Rise of Nations (PC)

...of hamsters.

Rise of Nations has taken all the best bits from a lot of games and moulded them into one great one !!

Not only is it Real Time Strategy and Resource Management but it is also non Real Time Strategy too. This will take a little explaining but that is after all why I am writing this op !!

The main game of “ Conquer the World “ is played on two different levels but let’s start at the beginning. ...
...the beginning of this op Rise of Nations is from Microsoft Game Studios and Big Huge Games but the important part here is the Microsoft Game Studios part. It’s been quite a while since I last looked at Age of Empires I and II or Age of Mythology so I am unsure about Big Huge Games but Microsoft Game Studios certainly had a hand in these other 3 I have just mentioned. So why am I telling you this ?? Well, quite simply anyone with eyes will immediately ... more

Okay, yeah I know I have been away for a while once again but that doesn’t mean that I have given up writing for Ciao! it’s just that I have been kind of busy plotting global domination. Obviously I mean this only in a “ game “ sense as I am not the evil third world dictator that some people believe me to be and I can neither confirm nor deny any widely held beliefs regarding my alleged plans for global genocide with the cunning use of hamsters.

Rise of Nations has taken all the best bits from a lot of games and moulded them into one great one !!

Not only is it Real Time Strategy and Resource Management but it is also non Real Time Strategy too. This will take a little explaining but that is after all why I am writing this op !!

The main game of “ Conquer the World “ is played on two different levels but let’s start at the beginning. When you start you get to choose from 18 different nations most of which are pretty run of the mill like English, Chinese, German, French, Japanese and Egyptian. However there are a few nations that are unusual such as the Bantu, Mongolians, Nubians and Mayans. Each nationality has different characteristics and bonuses as well as unique units that no other nationality can produce. Also you get to decide upon what difficulty setting you wish to play on. These being … Easiest, Easy, Moderate, Tough, Tougher, and Toughest.

The Strategy Screen
After you have made your choice you can then proceed to the main strategy screen which obviously enough is a somewhat simplified map of the world. Now rather than have all the counties of the world represented by their own area there are instead 50 county like areas most of which are pretty accurate and realistic. Obviously, as there are only 18 nations, all of who start in their own county areas, a large percentage of the world is not owned by anyone.

Well that’s not entirely true as there are people living in these counties but in true historical English fashion it’s your duty to ruthlessly place these heathen barbarians under the yoke of relentless imperialistic oppression which will form the backbone of your own personal dictatorship empire.

Now this part of the game looks rather a lot like the “ Board Games “ Diplomacy, Risk and Supremacy as it is here you choose which of your armies are moved where and nearly all your political and diplomatic endeavours will be made.

Now while most of Europe is fairly full of nation capitals and there is not that many unowned countries most of the world is reasonably empty and it is a good idea to take control of these territories before going to war with other nations. Now while we are still on the strategy map you will also notice that almost all territories have symbols as well as a number indicating the strength of the territory in question.

A diamond indicates a “ Rare Resource “, a card indicates that you can gain a “ Bonus Card “ when you take control of that territory, a chest indicates “ Tribute “, a pyramid indicates a “ Wonder of the World “ and six balls in a triangle indicates a “Supply Centre “. These take a little more explaining so here goes.

Territory Strength:
This indicated by a number that will be somewhere between 1 and 8 and although this has little relevance on the strategy map the strength has a whole lot of relevance when it comes to the Real Time Strategy / Resource Management side of the game. The strength rating of a territory really has little to do with the difficulty of the area but rather with how much there is there already. For example a territory with a “ strength “ rating of one would start with a single city, a logging camp and 3 farms. A territory with a strength rating of 8 however would start with 3 cities, barracks, temples, towers, markets, universities and so on.

Rare Resources:
There are certain resources that your nation can utilise for bonuses towards your overall resource gathering during the game. Not all territories have rare resources and some do not appear until you have advanced to a certain age however each resource has at least one benefit and more often than not several benefits. A rare resource generally gives you a + to at least one resource as well as lowering the cost of production of new units or upgrades. This I will go into more detail about later.

