Empire Earth and its sequel are a study in contrasts. There are two games that represent differing ideas about what a game is. Empire Earth attempts to represent the classic RTS genre while Empire Earth 2 is attempting to chase after a new audience while being able to please the fans.
Empire Earth is about tactics and free form in its nature. It is a game that allows you build buildings anywhere.
Empire Earth 2 is more about strategic thinking and planning. The game integrates Civilization style scale with the RTS style.
Which game is better here?
Empire Earth at this point in time has remained the more popular of the two. On YouTube, Empire Earth 2 is largely obscure, only going due to the efforts of a few users.
Empire Earth however retains a thriving multiplayer scene. While not as lively as it once was in the past, there are significant number of players who enjoy it.
What is the reason for Empire Earth 2 being more obscure now? I believe it has to do with the overcomplication of the game.
Sometimes reinventing the wheel can be exciting but you are wasting money while your rivals are using tried and true technology which works now.
Empire Earth 2 attempts to put the Civilization series onto the structure of a RTS game.
Empire Earth knew what it was. The main selling point was the movement through history. That is what mattered to the players.
Empire Earth 2 was too much of a leap and Empire Earth was the comfy home which had the warm cookies made by your mom.
Many video games struggle with this. How much change should a game have? Sometimes its best to refine than to create something from scratch.
Empire Earth’s longevity as a game is a testament to the excellent structure and gameplay. It truly is a game that means what it says: Epic is too small a word.
The wide as an ocean and shallow as puddle worked just right for Empire Earth. That is why players continue to play and enjoy it.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is a modern Arthurian Sword and Sorcery Role-playing Game.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is an interesting video game that has come to my attention recently. ESO, an RPG YouTuber has begun covering this game. In one particular section of the video, he uncovers a book called Beautiful Liliana in the Chamber of Ecstasy. In the video here, you can clearly see a drawn image of a sultry woman. She has barely any clothes on her. Such depictions of women are rare now in American media. The culture has become incredibly prudish in a secular sense, not in a sacred one.
Poland rises to the occasion: The Witcher teaches.
I looked up information on the developer of this game. It is made by a Polish company known as Questline and a Polish publisher called Awaken Realms. When I saw that the developers and the developers were Polish, I became more confident in the game. In the area of depicting attractive women, this company has already achieved greatness. This company made a game that has the potential to surpass the Witcher.
While the game is not officially out yet, Tainted Grail will be on my radar. One must keep hype in check and have realistic view of the game. ESO’s video seems to indicate a game that is very similar to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This game is a bestselling role-playing game by Bethesda Softworks. Gamers have been eagerly awaiting The Elder Scrolls VI for many years. The hype is just building. We hope Bethesda is able to deliver upon their promises.
In this transition era in Video Games, some independent companies are trying to take up the mantle. They aspire to be the next Skyrim. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon may just be that game.
The Dark remaking of Arthurian Legends will give this game an upper hand in how it appeals to the gamers.
Tainted Grail is a game that will not hold your hand but teach you.
There is a need for a serious story once again in the Video Gaming space. Unlike many video games that come out now, Tainted Grail does not aim to hold your hand. It won’t make you comfortable, but it will challenge you to better your skills in the game.
Additionally, we need to have more depictions of women in this way in games. Some may complain that it is applying masculinity in a rather lusty way towards women. However, this comes with the territory. People who make video games should stop complaining. They should appreciate that this game is shaming the AAA video game developers. These developers can’t make interesting games now.
Sword and Sorcery is generally speaking, a very masculine genre. While women are welcome to enjoy it, this game is clearly aimed at people who are mature men.
King Arthur’s story is a masculine story at its heart and people have to understand what that means.
Another company, probably one in Canada or America would have butchered such a story. Many game companies are filled with employees who are unable to write a story about anything that rises above mediocrity. So many role-playing games are failing.
They are trying to fill quotas imposed onto them by investors. Other predatory organizations also impose these quotas.
Kingdom Come Deliverance II, while a great game in its own right, fell victim to such machinations in some areas. This game should be made with passion and duty. The Polish developers have a duty to make this game as beautiful rendition of the Arthurian Legends and stories.
This style of story is my favorite in Sword and Sorcery, and we need to have beautiful stories again. American culture has been stagnant and obsessed with its own contradictions. Instead of emphasizing such contradictions, why can’t they focus on stories that are uplifting? These stories should include warts and all. They should also respect the diversity of human experience. The nature of art is what inspires all humans to achieve greatness in their nations.
This is tough for any developer in this age. A human experience that was once obscure now becomes the dominant view with little rhyme or reason in a culture. It is time to move beyond myopic perspectives and approach such stories with a holistic view.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon will be an interesting entry in the canon of video games.
There is general idea among regular gamers that professional reviewers are basically being bribed to push game sales. While we cannot say that this is the truth in every instance, it is clear that there many journalists are no longer able to review games without trying to use them to prop up their factions in culture wars.
It seems to me that the video game reviewers have become more like political activists rather than people who are actually trying to play the games and show their thoughts on it.
Some of it is a cultural change in our culture. The video game industry was seen as a not serious industry by many governments. It was simply part of the entertainment industry, which in the highly technocratic era of the Post-World War 2, was not seen it as a threat to their power. However, more recently, people have started to take a closer look at video games.
Politics and video games do not really mix as video games unlike movies, were truly seen as diversions not were taken up by the avant-garde. This means that video games have been more a product of middle-class values and concepts
However, more recently, people who tend to be more political have been getting more interested into video games. With this attention, they are bringing along the baggage which has been hurting the industry and its ability to make games.
What we need to is to return to when Video Games were made for people playing games.
We do not need activists in our games. Neither should they be in any form of media. Activism in this age seems more of a way to help one’s side of an oligarchical system in America.
Video games should return to being about entertainment and telling an inspiring story that matters to people of all ages, races and abilities.
When the video game industry and its critics manage to stop being so elitist, then the industry will be able to make great games that people will purchase and cherish.
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