Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10267 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: XPLOSIV
• Released on: 2006-11-16
• ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
• Platform: Windows XP

Manufacturer's Description

Which forces will you deploy to lead your nation to global prominence? Trade, espionage, diplomacy…war? Whichever path you choose, you'll experience the pulse-pounding thrill and speed of real-time gaming, combined with the epic scope and depth of turn-based strategy games. These are brought together for the first time ever in Rise of Nations.

You'll create new cities, improve city infrastructures and expand national borders. Conquer foes through military might using everything from sling-shots to cannons, stealth bombers to nuclear weapons. Corner the market on key commodities and consolidate power under your rule. Wheel and deal across time with history's eminent cultures.

Cross-genre gameplay. Combining the speed of real-time gaming with the epic scope of turn-based strategy games, "Rise of Nations" allows players to have a fast and fun experience with the option to complete a game in less than an hour. The game's epic scope moves through eight historical epochs, tying together the mysteries of ancient philosophy and the wonders of the world.

Multiple ways to achieve victory. Players succeed through nonmilitary and quasi-military strategies including espionage, political maneuvering, technology races and population growth. Players can also choose to win through military action.

Eighteen highly diverse nations. Players lead one of 18 nations - Aztec, Bantu, British, Chinese, Egyptian, French, German, Greek, Incan, Japanese, Korean, Mayan, Mongol, Nubian, Roman, Russian, Spanish and Turk - each with its own distinctive national powers and special units. Conquer the world. This nonlinear single-player campaign allows gamers to play on a map of the world and take over one territory at a time. Each victory gives players tribute, special

resources or bonus powers.

In-depth game experience. Gamers will be able to create a truly strategic game experience by using national borders, flank attacks, spies and generals.

Zooming scale. Three levels ofzooming scale provide players with a detailed, tactical or strategic overview of their nation.

Stunning animations and special effects. The game includes more than 220 unit types, with more than 500 artistically distinct variations based on gender, race and time, ranging from slingers and musketeers to tanks, jets and nuclear missiles.

Quick and easy play. Gamers can learn to play with six story-driven tutorials ranging in difficulty from beginning to advanced.

Streamlinedmultiplayer. Up to eight players can be challenged on the Internet or via local area network, including in-game matchmaking.

Customer Reviews

Rise of Nations
What do you get when you combine 'Age of Empires' with 'Sid Meier's Civilization' and add a little bit of 'Risk' to the mix? The answer: Rise of Nations. To be fair though the game is much more than the sum of its parts, and it does offer a few interesting new ideas that put it above your usual historical RTS.

Anyone who's familiar with Empire Earth and other games of its type will feel right at home with this game. You are basically given command of one nation (there is a choice of up to 18 of them including the British, Germans, Romans, Aztecs, Chinese, Nubians and Turks) whose destiny you must guide through eight historical epochs, from ancient times to the modern era.

Build cities, research technologies, construct wonders, establish trade routes and defeat your enemies. All the tried and tested hallmarks of the Strategy genre are here. What makes Rise of Nations different is that it is a lot more in-depth than yor average strategy game. Like 'Civilization' you can construct cities which the enemy must capture in order to win. This means you have concrete objectives and goals, as you and the enemy factions wrestle to control these important strategic sites.

Another great feature is the 'national border'. Your strength is measured in how much territory you control, which is shown by a coloured line that shifts as you increase or lose your power. You can increase this power by building forts and cities as well as researching new technologies. The larger your borders, the greater amount of gold you produce, and hence the more soldiers you can train. If you cross an enemy's border without officially declaring war your own soldiers suffer attrition damage. This adds a whole lot of interesting new strategies to every level.

The game has internet and LAN multiplayer, a 6 level tutorial, a single player Skirmish mode, and one campaign. The campaign allows you to play as a nation of your choice. You start out on a 'Risk' style turn based map of the world, and your objective is to conquer every territory on the map. The game's length stretches from the Bronze Age to the near future, giving you a varied experience whenever you play it. You move your army, which is shown as chess style figure into enemy territory. Just like the 'Total War' games, it then switches to a Real Time level where you must complete a number of tasks such as conquer neighbouring tribes, or hold out against enemy attacks for 15 minutes, in order to win. By subduing enemies you win tribute, gain 'top trumps' style cards (which can be 'played' to give you advantages in future battles) and depots to train new armies.

The camapign can be difficult to get into, and it's not as pretty as the 'Total War' style campaigns but it's still a lot of fun to play.

Overall this is a varied and brilliant game. It can be difficult to get into, as it can sometimes overwhelm you with the options, but if you stick with it it'll soon become one of your favourite games. The graphics are getting really old by now (the game was released four years ago) but it still looks ok. I gave this four stars, but with the expansion pack 'Thrones and Patriots' it easily becomes a five star game. Buy it!