Empire Earth III Faction Preview - The Far East Region

With Empire Earth III shipping next month, Sierra and developer Mad Doc Software are revealing more details about the three key regions in the game. The geographical regions each contain separate factions. For example, the Western region will have English and French factions. However, the English and French are going to be fairly similar to one another, particularly when it comes to visual identity and gameplay. We previously covered the Middle East region, and now we'll cover the Far East faction.

In Empire Earth III, you'll be able to experience all of human history, from the Stone Age to beyond the Space Age. The series, which is sort of like the classic Civilization series but played out in real time, will require you to build an economy and structures to research the scientific advancements that advance you from one historical age to another. As you move into a new age, you have access to more powerful military units and technologies to use in your struggle to survive, as well as expand.

The Far East Region

Factions based on the Far East region have a simple philosophy: Quantity is a quality. Thanks to their huge populations, the Far East factions like to rely on large amounts of relatively cheap units to offset any technological advantage their opponents might have over them. Who needs expensive units when you can swamp them with sheer numbers? As such, though, Far East players must play aggressively to take advantage of their numerical superiority. In general, the Far East must play to these strengths because it lacks the mobility of Middle Eastern armies and the technological edge of Western ones.

Far East players also have an advantage when it comes to the economy. Basically any Far East infantry unit can build structures, which means that a Far East army can take over a territory and immediately get to work constructing improvements in it. On top of that, structures can churn out units quickly because the build time for Far East units is faster than Middle Eastern or Western ones. That helps provide a steady stream of reinforcements to the front. Of course, considering that Far East units can fall in battle a lot faster, you're going to need a constant supply of fresh units to replace losses. Another downside is that Far East buildings are a bit more fragile than most, and they are easier to destroy.

Heroes will play an important role in propping up any Far East army. These hero units tend to have powerful abilities that augment the fighting abilities of the armies around them. If the game goes into the future historical ages, then the Far East can develop genetically engineered units. These include the genetic armored personnel carrier, which looks like a giant, prehistoric crab come to life.