Just get it.
User Rating: 9.3 | Rise of Nations: Gold Edition PC
This game is just what I was looking for when I got it. I wanted to play a multi-age, large scale, highly strategic RTS. I remembered loving Empire Earth but for some reason when I dusted off the disk the game just felt a little clunky and out dated. I did some research on the net and discovered this little gem. I remember reading about the sequel Rise of Legends in GI and was intrigued. After looking at a few screens and videos I made an impulse decision, mostly because this Gold pack it out. I was a little worried because my computer is not state of the art and has not proven itself with most games made since about 2004. Much to my suprise this game runs smooth as my monitor. The tutorial was informative and...fun. The game is quick like starcraft, in depth like Empire Earth, and kind of arcade like like C&C. The game's themselves and but pretty darn fast if you want them to or you can certainly draw them out by setting the comps on “Boom” as in build up and have epic battles. Or put them on “rush” which means what you think it means. As far as being in depth, the game has standard units for each civ, but each civ also has special abilities and a few different units which really makes getting to know all the nations (or at least some, there are like over 20) a rewarding experience. However the game has tons of units without having too many. In Empire Earth there where like 20 units you could buy at any one time. This sounds cool but, especially if your just starting out you find yourself just randomly clicking to buy units and get a diverse force instead of actually knowing what the hell your doing. Next is its rather upbeat approach the the whole thing. The whole game is filled with a very happy nonchalant tone to it. There is no blood or gore. It kind of reminds me of Advanced Wars. Andy is so hellbent on going to war he forgets that his men actually have lives. You don't feel like your in the war you just feel like your watching an awesome movie...that you control. And you don't hear the screams of your men's painful death, which brings me to my next point. The sound. The sound in this game is good don't get me wrong. The only problem is that you never hear it. When huge awesome battles take place you only hear 1 maybe 2 guns firing at a time. Which is a shame because from what I can hear some of those effects are pretty cool. Perhaps there's a patch out for it I'm not sure. I've been to busy playing the game to DL any patch. The graphics are great nothing to complain there. It seems to be some sort of simple pixel engine but I'm not going go any further because I don't know what I'm talking about. The maps are great. As far as i know you can build your own but you can get pretty specific when making a random map. Tons of options there. The AI is pretty sick, as in good. And the game play is fast easy and fun. I bought this game in 2006 and it still stands the test of time. I strongly recommend it if you enjoy breathing simple pleasures such as oxygen or food.
