The Wargamer

Introduction

Whatever the quality of this game, pulling it out of the box I knew one thing: that Empire Earth II is going to have a lot of competition. The RTS market has turned out to be quite a cash cow for many game companies, and many behemoths of the gaming industry (EA, Microsoft, etc.) have milked it for all it’s worth. What does Empire Earth II do to set itself apart? 

If It Ain't broke…

Empire Earth II does not alter the formula that made its predecessor successful: the player still leads a stone age tribe of his choice through several epochs representing major eras in history (Bronze Age, Renaissance, etc). The numbers are different this time, however. There are fifteen epochs to advance through (one more than in the original game) and the number of civilizations has actually decreased from 21 in the first game to fourteen in the sequel. Regardless, the experience remains fundamentally the same. Churn out units, build buildings, and pound enemies into a fine dust. Resources must be gathered: tin, gold, wood, food, stone, tech points (from universities), and, later on, oil from wells. And units must be built: galleys and hiplines early-on, battleships and dive-bombers later. Multiplayer gaming, as well as a single-player campaign, are still available, but more on them in a minute.

A Fresh Coat of Paint

Several new gameplay wrinkles appear in this sequel namely, provinces, changing seasons, and several gameplay aids. Most notable among the gameplay aids is a strategic-level battle screen that encompasses the entire map, from which the aspiring Caesar (or Alexander or Napoleon) can direct his forces.

The first innovation, provinces, has the greatest effect on the campaign and multiplayer games. Each map is divided into distinct territories that can be controlled by civilizations that build a town center in them. This means quite a bit for the gameplay. Several buildings can only be built once in a province, such as the University, and thus in order for a player to increase his research capability and tech points, the aspiring general needs to conquer some new ground. Other benefits such as faster build times and resource bonuses are given to the side that owns a specific province. The province system makes for a more streamlined, focused game - albeit one that can sometimes devolve into an all-out slugfest for a few critical provinces.

The influence of changing seasons is minimal in the game. Differing weather can obscure a player’s vision of his units. But most of the time it merely provides atmosphere to an otherwise barren landscape. 

The strategic-level map displays all objectives in campaign games and gives the player and overall view of the battleground. Also, the player can issue orders to his troops from this position. in theory coordinating grand assaults on his enemies. But, since successful combat is mostly influenced by sheer numbers as opposed to strategy (as is the case in nearly all RTS games), the usefulness of this tool is minimal.