With ChatGPT being so popular, I made a trip back to one of my favorite games, Empire Earth.
When I used to play this game as I was younger, there was a sense of how annoying it was. The AI in random matches and campaigns was often cheating constantly. While I understand that Computers cannot really match the thinking of a human, it is really frustrating to see the AIs cheat their way through a game.
In the above screenshot, you can see an example of how the computer is limited in its thinking.
As soon as I bulit three wonders, the AI makes a beeline to attack it. It is very obvious and it is clear that the AI running on a script and its not very creative here.
I was playing on the settings Small, Mediterranean as it is my most favorite of the maps,
However, there was another sign of the AI cheating here. Wherever there is water, the AI sends its citizens to go build on the shore just to make sure it has a dock ready to pump out some ships to harass me.
The AI knows where to harass me, which is typical in these games of this era.
There is one thing that I do enjoy about it cheating, however. The AI is aggressive even on Easy. There is one thing to say about the AI on the Easy mode; it isn’t easy.
The AI is challenging for sure and that makes the game worth playing in this current age of handholding and mobile games.
The Original Empire Earth came out in a time when expansion packs were still packaged in boxes. The cover of the Art of Conquest expansion features a Roman legionary, probably a centurion in his armor.
Inside the game, there was inclusion of a strange aspect to the game known as the Space Age.
In this screenshot above, you can see the stars in the background, beyond the Space Age tower.
It is quite apparent that the developers were ambitious with this expansion. Whereas they could have spent the time putting more focus on fleshing out the various civilizations in the game, they spent it on adding an entirely new part to the game, namely space.
In some sense, it is clear Empire Earth’s engine just wasn’t up to the task of rendering space.
When one looks at the planets in Empire Earth, they look like floating pieces rock in some High Fantasy story that have been transferred onto the great vastness of space. In my opinion, it looks out of place here
Space in Empire is similar to water but there is a big distinction here. There are no resources available in space. Everything that you need has to be on the land parts of the map. This means that space is merely just a physical barrier, which separates you and your opponents.
The walls in the Space Age get an upgrade. In this age, they shimmer like force fields in Star Wars. Stylistically, they are not as imposing as the Laser Walls that appear in the Digital Age.
The Clunky nature of playing a 2002 game
I remember playing Empire Earth in 2002. I did not touch the expansion at that time.
Now that I am playing it with having more 20 years of foresight, I can see how old software is having issues playing on what would seem like a supercomputer in those early Aughts.
In the game that I was playing, the game was running slow as various robotic citizens were being added to my planet. It was clear that the game was not optimized properly for modern computers.
GOG.com has done a great service for bringing older games back onto the computers of gamers.
The Space Era in the Empire Earth: Art of Conquest expansion is still worth playing now.
What makes it exciting is that clunky integration of space and land into the game.
Empire Earth in its futuristic ages has something that the sequel does not have; it simply seems more holistic.
In some sense, I can understand why Empire Earth is still more popular than the sequel. That ability to build move units and build buildings wherever you want is important aspect of the game.
As I play the Space Age of Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest, I reminded of how games were once affordable and were actually worth the time and money you spent on them. That is why Empire Earth still holds a speical place in my gaming catalog.
Sometimes, a bit of clunkiness goes a long way to building character.
Empire Earth 2 is a tricky game when it comes to the ages after the Atomic Era. One of the weaknesses of the sequel is the mis mash of contemporary units with the futuristic units. The original Empire Earth had a more holistic approach with how its futuristic ages looked like while Empire Earth 2 seemed to forget about that the trade vans still looked like 1940s era trucks.
However, the game is not skimping on the sounds of war which makes these mistakes seem less noticeable.
When you get into the modern ages with machines with engines and robotic walking machines, there is huge increase in the sounds you hear on the battlefields.
When a tank blows up in the game, the sound is more impactful than in comparison to the OG Empire Earth. In the original game, the tanks tended to blow up with this strange sound like a tank gun was going off and the graphic of it wasn’t the best in my opinion. While serviceable, I feel like in Empire Earth 2, there is a greater weight to the explosions. To me, this is why I enjoy playing Empire Earth 2 in the more modern ages.
There is one pre-modern sound effect that I enjoy hearing in Empire Earth 2. That is the sound of muskets firing. It has such a weight just like how the shells and missiles flying in the modern ages.
Empire Earth’s original musket sound was bit too repetitive for me. However, in the sequel, the game’s sound for this weapon have bit more weight to them.
This is another reason why Empire Earth 2 has become one of my favorite games.
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