Windows

Empire Earth

Although it is not perfect, Empire Earth is an excellent addition to any gamer's collection. The replay value of Empire Earth is incredible, and is something that will keep you hooked for hours. Although it may appear similar to Age of Empires and Cossacks: European Wars, this is a whole new battlefield. No other developer has attempted to take all of human history, and successfully combine it into one single game. Stainless Steel Studios have succeeded in doing so with Empire Earth. As you travel through the ages, you'll be faced with many obstacles and challenges, and only the strong-minded will be able to overcome them. Prepare for a battle, because Empire Earth offers exactly what you are looking for.

Det var länge sedan jag hade så här roligt med ett strategispel. Visserligen har det kommit en del bra titlar den senaste tiden men Empire Earth har det där lilla extra som är avgörande. Spelets storhet är att det täcker ett stort område, vilket leder till omväxling. Om du exempelvis tröttnar på pilbågar och svärd, kan du istället stega framåt i tiden och ge dig på 1900-talets stora krig. Vidare är AI:n i en klass för sig vilket kan förvandla en vanlig skirmish till en hårresande kamp för överlevnad. Om du vill ha mycket att stå i, behöver du bara låta din civilisation möta flera datorstyrda motståndare i den tuffaste svårighetsgraden. Empire Earth är kort och gott det bästa som har hänt realtidsstrategi sedan AoEI I: Age of Kings lanserades.

Empire Earth ist der Brockhaus unter den Echtzeit-Strategiespielen: Das Lexikon protzt mit einer Unmenge an Wissen, das virtuelle Schlachtfeld-Spektakel mit einer Masse an Einheiten und Gebäuden, die schier überwältigend ist. Hinzu kommt ein Technologiebaum, der erschreckend gigantische Ausmaße annimmt - Genre-Fans werden mit der Zunge schnalzen, Einsteiger werden sich an so manche Mathe-Stunde erinnert fühlen. Trotzdem haben die Stainless Steel Studios diese Masse mit genügend Klasse verbunden: Durchdachte Kampagnen, die sehr gute Gegner-KI und eine Steuerung mit allem Komfort machen die 3D-Kämpfe überschaubar. Dabei wird das Ganze in einer äußerst delikaten 3D-Hülle auf den Monitor gezaubert, die das Feldherren-Dasein doppelt so schön macht.

Empire Earth isn’t a perfect game. It has a prophet unit that can cause earthquakes and plagues, which is sort of silly in a game trying to be realistic, the included civilizations aren’t nearly distinct enough, and planes are a little too difficult to control. But overall it works much better than I expected, and it’s definitely a game you should play if you’re at all a fan of the real-time strategy genre.

Seit Kain seinem Bruderherz Abel damals eins auf die Mütze gegeben hat, kloppt sich die Menschheit fröhlich durch die Jahrtausende. Wo früher bloße Fäuste, Steine und Knüppel regierten, kommen heute Überschallflieger und Jagd-U-Boote zum Einsatz. Über alles, was dazwischen liegt, und noch mehr gebieten Sie in Empire Earth. Das Echtzeit-Strategiespiel des Age of Empires-Erfinders Rick Goodman macht Sie zum Schicksalslenker der Völker und Feldherren in 14 Epochen Militär-Historie.

Wenn Geschichtslehrer ihren Stoff so packend erzählen würden wie Empire Earth, ginge ich glatt noch mal in die Schule. Denn das Echtzeit-Epos inszeniert historische Wendepunkte wie den Fall Trojas, Waterloo oder die Weltkriege dermaßen spannend, dass mir die Beteiligten richtig ans Herz wachsen. Ungeschlagen gut: die getriggerten Ingame-Sequenzen mit ihren Kameraschwenks. Klar, die Fliegersteuerung nervt enorm, aber wenn meine Jäger sich elegant in die Kurve legen und dicke Bomber kurz vor dem wehrlosen Ziel vom Himmel holen, bin ich gleich wieder versöhnt. Und den heftigen Schwierigkeitsgrad ab Mitte der dritten Kampagne sehe ich nicht als Handicap, sondern als Herausforderung.

Onafhankelijk of je al talloze strategiegames gespeeld hebt, je zal merken dat Empire Earth groots is, grootser dan de meeste games in het genre aandurven.

Empire Earth is indeed an ambitious project. There are 14 different epochs that give the game vast replay possibilities. Admittedly, not all 14 epochs are significantly different but there is enough variety here to please most people. There is a significant change at the third epoch, Copper, at the Renaissance epoch, because you get gunpowder, and at the World War 1 epoch because you get tanks and planes. The last two epochs also offer an interesting addition in the form of Cybers. These mech-like units are more interesting than one might imagine. They each have unique capabilities and can do some serious butt-kickin’! They really do make the Digital and Nano ages a lot of fun.

EE behoort tot een van de meest uitgebreide spellen die we ooit hebben gezien. En het sppelt nog lekker ook.

Truthfully, there are a lot of good things about Empire Earth that simply cannot be described, but that are really fun to experience. In the end, all I can say is that the variety of features, in terms of gameplay, have shown all the essentials of an excellent real-time strategy game. Of course, if it weren't for the awkward size of the models and the glitches that occur with pathfinding, the game might've been given a higher score.

