Download Review of Empire Earth II

Review of Empire Earth II
J.P. Baugh
Overview : Empire Earth II
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Developed by Mad Doc Software, under
Sierra Games
EE2 is a Real Time Strategy game
Costs $49.99 (retail)
Gameplay
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Story Line
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Non-linear
Depends highly on:
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Player’s Choices
Computer AI setting
Resources
Map Type
Gameplay
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Interface (Perspective)
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3D “God-View” (3/4) type perspective
Can zoom in and zoom out in a parabolic fashion
User Interface
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Very user-friendly (takes less than four clicks of
the mouse to choose and place buildings)
Once a building type has been chosen, you
simply click and place buildings of that type
elsewhere
Gameplay
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Game Types
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There are several game types, such as:
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Conquest
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King of the Hill
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Take the territory at center of map and hold for some time
Capture the Capitol
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Take Everything (Destroy all enemies)
Capture the enemy’s capitol building and hold for some
time
Etc.
Additionally, there are Single player and
Multiplayer options
Building Types
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Some Military Structures
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Barracks
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Stables
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Heavy artillery (catapults, cannons, etc.)
Airports
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Mounted units
Workshops
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Ground units
Air-worthy units
Seaport
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Sea-worthy units
Building Types
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Some Civilian Structures
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Capitol / City Centers
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Houses
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Allows you to take a territory
Creates citizens and scouts
Increase moral of units in range
Farms
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Provide food for unit production
Epochs
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Timeline
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Epoch 1 : Stone Age
Epoch 2 : Copper Age
Epoch 3 : Bronze Age
Epoch 4 : Iron Age
Epoch 5 : Dark Age
Epoch 6 : Middle Age
Epoch 7 : Renaissance
Epochs
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Epoch 8 : Imperial Age
Epoch 9 : Enlightenment
Epoch 10 : Industrial Age
Epoch 11 : Modern Age
Epoch 12 : Atomic Age
Epoch 13 : Digital Age
Epoch 14 : Genetic Age
Epoch 15 : Synthetic Age
Epochs
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Technology
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Different technologies
become available in
different epochs
For example, you would
obviously not have
airport or tank factories
in the Stone Age
Or would you?
Cultures
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Your culture can determine unique
technologies available
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E.g., Germans can have Barbarians
British can have Druids
Romans have Legionnaire
It can also determine unique powers /
characteristics that your units have
Cultures
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The Cultures are determined by your
Civilization and your Region
Regions:
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Western
Middle Eastern
Far Eastern
Meso-American
Cultures
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Western has civilizations:
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Germans
British
Romans
Americans
Greeks
Middle Eastern has civilizations:
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Egyptians
Turks
Babylonians
Culture
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Far Eastern has civilizations
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Korean
Japanese
Chinese
Meso-American has civilizations:
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Incas
Aztecs
Mayans
Culture
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The culture variation is extraordinary
Each region provides special attributes
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E.g., Middle Eastern civilizations produce more
gold, faster
Western Civilizations have more productive
universities
Each civilization has unique units that no
other civilization has (as mentioned earlier)
Graphics, Sound, and Music
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Artwork/Graphics are excellent
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Provide extraordinary immersiveness
Provide some degree of realism
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Not necessarily the key to the game
However, the artwork is realistic enough to be believable
Definitely not ‘gaudy’ or ‘cheesy’
Graphics, Sound, and Music
Graphics, Sound, and Music
Graphics, Sound, and Music
Graphics, Sound, and Music
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The ambient sounds definitely add to the
realism of the game
The music is specific to the region which your
civilization is from
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E.g., Meso-American civilizations have very
interesting music with wooden flutes, hand drums,
etc.
Compared with Empire Earth
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Graphics are substantially better in Empire
Earth II, than in Empire Earth
AI pathfinding is substantially better
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Empire Earth units had a bad habit of getting
stuck behind trees or inside of walls
This is substantially diminished in EE2
The different music and unique units for
various civilizations makes it more realistic
Conclusion
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If you like RTS games, I strongly recommend Empire
Earth II
It is well worth the $49.99 retail
There are so many variations and intricate cultural
attributes / units to explore that you’ll honestly never
play the same game twice
Multiplayer (online) gaming allows you to put your
skill up against online adversaries
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This adds even more enjoyment for those who get bored of
the single player, or just want more variety
Questions?