Empire Earth Gold Edition

A classic of real-time strategy returns better and bigger than ever with Empire Earth - Gold Edition. A masterclass in micromanaging and world history, this game represents a dream come true for any history buff who is also in the mood for some epic battles where careful planning could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Surprisingly enough, and despite its complex mechanics, anyone with even a passing knowledge of RTS games will be able to pick up and play Empire Earth with ease. That said, much of the enjoyment you'll get out of this one will depend on how much you can stomach the low-res visuals and blocky character models.

A Travel Through Time

Much like the Civilization games – and contrary to Age of Empires – Empire Earth - Gold Edition goes through multiple ages in human history. Beginning with the prehistoric age and finishing with the nano age, these "epochs," as the game calls them, will decide which technologies are available to the player.

From there, it's all a matter of keeping tabs on your resources at all times, like in every other RTS available. However, there's one stat that's rarely found in these types of games: morale.

Players can create Hero units to boost their own units' morale and conversely lowers the enemy's. It almost feels like a massive game of Total War, but it's worth mentioning that the Morale system has very little impact on an average round of Empire Earth.

Ages and Units

As is to be expected, each epoch brings about a plethora of improvements for your units. It's not as easy as it might sound, however. Unlike the Civilization titles, where you'll often find a knight facing off against a giant mech in the latter stages of the game, technological advances come at a price in Empire Earth.

Moving through the ages not only unlocks new units but also forbids the player from creating those of earlier epochs. This makes sense, however, as the newer units are generally more capable than the antique ones.

With each new era, the player will also unlock new technologies that allow them to increase their production yields. A basic affair for most games of this genre.

Most of the game's gameplay mechanics are nicely explained within one of the game's five campaigns. Each of these campaigns focuses on a different civilization, recounting iconic real-life events that left a mark on human history.

Shining Gold

The Gold Edition of Empire Earth includes the complete base game and its expansion pack, Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest. It might sound a bit small to be considered a "Gold" edition, but the expansion is more than worth it.

Not only will players have access to three new campaigns – bringing the grand total to eight playable campaigns, – but they'll also unlock the new Space Age.

In maps designed for it, the Space Age allows players to build spaceships and spaceports, with robots replacing the common citizens. For veterans of the base game, the expansion pack adds a vast amount of enjoyable side content that challenges as much as it entertains.

Pros

• Good variety of campaign content
• Comes with the expansion pack (which is amazing)
• Great tutorial campaign to learn the basics

Cons

• The 3D visuals are a bit lackluster