This real-time, shifting coloured line across the battlefield indicates the limit of your territory. One of the main reasons RoN has gamplay in abundance is down to its concept of national borders. and always will remain, secondary in this genre. Besides, show us a strategy game that's become a classic purely because it's pleasing on the eye. Big Huge Games has taken the sensible if not fashionable view that gameplayĬomes before looks. But overall, there's none of the beauty of C&C: Generals' lush 3D world. And you have to admire the way each culture in the game has a different graphical style, and in many cases completely unique units too. Frills such as birds circling the battlefield as well as decent unit animation breathe a little life into the static landscapes. Consequently, RoN's graphics do the job and nothing more. But somehow, despite the general thumbs up it garnered on release, Rise Of Nations just hasn't stuck around in the collective understanding of the RTS pantheon.Sadly, these days AoE is hardly a glittering showcase of cutting-edge visuals.
It was ace: well-balanced, diverse in its offering of civ-specific perks, and a superb choice for fast-paced, messy multiplayer games. You progressed through the same swathe of "ages" as you'd expect to in a historical 4X too, so geezers with sticks eventually became riflemen, while horses underwent an agonising metamorphosis into tanks. You played as one of the classic big countries off of history, putting down cities on the map with real-world names, and sent out groups of incongruously vast men to attack other peoples'. It was really, really good.įor those who haven't come across it, Rise Of Nations played like a classic RTS from the genre's golden age around the turn of the millennium, but incorporated some 4X stylings, particularly from the Civ mould. But when I really reflected on it, immersing myself in memories of the summer I spent thrashing my cousins with stealth bombers in LAN games, I realised it wasn't a 7/10 at all. I thought of RoN because I was wracking my brain for games I hadn't thought of in years, and because that's usually the trench into which solid but unremarkable games sink. It came to mind when we recorded this podcast on what makes a classic "7/10" game. I mean games that were pretty great, but just sank like a stone in time, while others continue to float to the top of our memories. One a day, every day, perhaps for all time.ĭo you ever wonder why some games just don't get talked about much? I don't mean obscure games, either, or even mediocre ones. Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives.
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