Rise of Nations

Matt Simis

Any one else try this one yet?

I think its pretty cool, finally a proper strategy game after years of dumbed down C&C and Warcraft.

Id recommend playing on Hard difficulty however, Im playing Conquer the World on moderate and I think Ive got the AI licked. Things may change when we leave the Medieval Age however.


For those that havent played it, think of it as all the best parts of Civ and Warcraft 3 together. You plot to take over the world on a World Map Civ style and attack and defend via battles in a standard RTS Warcraft* style. If that wasnt enough, the world starts in the Ancient age and slowly ticks up to the Future Age. You get the choice of around 14 different races too.


*Although its really more strategic RTS in the Age of Empires\Myth etc vein, than Warcraft3, which is a plus IMO.



Matt

Mr. Fancypants

Yep, feckin brilliant game. Has sucked away too many hours that i should of spent unpacking already.

Make sure you dont play it at easiest or easy as it is waaaaaaaaay to easy, even for someone who is fairly brutal at Strategy games like me

Tusky

when was this released :O thought it wasnt out for a month !

Mr. Fancypants

2 Weeks ago

Altheus

It's the ****ing best game since colonization. It actually is the finest in the whole "civ" generation. Brought up on civ on my trusty DECStation 316, and moving onto colonization, and never really getting into the whole RTS movement, C&C, Age of Empires, they all seem a little too kiddy click click for, build and blast. They got the measure just right in this one, I just cant wait for an 8 player LAN.....

Tusky

Just after buying it ! been waiting for a good stratagy game for a while now ( i know theres loads of good uns but i never really got into any of the latest )

gonna go play - will report back !

Mr. Fancypants

Originally posted by Tusky
Just after buying it ! been waiting for a good stratagy game for a while now ( i know theres loads of good uns but i never really got into any of the latest )

gonna go play - will report back !

Nice to see your not in the least an impulsive buyer

Tusky

Originally posted by mbroaders
Nice to see your not in the least an impulsive buyer

hehe

Anywho played it for an hour or so and I can confirm its bloody great REALLY complex though...donno if i could get really into it because of the sheer abmmount of stuff going on... the ammount of research in it...resource manageing and army building add to that multiple citys manmagen borders etc its highly brain tire'n !

they seem to have got a great balance though between civ styley and AOE games... ! 5 stars

Sliotar

what kinda specs do u need to get it runnin good?

Tusky

After playing it a good bit its not as complicated as I first thought ! One negative thing that will stop me playing pretty soon,...and its a bgi negative...is that its VERY repeditive and the battles allways turn out the same ( in my case anyway )

It often turns into a case of build as fast as you can + rush / theres v.lil strategy in the battles

other than that its great fun , and the "conquer the world game is great "

I plays ok on my pc... 1800 athlon xp , 256 ram g-force 2 mx 64 mb *shudder*

with an ikle bit of slowdown in large battles...

Matt Simis

Completed it for first time, moderate difficulty, 21 turns, 9.5hrs RTS battles. One of the few games were I actually want to replay it, I started again, new nation, Tough difficulty.

There is an interview on Sharkyextreme, heres something I thought was amusing:

SE: Warcraft 3 has its spells and items, Command and Conquer has its Generals' abilities. What new things does Rise of Nations introduce strategy-wise?

Tim - Well, we've tried to add some actual tactics in combat.

http://www.sharkyextreme.com/features/idtrInterviews/article.php/2218751

If you read the Interview, youll see thats taken a little out of context, but amusing none the less.



Matt

Matt Simis

Originally posted by Tusky
After playing it a good bit its not as complicated as I first thought ! One negative thing that will stop me playing pretty soon,...and its a bgi negative...is that its VERY repeditive and the battles allways turn out the same ( in my case anyway )

It often turns into a case of build as fast as you can + rush / theres v.lil strategy in the battles

other than that its great fun , and the "conquer the world game is great "

I agree, its not really that complicated, but Im still finding out new things after completing it. I found the battles on Moderate a bit easy, like you say, rush out and you have got it won. Playing on hard (aka Tough) is a lot more fun however, as the AI also attempts to rush out, and, for the first time, attacks with 2 armies on different fronts.

This would be an interesting multiplayer game.



Matt

meglome

As I mentioned before I got a pre-release for Gamire.com and I loved it, best rts since AOE II. Recommended playing.

monument

I loved it, but also hate it. It's two much about rushing to get research done first. But it's fun.

Altheus

Well the beauty lies in the ability to customise rules... slow down tech... make it more economic...

Cuauhtemoc

Great game..shouldn't have played it on easy first though, even if it did help get used to all the research and stuff, but now that i'm playing difficult i'm finding it v. hard to conquer world. The sheer amount of pure concentration and undivided attention needed can be a bit tiring.

Multiplayer is good but am getting a kicking most of the time.