Bonus Cards:
Everyone likes to have an ace up their sleeve and multinational oppressive regimes are no different. Again like rare resources not all territories have a card that can be obtained but you can see what is available by placing your mouse over the card icon in the territory. There are many different types of cards, some of which I will explain here. First and foremost there are “ Eureka “ cards. These come in 5 different varieties, Military, Science, Civic, Commerce and Generic. If at the beginning of a game I played a Science Eureka card I would start the game with 2 Science advances already researched. Likewise if I had played a Civic Eureka card I would start with 2 Civic advances already researched. If however I had played a Generic eureka card I would start with one advance in Civic, Military, Commerce and Science already researched.

It should also be noted that card bonuses in this respect are cumulative. So if for example I had played 2 Science Eureka cards, 1 Military Eureka card and a Generic Eureka card I would start with 3 Military advances, 1 Commerce advance, 1 Civic advance and 5 Science advances already researched. This can obviously give you a huge head start in any game as these are advances that you do not have to use resources to gain and you also have access to more advanced units and structures early on in the game. There are also other types of cards such as Trade Embargo, Sabotage, Treachery, ( Resource ) Boom, Wonder of the World, Mercenary, Partisans and Logistics. All of which can give you an edge in any battle for a territory.

A card I really should explain is the Oath of Fealty card. When you completely destroy a nationality by taking control of their capital territory you gain an Oath of Fealty card. So for example if you were to take over Russia you would gain the Russian Oath of Fealty. When played not only do you retain all the bonuses that your own nationality has but you would also gain all the bonuses and units that, in this case, the Russian nationality had too. This card like the Eureka cards is cumulative with not just your own nation bonuses but also with other Oath of Fealty cards you may have and can play at the same time. Once again this can give you an advantage in a single battle.

The final card I should explain is the Resource Bonus card. Unlike the other cards with the exception of the Oath of Fealty card this card cannot be purchased with tribute nor will it appear in any of the territories. Resource Bonus cards can only be obtained in battle and in only two types of battle too. I will explain the different types of battle later however the battle scenarios of “ Tactics “ and “ Field Battle “ are short battles for territories that have no armies present. Depending on how well you do, how many units you still have upon victory and the time taken you achieve victory you will gain a Resource Bonus card that can be played like any of the other cards except its value is all dependant on how well you did. I have had Resource Bonus cards worth as little as 120 as well as over 300. What this means is that when played you will start the game with +X bonus resources dependant upon the value of the card. Once again these cards are cumulative and you can play more than one of these cards and gain more bonus resources at the beginning of the battle.

Tribute:
This is gained in a variety of different ways. First and fore-mostly you gain Tribute by taking control of territories however you can also gain Tribute in two other ways. Occasionally another nation will request an alliance with you and to sweeten the deal they will offer a certain amount of tribute to close the deal. The other way is to successfully defend one of your territories against an invasion attack from a rival nation. While the Tribute gained from alliances can vary the Tribute gained from successful defending remains a constant 50. It should also be mentioned that when eliminating a nation from the game you also gain all the Tribute that nation had in its coffers which can range from less than one hundred to several thousand points.

As well as the purchase of bonus cards as I have already explained Tribute can also be used in a few other ways. You can raise the strength of a territory you control by spending Tribute the cost of which is dependent upon the strength of the territory you wish to increase. You can also use your Tribute tactically by forming alliances with other nations and peace treaties with nations you are at war with. Finally you can use your Tribute to purchase territories from friendly nations however you can only buy territories that are adjacent to territories you already control and you cannot purchase capital territories.

Wonder of the World:
These are unique constructs that give your nation huge bonuses in many different ways. Each age that the game goes through has Wonders that can only be attained during that age and some are not really what one would consider a wonder at all really but have been added to give the game extra scope. There are a lot of wonders that are easily recognisable such as the Pyramids, Ankor Wat, The Colossus, The Temple of Tikal and so on as well as more modern constructs like The Kremlin, Versailles, The Statue of Liberty etc. All in all there are 14 Wonders of the World and all of them are worth having as they can give you that edge to help you win in even the hardest battles.

