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Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War (PC DVD)
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Description:
In a nutshell:
The creator of Age of Empires returns to the ancient world as you take control of one of four civilisations: the Persians, Greeks, Egyptians or Romans. In this game though you have to lead from the front as historical figures from Julius Caesar to Alexander the Great.The lowdown:
In most real-time strategy games you're just an anonymous controlling force, but here you're actually a real general out on the field, ordering your soldiers around and facing the same dangers they do. All the civilisations have historically accurate units including footmen, archers, siege equipment and specialised forces unique to each faction. Naval combat also plays a more important role than usual with massive sea battles featuring completely customisable ships. If you prefer to take a more peaceful route through the game though you can recruit scientists and artisans to improve your cities and resources, but this is primarily a battle game so don't skimp on the defences. Most exciting moment:
The new hero mode is great as you get to take direct control over your hero unit, from a third person perspective. Each of the eight different heroes has their own unique abilities and weapons, with Achilles being good with a sword but slower and less agile than the fast but weak Nebuchadnezzar. Since you ask:
Developer Stainless Steel Studios actually went bust just before work on this game was completed. Everyone involved in the project though, including publisher Midway, resolved to finish the work on the title and ensure the game got released. The bottom line:
The historical RTS finally gets a kick up the ages with some genuinely new ideas.
Harrison Dent
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2/5 |
MEDIOCRE RTS - DEFINITELY *NOT* WORTH THE StarForce RISK
(November 18, 2007) |
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I knew this one sported StarForce (thanks to Amazon Reviewers with brass ones - and not intimidated by the gaming industry hyenas); yet, I found it in a electronics megamarket bin for £2 and could not resist. (Goes to show what the value of ridiculously "protected" games becomes in less than a year).
StarForce aside (and after subtracting 2 stars for its intrusive risk to our systems), this RTS seems undecided as to what it aimed for.
Trying to combine strategy with action is not new, WARCRAFT 3 (for one) did it much better. You have your hero (Alexander or Cleopatra) and then you build up your army to complete the corresponding campaign.
You build your base and your workers gather wood and gold. When strong enough you go (or get thrown) into battle - to earn the third resource: glory. All three are needed to advance to the next eras.
The graphics can be adequately good if run on high settings; low settings are pretty disappointing. The units are well designed though, and their movements and spilled blood give a realistic taste.
The controls will take you some time to get used to as, not only do they take up quite a chunk of the screen, but are temperamental in responding as well. Selecting units, especially in the heat of the battle, can be tricky too, as more often than not, workers receive by mistake the order to run into the front line and fight hand-to-hand with the armed enemy: an expensive short-lived sight.
The only thing that keeps this game afloat is, well, its naval warfare. Most RTS avoid them as too messy and complicated (haven't seen a solid effort since C&C: RED ALERT 2), however R&F:CaW demonstrates well designed ships, historically (more or less) accurate naval warfare techniques and quite enjoyable animations.
All in all: not a bad game that, unfortunately, is hardly worth the StarForce trouble it brings to our systems. |
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4/5 |
its good but strange.....
(October 12, 2007) |
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as this game is part rpg and rts t throws up a lot of things strategy wise that can help but can also hinder what you may do. but if you want a game that is fun but like it more realistic then steer clear ut this is still fun to pay even though it is a bit cartoony the way that the characters are displyed etc but itr is good fun to just hack and slash with waves of enemys coming at you. |
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5/5 |
Brilliant game!
(October 09, 2007) |
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I just loved this game. It's not without bugs and sometimes made my pc crash, but the graphics, gameplay, soundtrack and storyline kept me coming back. I loved it! |
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1/5 |
It breaks my computer
(June 07, 2007) |
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I have run this game on my desktop and the thing crashes. I have run this game on both my laptops and they both crash. I have had the enjoyment of one level then the game crashed my computer. I like Age of Empires, for which i would gladly give 4 or 5 stars, but whats the point of a game that you cannot play. 1 star and thats only because zero is not allowed. |
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1/5 |
Looks fun but crashes
(March 11, 2007) |
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This looked as though it was going to be fun but my computer kept dying about half an hour in when I tried to play it - even after I set all of the graphics and interface options to the most basic. My computer spec surpasses the minimum PC spec and doesn't crash with any other games, so I assume that it's an issue with the game. The game also failed to save properly - it looked as though it was working but when I tried to reload saved games after the game crashed, it would say the saves were invalid. Maybe I've been unlucky and other people have better experiences, but I'm giving up trying to play this after one weekend. |
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