Rise of Nations

List Price: $19.99 Discount Price: $8.65

Features:

• Choose one of 18 major civilizations from the Aztecs to the Nubians -- you will be their guide through 6,000 years of history
• Play on a realistic map of the world and expand your nation by conquering one at a time, in exciting wartime strategy action
• Research over 50 different technologies and show off the superiority of your civilization, as you build Wonders Of The World
• Use a combination of military strength, technological development, diplomacy, trade and espionage to create a world empire
• Stunning animation and effects as you experience 220 different unit types, and weapon effects from slingshots to nuclear detonations

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine	CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 Upgrade	Doom 3	Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional Upgrade

Customer Reviews:

Boring, but good presentation. [Posted on 2006-12-19]
Rise of Nations does not have a storyline. It is a strategy game in which it is YOUR job to pick everything. Any missions out there are only for learning.

This game is a little boring after a while, however the game itself has a splendid presentation and good music. it is nice just to sit back, relax, and listen to the music.

clumsy game [Posted on 2007-01-07]
One second, there is too much to do. The next, you are waiting around to collect a resource to research or build something. Citizens needing to be told to go to work when there are open slots at your mines or woodcutting area is tedious and not fun. Having to research at seven different buildings instead on a single area is a poor idea. The AI does not need to search to find just the right building (which all look very similar) to study something, so why should the player?

At the easiest, slowest setting, the player should be able to learn and crush the opposition, but even then, you are struggling to keep the AI out of your cities. Not much fun. Perhaps if you have been playing Warcraft or another real time strategy game for ten years, this is all second nature. But for a newbie, this is more like work than play.

Better than empire earth... [Posted on 2007-03-30]
Many reviewers have made mention of the civ games and certainly there is an element of that you don't find in almost any other RTS that is not a reason to buy this. It's my belief and i could be wrong that this is the first microsoft RTS to span the whole epoch of human history. AOE was limited to certain eras starting obviously with ancient civilizations in AOE 1 but empire earth came out with a game that spans them all and that is the main object of this game.

In this game you could literally start at the stone age and advance all the way to the space age. A skirmish can begin in any era you want so C&C fans like me can only play a modern game. I like that.

This has been called the thinking man's RTS but that doesn't mean other great RTS games are mere not sophisticated enough. Most people simply don't have the hours of time available to understand every nuance of a game. Most of the time you just want to play, gather money-resources, build an army and go. This unit counters or is vulnerable that unit. C&C games are that way. I would have never complained that RTS games are not sophisticated enough.

The good thing about RON is that it takes little time and resource to get an army up and rolling. Right away you can make various plants for creating various units. The units themselves look ok but not a sharp and clean as in generals but good. Buildings are the same way. The maps and terrain look fantastic.

Pros:
You can fight in any age.
Great skirmish maps
Full variety of military units available-ground-air-naval
Huge variety of upgrades and technologies.
You can build a sizable military very quickly.
Civ type feature adds another element not found in other RTS.

Cons:
Games take too long, often hard to finish an opponent. Somtimes as little as 30 units and a few defensive structures can hold off an opponent until reinforcements arrive.

Game takes longer to learn than most RTS.
Poor or nonexistent single player campaign

Overall this is a solid RTS and a great value. My second fav RTS to C&C generals and a game i like more than empire earth 2 or warcraft 3. If you take the time to learn it you will get your investment repaid many times over..

repetitive and personality changing [Posted on 2007-08-03]
When I first bought this game it was pretty fun. It has nice graphics.After about one and a half months it started to be repetitive and I was getting tired of killing people. I stopped playing it. Then my 7 year old younger brother became addicted to it. Finaly my mom had to take it away from him. He has never been the same since.

I would highly recomemd for strategy inthusist [Posted on 2008-05-05]
If you like strategy games then this one is for you. It keeps you absorbed for hours. Amazon delivered my game promptly and at a great price too! I also bought the expansion pack Kings and Patriots.

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