Now as these are Wonders of the World they are far more powerful than any card you can play in a single game as they have an effect upon your nation as a whole and their effects are utilised in every single battle game you play.

Supply Centres:
Quite simply these are extra armies that your nation can gain control of and utilise by placing newly won armies in territories you control either as a prelude to an invasion of an enemies territory or as defence against a possible attack from an enemy.

Buy Bonus Card Button
This button will be lit when you have sufficient Tribute to purchase a Bonus Card. When pressed a small window will appear on your screen showing you a selection of 3 Bonus Cards that are available to be bought. The first Bonus Card you purchase in this manner will cost you 30 Tribute, the next 70 Tribute and each subsequent one after that it will cost you 110 Tribute. Once you have made your choice of the three cards available to you can spend the required Tribute to purchase it; then, if you still have sufficient Tribute left you can purchase another. However you will notice that the remaining two cards that you did not purchase the first time will have been replaced and all three of the cards available will be different from the last time.

Upgrade A Territory Strength Button
This Button, again like in the case of the Buy Bonus card button it will remain unlit until you have sufficient Tribute enough to upgrade the strength of a territory. Upgrading a territory with a low strength rating can be quite cheap however if you were to upgrade a territory that already has a high number rating you will notice that the price in equally as high.

Diplomacy Button
Again this brings up a windowed screen that allows you to offer peace to nations you are currently at war with. Request alliances or purchase territory from nations you are at peace with, or declare war with other nations you decide are in need of a good kicking so you can nuke their ass back to the Stone Age. It’s all pretty simple and self-explanatory here.

Before I get into structures, terrain and units I need to make a comparison here. As I stated at the beginning of this op Rise of Nations is from Microsoft Game Studios and Big Huge Games but the important part here is the Microsoft Game Studios part. It’s been quite a while since I last looked at Age of Empires I and II or Age of Mythology so I am unsure about Big Huge Games but Microsoft Game Studios certainly had a hand in these other 3 I have just mentioned. So why am I telling you this ?? Well, quite simply anyone with eyes will immediately see the similarity in Rise of Nations, Age of Empires and Age of Mythology. I would hazard a guess that a lot of the same people who worked on Age of Empires and Age of Mythology are the same people that made Rise of Nations. It could even be the same gaming Software Company although I can neither confirm, nor deny this.

If however you have played Age of Empires I or II or Age of Mythology you will pick this up in a heartbeat. Virtually everything is identical regarding the physics of the game as well as a whole shed load of other similarities regarding the visualisation of the structures and units. Even the terrain is almost the same though to be fair as good as Age of Mythology was Rise of Nations is better !!

Is it any wonder though considering the pedigree of this game ?? While I may not know if it was the same Software Company or team that also made Age of Empire / Mythology what I do know is that the designer of Rise of Nations was none other than Brian Reynolds !! Who is Brian Reynolds I hear you ask. Well for those of you that know games like I do the name will ring bells however for those of you that do not Brian Reynolds was a designer of at least two ground breaking games, those being Civilization II and Alpha Centauri. This alone is a good enough pedigree for those in the know to sit up and take notice.

Anyway continuing with the op !!

Basic Resources
There are 6 different types of Basic Resources. These being, Food, Timber, Metal, Oil, Wealth and Knowledge. However Oil does not become an issue until you reach a later age and Knowledge does not come into play until after the first age. However I will explain all these Resources individually to make things easier to understand.

Food
Food is gained predominantly from Farms that can be build within a city area. Other than unless you are playing the Egyptians you can only place 5 farms within a city area and each farm needs a single citizen to gather food from it. To make a farm you use the build order of a citizen and spend the required Timber to place a farm within your city area. Once the farm is built you gain a +20 Food resource for building the farm and then a +X continuous resource bonus for the citizen that is allocated to the farm. To increase the amount of food gathered from a farm you could utilise the “ Granary “ which has upgrades that are researchable to make your farms even more productive.

