Written by Adam (aka Goingslow)
So what do you need…
Unlike consoles every pc has a different specification, here’s the basics for what you’ll need. I’ll stick with recommended system requirements because chances are if you’re a pc gamer your going to have a semi decent pc! (hopefully that’s a fair assumption)
- CPU – 3.2ghz pentium 4
- NVIDIA GeForce 7000 graphics card 256mb
- 1GB of RAM
- 6.5GB of free HDD space
- DVD drive
- Broadband for online play
- It will work on both XP and Vista (32 bit)
As you would expect there is also the usual ‘or better’ phrase added to all requirements and it also recommends you have all the latest available upgrades for both windows and your graphics card.
For this review I’m using…
So the above is what you need this is what I’m playing and writing this on.
- CPU – 2.4ghz core duo 2
- 2GB of RAM
- On XP home edition
- NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT 256mb
- Samsung 26” HD TV via VGA (1360×768)
The beginning – installation…
I have timed this from clicking ‘install’ until I was able to click ‘play game’, it came out at 15 minutes and 26 seconds. Considering it takes 6.5 GB I don’t think this is too bad.
The in case guide…
To give you some idea of the detail given in the guide it’s 45 pages long, 38 of which are full of game information and they don’t use a large font either!! It’s all relevant and well explained to try and give you the best start when you load it up.
The tutorials…
I’m new to the Empire Earth series but am very familiar with the Age of Empires series, so have a lot of experience with this style of play. In the guide you are prompted to play the tutorials even if you are used to Empire Earth. After doing so I feel confident I could load up a game and not be out of my depth, as the information is explain clearly both in text and via a narrator.
Graphics…
The graphics in this game are very respectable, the colours don’t look quite as realistic as AOE but it doesn’t look as if they have tried to do that so its not as if they failed. The movement of the people is fairly smooth and you are able to zoom in really close.
GUI…
The interface is very similar to that of AOE, this however is not a bad thing as it is very easy to see what is happening on the map all the time and being able to control the characters and tell them what to do.
Game play/ conclusion…
Being able to highlight a whole group of characters and then specify which type I want to control is a nice plus. I would certainly recommend getting this game if you’ve played one of the age of empires games or are interested in this style of play. You can spend almost an endless amount on this game, and before you know it many of hours will have past!!
A lot of thought seems to have gone in and it shows, there is much, much more to this game than I have gone in to and I will spend more time exploring these and update as necessary.
360 Splurge Reviews 