Empire Earth II Review

Four years after the release of the first Empire Earth, and two years since the release of its expansion pack â??Age of Conquestâ??, comes the launch of VU Gamesâ?? Empire Earth II. Whilst in development, the game was being readied to be â??â?¦in every way a worthy successor that builds upon the Empire Earth franchiseâ?¦â? that is according to VU Gamesâ?? Executive Vice President of Worldwide Studios Michael Pole. Both critics and gamers alike received the original title very well, leading to over two million copies of the game being sold world-wide so the follow-up certainly has a lot to live up to.

The development of the franchise has changed hands however, with Empire Earthâ??s creators Stainless Steel leaving the series to work on future RTS release â??Rise & Fall: Civilisations at Warâ??; so instead it was up to Mad Doc Software (creators of the Age of Conquest expansion pack for the first title) to take the reins and move the series forward. With the expectations of critics, gamers, and the publisher upon them, Mad Doc started to work on a sequel.

Set across 15 epochs (or â??time periodsâ?? to the layman) from 10,000B.C. right up to the middle of the 23rd Century, Earth Empire II takes place across a similar stretch of time to itâ??s predecessor, and whilst it may not drift too far away from the core foundations laid down by Empire Earth, this is more than just a rehash of the original title. Mad Dog has implemented a series of changes and additions to the game in an attempt to develop the franchise to new boundaries and to streamline some of the processes and interfaces of the first game.

There is lot of scope to this game, with the Campaign mode taking players through some of the key historical events of Korea, Germany, and the USA forming one of two single-player modes with the other being the so-called â??Turning-Points Collectionâ??. The main focus in this mode is to fight either to change or retain the real-world timeline through two decisive battles: the Normandy invasions of June 1944 (D-Day), and the Battle of the Three Kingdoms that occurred in China between the 3rd and 5th Centuries. Other modes include a Skirmish mode and a Multiplayer mode, with the latter especially set to keep players busy for months to come.

Whilst the focus of the game isnâ??t to create an almost exact simulation of a specific period of time with pixel perfect accuracy (such as CDVâ??s Cossacks II) itâ??s undeniable that Empire Earth II is a complex game that does spit out a lot of information and options to the gamer. Thankfully however the game does take its time to introduce players to the various aspects of the gameplay through not one or two, but three tutorials that stretch from the Aztecs to World War II. These tutorials are essential to an RTS novice as well as proving their worth to the more battle-hardened veterans of the genre.

The core structure of the game rarely drifts far from the standard RTS formula, which some could say has made the genre stagnant over the past few years; players first of all locate then build their head of operations before stocking up on resources such as wood, food, and gold. During this time players can switch between a large scale map point of view as well as the more traditional God view with the large scale map providing gamers with the ability to see how much of the game-world theyâ??ve actually explored as well as neighbouring nations, cities, and enemies. Switching between the views is a matter of pressing the â??Tabâ?? button and players will certainly find themselves doing their fair share of tabbing since the game objectives are only shown in the map view, which can sometimes disrupt the flow of the game.

Some of the key elements that have been implemented into Empire Earth II are the Picture-in-Picture (PIP) views (which allow you to see the traditional RTS view in the map view in real-time), and a War Planning system that is of most use in the multiplayer modes. As has already been mentioned Mad Doc have spent some time to stream-line some of the gameplay so that initiating actions such and delegating work to idle units is quick and simple. Through the use of resource buttons players have access to a more streamlined method of assigning resource-gathering tasks to idle units, which means that players can then focus on less mundane tasks such as defeating a marauding enemy! The range of units available to players has also been increased in Empire Earth II with over 350 types, a third more than itâ??s predecessor â?“ each of the civilisations also has its own unique units such as Egyptâ??s Egyptian (obviously) Royal Elephant. As well as the units, the number of structures has also been increased for the sequel, boasting a huge 80% increase to 250 types, which span across the divisions of time.

The PIP views might seem a little bit of a novelty addition to the game, but they do have relevance given that the game-worlds are so big. Players can set up a maximum of six PIP â??camerasâ?? so they can jump across to all parts of the known world to observe the various happenings in real-time. The system also means that strategic planning and tactics can all be changed before enemy troops get to your City Centre (although the situation is reversed when facing human players), and essentially acts as an early warning system regardless of which epoch is being played out. The mode is exceptionally handy when players find themselves embroiled in a battle on many fronts, and is something that may become a stalwart of RTS titles in the future.

Throughout the epochs, players are also given the chance to develop key technologies via the Technology Tree, which can be grown in various ways (though most of them have to do with garrisoning various buildings and claiming enemy territories.) The development of technologies is closely linked with the winning of Crowns, which measure you as a ruler. The three crowns (Military, Economic, and Imperial) are all scored against how far the player is researching into a specific technology be it a military, economic or imperial technologies. As the epochs pass, players will also have the ability to upgrade to increasingly modern units so that by the time you reach Epoch 12 tactical bombers capable of dropping a thermonuclear payload can be build and used.

There is one major aspect of Empire Earth II that also affects the gameplay experience for the player, and that is the implementation of the weather in the game. Besides giving the actual impression of time, the weather system actually affects the tactics and strategies needed to defeat an opponent with troops performing to a higher standard in the summer rather than the rainy seasons. Also, depending on where your troops are geographically placed, they might experience anything from sandstorms, which affect the available visibility, to snow that actually slows down their movement. As in the real world outposts are able to predict the weather so that you can avoid an oncoming onslaught from the weather and itâ??s also a good to make that a weather condition will not be localised as they affect everyone on map, which balances it unfairly against one player. Itâ??s a feature that would have been a neat visual touch, but that it actually forces player strategy to change and become more fluid makes it as threatening as an approaching enemy army.

The multiplayer modes in the game will certainly increase the longevity of Empire Earth II with up to 10 players able to battle it out in a range of options from â??Conquestâ??, where players have to destroy all of their enemies, right through to Regicide, which is where players will have to protect their king from enemy assassination. Perhaps the most interesting multiplayer mode is called Sole Survivor, where only one player can win, however if teams and alliances are created during the course of the match, once there is only one team left the alliances are broken and the final fight to death begin! As you can imagine this game does seem to take the old proverb â??keep your friends close and your enemies closerâ?? to the extreme, and is bound to become one of the favourite game types. The range of modes really does add a lot of depth and perhaps more importantly, variety to the multiplayer modes that will probably be the key to the gameâ??s long-term life.

Graphically the game is a bit of a disappointment (at least on closer inspection) and whilst traditionally the visuals of an RTS have been of little significance when compared to the actual â??Real-Time Strategyâ?? gameplay, titles such as Rome: Total War and the forthcoming RTSâ?? Earth 2160, and Stainless Steelâ??s aforementioned Rise & Fall are beginning to show that a balance can be struck between strong strategic gameplay and visuals that are up to the standard of the current generation of games. The interface is detailed, which may confuse newcomers to the genre as it adds to the standard RTS display with itâ??s Technology Trees and Crown points, but overall the HUD does cope well with the amount of information that it has to communicate to players.

Thereâ??s not much to be said about the sound and music in Empire Earth II as its very RTS and forgettable; the units respond in a very limited manner when â??called uponâ?? to accomplish a task with a standard set of â??Yes, Sirâ?? and â??On my way!â?? whilst the music is appropriate for the epochs but largely itâ??s sonically invisible. Perhaps this is where the game is a bit disappointing, with development in longevity, and even to some extent the visuals proving their worth, the fact that the sound effects are generic to other RTS titles is an area that the team at Mad Doc (if their asked to produced a third in the series) will also explore.