Timber
Obviously enough “ Timber “ comes from trees however the good thing here is that rather than the gradual deforestation of the entire map such as is the case of Age of Empires the trees on Rise of Nations remain. Also unlike Age of Empires you cannot just place a “ Woodcutter’s Camp “ next to a copse of trees and place as many citizens as you want there to gather your Timber resource. Instead as you place the “ Woodcutter’s Camp “ next to the trees it will show you how many citizens you can have working on that particular copse of trees. However, having said that there is nothing to stop you from placing another “ Woodcutter’s Camp “ next to another copse of trees and having more citizen’s gather your Timber. Also unlike Farms you can place these anywhere in your controlled territory upon the map. However it is better to place these “ Woodcutter’s Camps “ inside your city areas as like farms there is also a structure called a “ Lumber Mill “ which will increase your Timber gather rate as well as other things but this only effects “ Woodcutter’s Camps “ within your city area.

Metal
Similar in nature to Timber resource gathering metal is gathered in much the same way apart from now it is mountains you are looking for. When you place a “ Mine “ next to a mountain like the “ Woodcutter’s Camp “ you will see just how many citizens can be placed on that particular mine. The amount of citizens that can be placed on a “ Mine “ is directly proportional to the size of the mountain and how much of that particular mountain you control within your nation territory on the map. Again like “ Woodcutter’s Camps “ “ Mines “ can be placed outside your city area however only “ Mines “ that are within your city area will gain the benefits of a “ Smelter “ which, like the “ Lumber Mill “ has upgrades that effect your Metal gather rate.

Oil
Oil is a slightly different resource to collect and until the “ Industrial Age “ you cannot collect this resource at all. However once the “ Industrial Age “ is achieved you will notice that “ Oil “ deposits are suddenly placed upon the map. To gather “ Oil “ you take a single citizen and make them build an “ Oil Well “ upon the “ Oil “ deposit. Each “ Oil Well “ is worked by a single citizen so gaining control of as many “ Oil “ deposits as you can is a good idea. Now unlike “ Food “, “ Timber “ and “ Metal “ these “ Oil “ deposits do not have to be inside your city areas and more than likely they wont be however they do still have to be in your controlled nation area upon the map. To improve your “ Oil “ gather rate you can also build “ Refineries “ which have no upgrades but increase your overall “ Oil “ gather rate by 33 % for each “ Refinery “ built. You can place one “ Refinery “ in a single city area but place one in all of your city areas therefore if you were to have four cities and four “ Refineries “ you would gain a + 132 % “ Oil “ gather rate.

Wealth
Now “ Wealth “ again is a little different from the other resources as you do not use citizens to gather gold like you do in regards to “ Food “, “ Timber “ and “ Metal “. The first thing to do to start gaining “ Wealth “ is to build a “ Market “ which will gain you a +10 “ Wealth “ income rate. To increase this rate you need to also build a “ Temple” and utilise the upgrades there to gain extra taxation. Also you can build “ Caravans “ which will automatically travel from city to city which also increases your “ Wealth “ income rate.

Knowledge
To gain “ Knowledge “ you need to build “ Universities “ inside your city areas, one per city. Each “ University “ can hold up to seven “ Scholars “ which all give you a “ Knowledge “ income rate bonus. The more cities, the more “ Universities “, the more “ Scholars “, the faster your “ Knowledge “ income rate !!

Rare Resources
As well as your Basic Resources there are also Rare Resources. These come in two categories. As well as national Rare Resources, which I explained in the Strategy Screen portion of this op, you also have area Rare Resources that are available to be utilised during a battle. To utilise a Rare Resource you either have to build a “ Merchant “ if it is on land or a “ Fisherman “ if the Rare Resource is at sea. Just as in the national Rare Resources each of the area Rare Resources will give you more than a singe resource bonus and quite often a further bonus too that is unrelated to resources such as build time speed bonuses and build cost bonuses.

Resources Cont’d
Now while you may want to make as many citizens as your population cap will allow collecting as much resources as you can like your population your resources also have a cap. So let’s say your resource cap for Timber is 500 and it’s still flashing yellow ( what it does when the cap is exceeded ) then you obviously have too many people collecting Timber. Now while this is not all that bad what it does mean is that some of your citizens are being wasted and they could be used to gather another resource that you are not topping out on.

During my time playing Rise of Nations I have discovered that about 14 citizens each on Food, Timber and Metal is about sufficient although this number can vary by a citizen or two.

