of units.

Sound:9/10
The sound was also very well done. The sound characterizing the buildings were good, and nearly every other aspect of the sound made perfect sense. Gold mines, unit acknowledgements were very well done on the whole.

Difficulty level: Very Hard
Considering the amount of defense that the enemy can have, correctly assulting a base takes immense effort, usually depending on who gets tired and loses resilience first.

My learning curve: About 30 minutes

Tilt(For all of you who dies not know what this is, it is how I liked this game and is a score used to change the value of the total):8/10

I liked this game, but I only spend about a month on it before I stopped playing it.

Value:8/10
A good game, you will enjoy multiplayers after campaign. This game will keep you in for a long time if you enjoy games that have a lot of features in it.

Overall:7/10 (not an average because Gameplay is the most important)
Gameplay:6/10
Tilt:8/10
Value:8/10
Sound:9/10
Graphics:9/10

Pros:
-Takes a long time to complete a level.
-Campaigns will keep you busy for a very long time
-Storyline is good.
-Graphics are appreciable
-Sound makes good sense.
-Multiplayer is fun

Cons:
-Can get very Tedious
-Don't need to use 80% of the features

Final word: Please but this game if you like to spend a long time playing.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/30/02, Updated 10/30/02