Empire Earth ist außergewöhnlich gut geglückt und bietet Spaß für Monate. Was ihm an Innovationen fehlt - schließlich bietet das zwei Jahre alte Age of Kings eine fast identische Spielweise -, macht es durch sein perfektioniertes Spielsystem und die ansprechende Grafik wett. Falls Sie sich bislang mit Age of Empires 2 vergnügten, sollten Sie unbedingt zu Empire Earth greifen.

I have to admit that I was really dubious about this one. Calling it Age of Empire Earth might have been a cheap shot, but it seemed to fit. And after having played the game for a few weeks now, I have to eat my own words. Not because the game isn't like Age of Empires II but because it is. I'm consistently amazed with the basic setup of AoE2 and any game that uses that as it's foundation is one step ahead of the game -- even if it isn't terribly original. (I had the same bias against the recent Galactic Battlegrounds and was similarly impressed.)

Overall there are many mixed reactions to Empire Earth, with many aspects of the game excelling or failing badly. Given the ambitious nature of the game, many of the flaws can be overlooked in light of the huge scope of both time and units involved. There are historically accurate units for all ages for history fans, as well as a sci-fi component for others. Will you attempt to advance through the epochs in an attempt to overpower your enemy with superior technology, or mass current day units and overwhelm the enemy forces? Are you more interested in nuclear bombers and submarines, or a army of archers and phalanxes? The gameplay features great variety and depth that makes up for the less impressive graphics.

To wrap it up, this is an awesome RTS. My biggest beef is that there is too much beef. In striving for completeness, they’ve made me feel overwhelmed by all of the ages, technologies and units in the game, and I simply don’t feel like continually playing 5+ hour skirmishes each time I fire up the game. That point made, I still enjoyed this game immensely, and I’ll probably keep it installed and revisit from time to time it for quite a while.

There is no doubt that if you like real-time strategy games, you will not be at all disappointed in EE, but unless you want to play with the pre-defined scenarios and campaigns once you finish the game 'proper', you may feel a little short-changed at the length of time it takes you to complete it. That said, Empire Earth is a very solid RTS with a huge amount of depth and variety in terms of units and buildings. Even if you only play it for a couple of days just to get through all the different epochs, it's worth the asking price for that alone.

Empire Earth ist aufgrund des riesigen Umfangs ein außergewöhnliches RTS, das viel Zeit und Einarbeitung erfordert. Leider sind die Single Player Kampagnen ein wenig öde und die CPU cheatet sich eben zu Tode, ansonsten wäre es wohl uneingeschränkt zu empfehlen.

En somme, cet Empire Earth devrait très probablement s'imposer comme l'une des références incontestées du moment en terme de Stratégie en Temps Réel. Sa variété et les nombreuses possibilités qu'il offre devraient faire le bonheur des amateurs du genre, que leur préférence aille aussi bien à la gestion qu'à la stratégie proprement dite, Empire Earth est présent sur tous les fronts.

Civilization games are nothing new to the world of PC gaming. In fact, even Sierra has published its share of games in the genre – everything from Acropolis to Homeworld.

Regardless of whether you've played other games like it, you'll find that Empire Earth is massive--more than most real-time strategy games would dare to be.

To summarise, a game worth checking out if you're into real-time strategy games. While it offers nothing significantly new in the genre, it is nevertheless crammed full of ideas and is truly epic in its scope. An impressive 3d graphics engine combined with the tried and tested methods of RTS combine to make a game which stands out from the crowd visually and still retains the classic elements that make this genre.

But far and away past any of these high points, even over the well-crafted and often brutal civ-specific campaigns, is simply the experience of the random, open-ended, random-map battles, unbound by artificial start conditions, where it almost takes on that convincing feel of history. And once you start messing around with scenario design, you can indeed lose decades. Call it an historical pack-in bonus. In the end, nitpicky notes aside, Empire Earth is a thorough and layered game, and gets a lot more right than it gets wrong.

Empire Earth är alltså inte så revolutionerande som jag först hoppades. Storheten ligger som sagt i spelets mångsidighet, men ser man krasst på det hela så är det bara en förlängning av Age of Empires - en rätt ful sådan.

I salivated at the thought of leading my initially primitive people into the 21st century, but was disappointed that playing the various epochs seemed so similar. History repeats itself, and that might be much too much for some.

Empire Earth; yet another Age of Empires spin-off? The short answer is "yes!", because apart from the improvements in graphics, the ability to move the camera angle and the considerably longer timeline, they are practically identical.

As I played, I got the distinct impression that Empire Earth could have been a colossal hit. It has some great ideas and inspiring graphics – but unfortunately, the game’s performance couldn’t equal its scope.

Empire Earth, then, is a defining game in the classic RTS genre. It writes what is probably the definitive final chapter, underlines it, whacks a dirty great full stop at the end and slams the book shut. If you have ever been a fan of this sort of game, you'll find it a satisfying conclusion. And if you've never ever owned a classic RTS, this is the only one you'll ever need. But if you've ever had a nagging suspicion that one RTS is much the same as the next, you will find those suspicions well and truly confirmed.