Structures
City: Produces citizens
University: Produces Scholars and gives access to University upgrades that can be researched.
Market: Produces Caravans and Merchants, provides Wealth income rate. Food, Timber, Metal and Oil can be bought and sold here.
Temple: Increases city borders, increases city hit points and give a bonus to the city attack range, gives access to Temple upgrades that can be researched.
Library: Gives access to National Military, Civic, Commerce and Science upgrades, Next Age Research as well as the four final upgrades of Missile Shield, World Government, Global Prosperity and Artificial Intelligence.
Farm: Allows a single citizen to gather the Food resource.
Woodcutter’s Camp: Allows citizens to gather the Timber resource.
Mine: Allows citizens to gather the Metal resource.
Oil Well: Allows a single citizen to gather the Oil resource.
Granary: Gives access to Granary upgrades that can be researched which increase your Food gather rate amongst other things.
Lumber Mill: Gives access to Lumber Mill upgrades that can be researched which increase your Timber gather rate amongst other things.
Smelter: Gives access to Smelter upgrades that can be researched which increase your Metal gather rate amongst other things.
Refinery: Gives you a cumulative +33 % Oil gather rate.
Barracks: Allows the production of infantry ground troops.
Stables / Auto Plant: Allows the production of cavalry until the Industrial Age where it automatically turns into the Auto Plant which allows the production of tanks and armoured cavalry.
Siege Factory / Factory: Allows the production of various siege weapons like the “ Trebuchet “ and “ Artillery Cannons “ as well as supply wagons and then later on in the game units like “ Howitzers “ and “ Rocket Artillery “ as well as “ Anti Aircraft Missile “ units
Tower / Bunker: Static defence structures that also gives you access to attrition upgrades and militia research.
Castle / Redoubt: Large static defence structure. Allows production of “ Generals “ and “ Spies “ as well as researchable upgrades that effect national borders and “ Spies “.
Anchorage / Shipyard: Allows the production of ships and submarines as well as fishermen.
Airbase: Allows the production of fighter planes, bombers and helicopters.
Missile Silo: Allows the production of nuclear and non-nuclear missiles.
Lookout Tower / SAM Installation: Reveals hidden units such as enemy spies and after upgrading to a SAM Installation when the appropriate age is reached provides defence against aircraft units.

Units
Fortunately the people at Microsoft Game Studios and Big Huge Games have placed a lot of thought into the units available. Instead of it being a case of “ who has the biggest army “, although to be fair if I were to go at an enemy with 200 units and all they had was 50 units I would trounce all over them so size is important after all. However all units have their strengths and weaknesses. If I was to attack my enemy with 50 heavy cavalry and he used 50 pikemen to defend my heavy cavalry would be well and truly skewered and turned into knight-a-la-shish-kebab !!

So rather than just building the hardest unit available and trying to pile in with as much muscle as possible it is important to have a mixture of units and use certain units against certain attacking units.

This truth remains a constant in all aspects of the fighting side of the game. However you know these rules … there is always an exception ( Gabe laughs in an evil maniacal insane dictator way ) and that exception is ……. NUKES !!! Yup nukes, especially ICBM ( Inter Continental Ballistic Missile ) nukes kick the living s**t out of anything moving … or not moving as the case may be. Even the game states, and I quote “ Strong vs Buildings, Ships, Weak vs Units that run away fast !! “.

You all know me by now and you all know that one of the things I love to do is blow s**t up and there’s nothing better than blowing s**t up with nukes. Unfortunately the people that made the game must have heard about me as they also included an “ Armageddon “ counter and when it reaches 0 it’s game over and you lose. This kind of sucks for me who has itchy fingers when it comes to the “ Big Red Button “ but also it makes the use of nukes a far more tactical manoeuvre. Which in turn means that you have to use your brain rather than resort to just plain muscle power !!

There are over 100 military units to play with in the game, as you will see as you go through the ages and all of them have a use. Saying that as each age is attained units from the previous age become obsolete so do not expect to be about to produce 100 different types of units at any one time. As new units become available the older obsolete units get replaced. Now while the physics of having a knight suddenly turn into a light tank are more than slightly askew I personally am not complaining. You may see this as slightly odd and that’s fine so you have your knight and I will have my tank and we will see who wins !!

