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Empire Earth

If you are looking for a huge historical theme RTS, then Empire Earth is sure to satisfy. The only word that can sum it up is epic. The game is huge, sporting 14 epochs full of technologies and units providing hours of map dominating, conquest-type gameplay.

The graphics for Empire Earth provide an impressive 3D environment and do an excellent job to immerse the player into the game. While they do not provide that "wow" factor that you get with Homeworld for the first time, they do a good job without requiring the most powerful computer available.

KABOOM! If you have a subwoofer, you are in luck because this game has nukes. Crank up the sound, because you will not want to miss one explosion, crumbling buildings, or hundreds of gunpowder units launching projectiles in every direction. The sound effects are very enjoyable. The most notable sound effects are in the atomic ages with the planes. You can hear the bombs dropping, propellers spinning, and sirens screaming as planes attack your base. The sounds enhance the gameplay and heighten the experience.

One very unique feature is the unit upgrading process. There are different ways that you can customize your units with a unique attribute combination. This means that 2 players can build the same unit, but they can have different strengths and weaknesses. Essentially, you are spending upgrade points towards health, attack, speed, flight time for air units, etc. This provides many strategic options because you could decide to build a unit to counter another player or benefit an attack combination. Another innovative feature is the custom civilization option. This allows you to spend points on a huge list of attributes varying from unit to economy benefits. This creates many pregame strategic choices adding more layers to the depth of gameplay. The excellent balance is the heart and soul of this title, and the challenge requires you to build many types of units in order to find success.

Empire Earth fares 5 resources: gold, wood, iron, stone, and food. Only 6 workers are permitted on the gold, iron, and stone deposits, so you will be required to expand in order to build a faster economy. In a random map game, building the economy is paramount in establishing the huge army to eliminate your foes.

The sheer scope is huge, giving you infinite replay value against the AI, with friends on the LAN or on the internet. There are so many ways to play the game that it will feel like many games in one. Anyone looking for an enjoyable RTS game with longevity should not pass up Empire Earth. It is a true gem in the populated world of RTS games, and one deserving a spot on your hard drive.