Rise of Nations sequel golden

The sequel to GameSpot's Best PC Game of 2003 is almost here, as Microsoft Game Studios has announced that Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends has gone gold and should be available in stores on May 9.

Rise of Legends abandons its predecessor's historical setting in favor of a sci-fi/fantasy world where forces of technology and magic struggle for dominance. In the single-player campaign, gamers will have to manage turn-based and real-time strategy elements if they want to conquer the world. In multiplayer, competing civilizations scramble to build their forces and wipe each other off the map in battles designed for quicker play than those of the original Rise of Nations.

For more on Rise of Legends, check out GameSpot's previous coverage, or just download the single-player demo.