Rise of Nations gives you the
history of the world in a short amount of time
From the creators of such games as
Civilization II and Alpha Centauri comes the history of the world in an
hour-long game.
Well, maybe more than an hour, but
Big Huge Games (and Microsoft Game Studios) is banking on giving players a huge
amount of game advancement in a short amount of time to sell its newest
real-time strategy/civ game, Rise of Nations
Featuring the feel of turn-based
games, this game moves quickly throughout the ages, does away with
micromanagement of technologies and resources, and is rather option heavy.
"This game allows players to fully
customize their experience," said Tim Train, vice president of development and
operations for Big Huge Games. "Rise of Nations reduces micromanagement;
resources never deplete. Once a resource is built, you don’t have to worry about
it."
There are 32 special resources built
into the game (like horses, which can help advance a culture, and can be
targeted by your enemies) and multiple victory conditions. Players can succeed
through non-military as well as military options, the latter of which includes
nuclear devastation. Of course, for the nonviolent, economic warfare can also
reap you the rewards of mastery over the world.
This fast-paced program moves
seamlessly, and quickly, from the Stone Age to the modern world.
The graphics of this game were very
well done, and costuming is specific to each culture.
Rise of Nations is player friendly,
requires some cerebral decision-making, and could well provide hours of fun –
not only in that initial hour Big Huge Games predicts you will take to dominate
the world, but in successive outings with a wide variety of victory conditions.
This game is slated for release in
Spring 2003.
