Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends is the newest RTS offering from Microsoft and Big Huge Games. Sure, you are thinking, "All we need is yet another RTS game from Uncle Bill." I must admit, so was I. As a moderate fan of Ride of Legends, I was somewhat curious about this latest iteration. I have seen a good bit of advertising for the game, but was not quite sure what exactly to expect. Rise of Nations is a historically-based RTS game with a pinch of Risk thrown in to make life a little more interesting. It works really well in some areas, and left a bit to be desired elsewhere.

My history with strategy games goes back a long way. From chess to Panzerblitz, I was always a fan of matching wits with human opponents to see who the better thinker was. It is the competitor in me that really enjoys the challenge of getting involved in any type of thoughtful game.

ROL is not a sequel in many aspects, because not only has gameplay been tweaked, the entire real-life basis of the predecessor has been abandoned for a fictitious universe. In addition, some of the gameplay elements have been changed in order to push the game more into the strategy domain. What am I talking about? Resource gathering, it seems, has been relegated to a minor role in this iteration, leaving you to spend a majority of your time with planning and carrying out attacks.

ROL is set in a universe where technology and magic are both a means to a conquering end. The single player campaigns are set up, in my mind, as a method of teaching you the nuances of each of the three races available. The Vinci are a human-type race that relies heavily on physics-machines, specifically, to compete. The Alin use magic to wage war. The Cuotl are a mysterious bunch whose origins are unkown, but seem to have a religious advantage.

The single player campaign begins with you as the Vinci waging a battle with the Alin to avenge the death of your brother. The game makes use of hero units to help move the story along. The story is not terribly compelling, but it is enough to keep you wanting to see what is going on. Essentially the campaigns are a chain of battles fought to gain each of the territories on the main map. Each region is initially controlled by specific groups. Your job is to wage a strategic war. Every new territory gained offers advantages in power, number and heroes. The heroes have a unique set of powers that can be used repeatedly, but with a recharge period. For instance, one of the first heroes you will use has the capacity to heal units within a specific proximity of one another. This can certainly tip the scales in your favor, even when all looks lost.

Each territory is unique in structure and objective. It is usually wise to establish a strong base of operation and open trade routes with other cities. This trading is done automatically once you create merchant districts. There is really only one resource to gather and that is accomplished through mining. The experienced strategy gamer may find the first few battles almost too easy, but, as the game progresses, I think the wins start to feel as if they are earned. That said, it was not often that I found myself on the losing end of a conflict, even when the numbers seemed well in favor of my opponent. In truth, I think the AI leaves something to be desired in most battles, save for a few of the plot-specific ones.

The single player campaign takes a good long while to complete, but it is well worth the investment. Unlike Rise of Nations and Age of Empires, the skirmish games feel a bit strange because you have no real context for these three races. I know that the same could be said for the likes of other fantasy-based games, but these just felt odd to me. Part of that may be my penchant for history-based RTS games.

I really like the city building side of this game because it is so logical. I cannot imagine anyone not being able to figure out how to progress through any game with computer opponents. As a matter of fact, the computer opponents seem to roll over at times, especially in granting you time to get your armies up to the correct size. Obviously this false sense of security completely disappears with human opponents. If you can find a good match, you will be smiling a big toothy smile if you pull off a victory.

The interface is extremely refined and, unless you are a complete novice, reading any instructions is pointless. The game takes you through a basic tutorial and continues to provide you with hints until you tell it not to do so. It is an extremely approachable game for any skill level.

The action on screen can become overwhelming if you let your army get too big. It can become a full time job just to try to keep everyone on task. The standard RTS tools are present to a*ist you in this task, but I wish units would jump into gear without occasional specific instructions. Of course, if your units are attacked, they will return fire (unless you instruct them not to). The choices for formations and tactics are basic but sufficient.

This game is a definite break from what was done in Rise of Nations. The flow of game seems much quicker, and, unless you specifically desire for games to last long, most are about 20 to 30 minutes of actual play time. I think this is an excellent way to present an RTS, especially given that the gaming community is starting to reel in many more casual gamers, none of whom will stand for a two hour foray just to mine a few pixels of real estate in a game. Also, losing a battle or territory is not the end of the road for you, unless you happen to go down in the first round. It feels like the developers really want you to win.

The graphics are well done and as good as anything else out there today. The view is fully 3-D and can be rotated and zoomed quite easily. The effects of spells, weapons and hero powers are all nicely animated and the game definitely feels alive when you are playing. The hero units are certainly interesting looking and some of the hero vehicles are great. The design team did a fine job making each race feel unique and further pushing the game in terms of immersion.

The music is good, but I was not gushing about its greatness. At times it just felt stale. The sound effects are fine and compliment the graphical feel. I am not sure what could have been done to improve it.

This game has a good amount of replay value built in, provided you can muster interest in this fantasy universe. I can already envision an expansion down the road adding both to the story and providing another tier to the rock-paper-scissors relationships that are present among the three races.

I have to hand it to Big Huge Games and Microsoft for avoiding the pitfall of trying to play it safe and giving us a Rise of Nations that was essentially a graphical upgrade of the earlier title. The game is not without its problems, but they do not detract from the overall experience. It is always risky to take something popular and approachable and change it up. That alone is well worth the price of admission. Factor in the enjoyable single player campaign and excellent art design, and I think you certainly have a game worth your hard earned cash.

Comment

Add a comment using your Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google or OpenID accounts.
blog comments powered by Disqus