Battle Maps
Now one of the things I personally found rather enjoyable about the game was the Battle Maps. Lets say for example I have moved my army from South East China to Australia hoping to take over Australia the map that the battle will take place upon will actually look somewhat like a simplified version of the Australian mainland. While this may not be apparent at first as the vast majority of the map is undiscovered once the map is revealed you will notice the similarity.

Battle Types
While it would be true to say that the majority of the battles you will face will be “ Conquest “ battles there are other types of battles that you will encounter whilst playing the game. The type of battle you can expect will be displayed on the loading screen and you will be informed as to what you have to do to attain victory before you start the battle.

Conquest: This is by far the most used battle scenario in the game. The aim here is to take control of your enemy’s Capital City although this does not stop you from taking control of any of their other cities. This can be sometimes beneficial as you can use one of their cities as a staging post for an attack at their Capital City. However do not just expect to walk in and take over, they will put up a fight and will try to regain control of their city.

Tactics / Field Battle / Barbarians at the Gate: These are short battles for a territory that is relatively undefended.

Wheel and Deal: This type of battle generally pits you against 2 or more opponents that to begin with all want to see you dead. Although the end result is a Conquest battle the difference is that during the game you can form alliances and peace treaties with the other nations as well as get them to fight amongst themselves while you build up your army ready to crush them without warning.

Graphics and Sound
Graphically this game is beautiful and surpasses even the respect I had for the graphics in Age of Mythology. As well as the makers of the game designing a game that is hugely playable they also placed a huge emphasis on the graphics and animations that are present in all aspects of the game. A prime example of this is the animation used for the artillery cannon where you see people actually load the cannon and then re-load it once the cannon has fired. Citizens will lie on the floor if left without anything to do. Fish and whales swim around in the sea; waves wash up upon the shore and birds fly in flocks over you city.

Now while all of this is surplus to requirements to make a game, games by their very nature are visual things. Given the choice I think we would all opt for a game that we can be in awe of visually as well as a game that has great playability. Okay so these graphics are not the cutting edge of 3D graphics that are being used in some games but that does mean we should not appreciate them for this fact. Any game that can utilise a graphical system which even though may not be what is all the rage and still surpass visually those that have to rely upon the latest to make an impact has to be worthy of our merit and therefore of our praise. Quite simply the graphics are stunning and you will be as pleased with the way it looks as I was.

The sound is about what you would expect for a game of this genre and while I would say that it is nothing to crow about it is by no means bland or non-existent. As well as all the relevant sounds for the units, structure and environment there is also in game music which I was quite happy to listen to for the first month.

Computer Requirements and Summary
Great news for all you people out there who still have not upgraded your computer as there cannot be many computers still in working order that do not have the required specs to run Rise of Nations. All you need is a 500 MHz system with 128 Meg of RAM; a 16 Meg Graphics Card, a CD-ROM and a free gig of Hard Drive space and you are set.

Okay lets do the math. 18 nations with 6 difficulty levels. If you wanted to, you could feasibly play the game 108 times using all nations and all difficulty levels and each game would be vastly different from each other game. I personally have played more than one game using a nation I had previously played before and it was unlike the previous time I played. Just because something happened in one game it does not mean that it will happen again. Add to that you can quite easily play a numerous variety of multiplayer games both at a home LAN ( Local Area Network ) and online against human players rather than just the computer players. All this means this game as about the biggest level of playability that I have ever seen in any game. Also lets take into account that there will inevitably be at some point in the future an add on expansion for the game which is now a commonplace eventuality which means that Rise of Nations has even more going for it than what may at first be apparent.
With an easy to use and learn interface this is a game that will not keep you entertained for weeks or months but rather, I would feel more probable, years. If that is not good value for money I don’t know what is !!

The Recommended Retail Price for Rise of Nations currently stands at £34:99 however at play.com you can purchase this game for the low price of £26:99 with free postage and packing and that readers, is a price worth paying !!
 

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