Earth 2160 – PC – Review

It is a great year to be a strategy
gamer, because there have been some very good games released this year. Not only
will these games capture you into their highly addictive gameplay, but this time
they will be oozing with plenty of eye candy. It is amazing how fast RTS games
are catching up to the graphics level of the FPS. Even though this leap in
graphics is good, it really all boils down to how the game plays. Read on to
find out more about how this game plays and decide for yourself if you want to
partake in the battle.

If you have been keeping up with the
series, you will know that Earth 2160 is the third game in this franchise. If
you haven’t kept up let me give you a brief recap of what is going on. In the
last game the war between the USC (United Civilized States), ED (Eurasian
Dynasty), and the LC (Lunar Corporation), did the unthinkable and destroyed the
very planet they were trying to keep for themselves. Billions of people were
killed in the destruction of Earth so now all three fractions had to relocate to
Mars. Now they are battling for control of the Red Planet, but they have awoken
a strange alien race in the process. There is now two choices for the humans to
make, band together to survive the new alien threat or try to do it on their
own. The fate of the entire solar system is in the players hands.

One of the best things about this
game is how each of the game’s different factions play and the various tech
trees they have available to them. The three fractions from the previous game
are still intact and play the same as they did before, with a few minor
differences. First the LC is composed of an all-female army which is highly
advanced in the technology tree. Next is the ED which features units with
cybernetic enhancements, which are extremely useful in battle. The USC has
changed slightly because now it is just a bunch of machines trying to
exterminate the human race.

The aliens in this game are the most
unique and amazing faction in this game. If any of you have played Star Craft,
then I would put this race in the same category as the Zerg. This faction only
has defensive structures that must clone each other and morph to get into higher
unit structures. The defense for this faction is beyond compare and it keeps
them alive until they can build up a huge enough army. Once they do they are a
force to be reckoned with.

Each faction has a huge tech tree
that will keep players actively involved for a long time and the best part is
that players can design their own units to help out during various missions. If
you are facing seemingly hard situations then you just need to research some new
technologies and apply them to older ones to create some pretty powerful units.
Players will have fun testing out and trying various combinations to create the
ultimate warriors.

There are a few different modes of
play to keep players entertained for quite sometime. First there is the skirmish
mode which allows players to get into a quick game against computer-controlled
characters. There are a various settings that players can choose from in the
beginning of the game that will make each game unique and interesting. Next
there is the Network game which allows you to either play on a LAN or login to
Earth 2160’s matchmaking service. Both provide pretty smooth gameplay to get
your multiplayer gaming fix.

The best way to understand how to
play this game is to go through the game’s campaign mode. This mode will take
players throughout many different difficult missions playing as each of the
game’s different factions. The campaign mode will enlighten players as to the
best way to use each of the faction’s units and how to counter and overcome any
enemy attacks. The only bad thing about this game is the surprise ending. In
order to figure out what happens you will have to play this game for yourself.

One thing that I really liked about
this game is how the battles are done. If you go in with a ton of one certain
type of unit, they will get demolished in no time. The secret to this game is
having a good match of units before going into battle so that you have all of
your bases covered. For instance, if you go in with all foot units and don’t
have any air support, that could spell instant death for you. Balancing
everything, from troop type to researching new technology, in this game is the
key if you want to win your battles, and eventually conquering the enemy.

Earth 2160 is a gorgeous game; there
is no other way to put it. The developers at Reality Pump put a lot of effort to
create RTS game that can compete graphically with many first-person shooters,
and they have more than succeeded. Everything in this game is just oozing with
graphical eye candy that will leave your eyes watering about how this game
looks.

Everything in this game is highly
detailed from the bases you will be constructing to the units that you will send
off to do your bidding. The environments that players will play on also look
really good and give off that futuristic feel to them. The thing the developers
did a really good job at is making each of the warring factions look completely
different form one another. This game is a blast to play as you will know
instantly what enemy you are about to face. Each faction building has their own
unique look and feel to them, which helps prevent any repetition while playing.

What I like is when you zoom in
close to the game in action, it still looks as great as it did not zoomed in,
and everything retains its wonderful look and feel. When you see a battle for
the first time you will be amazed at all of the explosions, gunfire, and many
other things going on the screen at one time.

The sound effects and music is
simply amazing. The music in this game really motivates the players to stick it
out to the end and try to obtain the win. In other words the musical score
really fits the entire game and players truly reap the reward of this. The sound
effects are really well done as well, with the normal explosions, laser fire,
and various other sounds that players would expect from a game that is saturated
with war. What is disappointing is that the voice acting and the dialog that
accompanies it is not as good as the rest of this category. The voice actors
really don’t have the emotion that is needed in this game and at times what
feels very forced ends up being dull.

Earth 2160 is rated Teen for blood
and gore, language, and violence.

The system requirements are:
AMD/Pentium 4 1.5 GHz
512 MB of RAM
Windows 2000 or XP
CD-ROM
DirectX 9.0c
DirectX compatible 3D card with Per-Pixel-Shader 1.3 support
512 MB of VRAM with T&L
1.5 GB of Hard Disk
Keyboard and Mouse.
Broadband connection recommended

Gameplay: 8.1
Earth 2160 has the standard tried-and-true
gameplay that has made RTS famous for so very long. The new race is a really
unique twist to the game and changes how you play the game if you are that race.
Other than that if you have ever played any other RTS in your life you will pick
up instantly on how to play this game.

Graphics: 9.3
The graphics for Earth 2160 are nothing short of gorgeous. It is
amazing what the developers are able to pull off with current generation
graphics for games of the RTS nature, because there is always so much going on
in these games, the graphics department always got the short end of the stick.
Fortunately for gamers this is not the case anymore.

Sound: 9.0
The musical score for this game is magnificent, because at times it
will give players the additional motivation to beat down their enemies. The
sound effects are also really good and sound realistic as well. The only bad
part is the voice acting which is not as good, but it is decent and palatable.

Difficulty: Medium
Just like any RTS game this game has it really tough moments as well as
the moments when you can sleep though an entire mission and still become
victorious.

Concept: 8.1
I really liked the addition of the fourth race in the game that kept
things really interesting. Also having the ability to research and design your
own units really helps players create their own unique strategies.

Multiplayer: 8.2
Playing with a friend online or in a LAN setting is fun, but it
would have been nice to have a various new forms of multiplayer gameplay with
other objectives than the standard ones that are in practically every other RTS
game.

Overall: 8.4
Earth 2160 is a really good RTS game that will capture your
imagination as you try to become victorious over your foes. Even though the game
does not make great strides over the competitions it is the little things that
matter and will keep you playing this gorgeous game for hours.