Category: RTS

Why Empire Earth is better than most Modern RTS Games

The Intro Screen of the Russian Campaign in Empire Earth

The Russian Campaign in Empire Earth is one of the reasons why I still love playing this game. I have not actually won the campaign even after so many years. However, its the possibilities that the campaign has which still captivates me. The ability to have a science fiction story set on Earth rather than space in an RTS was a great accomplishment. Regardless of the quality of the voice acting or the plausbility of the story, the campaign is known as the hardest in the game. You really get a sense of a futuristic struggle between Russia and America and other nations which you rarely get to see.

Why is that we cannot see that with modern RTS games. The only RTS game recently to accomplish any dynamicism in its design while honoring the past is Age of Empires IV. While Age of Empires III was in a beautiful obscurity, a middle child one could say, Age of Empires IV has regenerated the franchise and RTS games as whole. Starcraft II’s hold on the RTS genre along with other offshoot genres. However, one game cannot do it on its own here. There needs to be more RTS games out there as I see the genre as a virtual chess style game which can help enhance people’s minds here.

Instead of focusing on esports, maybe developers should focus on making their profits sustainable versus a constant stream which eventually tires out and then they have no artistic integrity. Video game companies need to start paying attention to the tension between art and business. Without capital, most art could not start but they should not let business take their soul away from their jobs. Such a compromise ends up damaging many businesses. Somehow, Japan, with its harsher corporate culture has managed to keep the soul of its IPs intact versus the West here.

Empire Earth has a been game that I have played for over twenty years. There is a reason why it stays with me. Nostalgia, a very much misused word in our age, isn’t really for software. It’s more for our physical places and the sense of time passing and a willingness to come back to it. The technical aspect of a video game isn’t what we are sentimental about here, but the atmosphere around playing the game. The game’s technical aspects are solid, not prefect, but better than what you see now, regardless of sentimental aspects surrounding our playing of the game.

Empire Earth has something unique about it. The AI cheats in the game, but it is competent and the battles, even when annoying are also exciting. There is something about the quality of the battles where every unit has a role to play, big and small. Unlike so many RTS games now, I feel the gameplay loop is similar to Skyrim’s. It has a mythic quality while still personable. This is an issue that Starfield had, where its huge nature made the player seem too small and not distinctive enough. This is another issue I have with Stellaris, inspire of its great gameplay. The mythic nature is so huge, that the player just seems to be clicking buttons on a screen.

What we need in video games again is a sense of personal stakes and personality again. Not just moving digital information on the screen.

The reason why Empire Earth is still played by players is really down to its technical brillancce combined with the memories of an industry that wasn’t perfect but knew how to make games over assets for investors in corporations.

Modern RTS games have no equivalent: The Cardassian Interface in Star Trek – Armada II

Star Trek - Armada II planet

The Cardassian race in the Star Trek series made its appearance on the overly idealistic Star Trek: The Next Generation and represented a new foe for the Federation. They were a mix of Klingon and Romulan and they were militaristic but also had an artistic side to them which made unique. Unlike most of the Science-Fiction stories made now, Star Trek was good at making races that were not too alien but alien enough to create a futuristic version of real-life politics. The Cardassians would reach their peak of influence on the franchise in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The series would show them as the tragic villains being manipulated by the Dominion and cause the fall of the great civilization due to the arrogance and corruption of the military classes.

Much like Star Wars, the Cardassians would have distinct style and feel to their ships. Just as the Neimoidian in the Phantom Menace would hide in their ships with mighty droid armies marching on Naboo, the Cardassians had their own approach to how they built their ships and the interfaces on them.

Star Trek – Armada II incorporates Cardassian lore into the game with such stylistic beauty that you could hardly believe that this game is over 20 years of age. Once you think about it, you become nostalgic and wonder how the Video Game industry has become stuck in the mud. It cares more about past glories and not building anything new or even respecting its past without covering it over with a facade which is inferior to the original product that gamers enjoyed in those previous generations.

Cardassian Legate Class firing artillery at a Klingon base.

The Cardassians were introduced in Star Trek – Armada II and they are quite a joy to play.

However, the main I want to emphasize here is the sound design of the interface.

In video games, the interface can make a break even a good game.

The sound design within the clicking of the keys and hovering over the interface is integral to a building a wonderful experience for the player to get immersed in.

The interface sounds of the Cardassians is very oppressive sounding, as if the Obsidian Order is watching your shoulders.

In 2001, only a couple years separated Star Trek – Armada II and the release of Dune II, the first true RTS game. Star Trek Armada II in many ways was released at the pinnacle of the RTS genre. Empire Earth was released in the same month as Star Trek Armada II. Warcraft III, was released earlier in that year, giving Blizzard the confidence to then unleash World of Warcraft onto the MMO genre and then seize it like ancient conqueror. These are only three of the any RTS games released in that year.

What is even more remarkable is that Star Trek – Armada II was released a year after Star Trek – Armada in 2000. The sounds on the interface in the OG Armada were more basic. Within a year, they managed to have unique sounds and art style for each race; they did not just copy the original game, they made something new while respecting the OG Armada.

Such an accomplishment goes beyond the brand of this science-fiction franchise but shows what the video game industry needs to reclaim so that people can enjoy video games with passion once again.