The Civ Points mechanic and Civilization Builder (along with custom builds) have been removed entirely, however. While granted, this results in some periods (particularly around the mid-game) not standing out as much as before, it does manage to convey a more serious and somber tone, which is seen in the rather well done intro cutscene. The way each Epoch transitions to another is also made more natural, whether it’s the generally more piecemeal shifts in architecture or how units (which automatically upgrade with time) advance more gradually. For instance, there aren’t any grunting cavemen and Prophets with earthquake-inducing powers, nor are the futuristic Digital and Synthetic periods too sci-fi while there are still robots (called HERCs instead of Cybers this time around) and the occasional laser, there’s a more grounded feel to units and aesthetics by the late-game. Unlike the original, however, there’s more effort put into making these more realistic and detailed. Still, despite its shortcomings and the persistent debate continues on over which is better, the game makes a solid effort to earn its stripes as a classic worthy of its name.ĮE2, for one, features 15 Epochs, covering about 12,000 years of human history (as opposed to the first game’s 500,000) and beyond. Almost from the get-go, however, the game faced an uphill battle, being overshadowed not only by the launch of Age of Empires III a few months later, but also by the expectations set by the original Empire Earth itself. The result was Empire Earth 2, which was released on Apfor PC. Learning from the rough launch of The Art of Conquest expansion as well as the changing RTS scene, the developers sought to substantially improve upon the original’s gameplay while retaining its ambitious spirit. Thus, Sierra Entertainment (under Vivendi Universal) tasked Mad Doc Software with creating a proper sequel. But the series begun by Rick Goodman (of Age of Empires fame) was not about to give up right there and then. In the intervening time, titles as varied as Rise of Nations, Rome: Total War and Crusader Kings came to take precedence, the competition growing more intense with time. While Empire Earth had already managed to hold its own as a classic in its own right, the historical RTS landscape had changed by the mid-2000s.
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