Rise of Nations

"A great RTS that is unlike the rest!"

Rise of Nations was the first RTS game I bought and I have to say it is a wonderful game. It has everything that a good Real Time Strategy (RTS) game has to offer.

Graphics - The graphics of this game are amazing! If you are totally zoomed in they look fantastic, if you totally zoom out, they still are great. Nothing that I can complain about here. Great work in the graphics area.
10 out of 10

Story - Well, the game doesn't really have much of a story, but you don't need one! You basically choose from 18 different civilizations (Russians, Incas, French) and try to take over the world. You are writing history here! Now, doesn't that sound really fun?
10 out of 10

Gameplay - This is where Rise of Nations truly shines! You can pick from different scenarios such as Quick Battle and World Conquest and have tons of fun playing both. There are also a few mini-games you can play. While playing a Quick Battle,you can upgrade everything you own numerous times and research different time periods (Gunpowder Age, Information Age). It is a TON of fun and I will be playing it for years to come.
10 out of 10

Sound - The sound in RoN is decent. The music is great but the in-game sound could have used some fine tuning. All you hear is death cries and numerous weapon sounds. Sure, the sounds are crisp and clear, but three could have been more of them. Not bad overall though.
8 out of 10

Control - The control in RoN is amazing! There are many hotkeys so you can quickly do what you want and everything is easy to do. The only flaw is controlling your troops in battle. If you are fighting on a mountain or in the flats, everybody moves the same. Also, the troops can be very stupid. For example, if you tell them to fire upon a city, and then they are attacked by enemy troops, they will ignore the attackers and continue to fire on the city. You have to reorder them to fight off the attackers. Other than that, the control of the game is great.
9 out of 10

Multiplayer - I have yet to play RoN online, but from what I have heard, it is great. Playing against others is fun, but people with 56k lag down others whom have a cable modem. Of course, this is expected of all online games. The score of the multiplayer is not from what I have experienced but what I have heard and read.
9 out of 10

Overall - This is a great RTS and if you like Age of Empires, I am sure you will enjoy this.
10 out of 10

Buy of not? - If you want a sample of this game. Microsoft has provided a demo of it available for download. It is a big file (140 megs) so only try if you have a cable modem. You can find the demo at www.riseofnations.com
Try before you buy

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/01/03, Updated 07/01/03