365 Game To Play Before You Die - #7: Rise of Nations

365 Games To Play Before You Die

Previous Games

• #1: The Secret of Monkey Island

• #2: Transport Tycoon Deluxe

• #3: Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2

• #4: Quake III

• #5: Castle Crashers

• #6: Half-Life 2: Episode 1

#7: Rise of Nations

Platform(s): PC, Mac

Release: 2003

Developer(s): Big Huge Games

Best Quote: None

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As an RTS fan, Rise of Nations was a game that exceeded all my expectations. Though if I'd done some research into it I would have realised that it was in good hands from the start. Created by Brian Reynolds of Alpha Centauri, Civ II and Colonisation fame, this was the first game developed by Big Huge Games and what a way to start a games company.

The game didn't really bring anything brand new and took it's gameplay from RTS's before it like Age of Empires and C&C. What the game did best was take these mechanics and refine and improve them to create an engaging experience where there was always something going on. Things move at a frantic pace and before you know it you've developed from the medieval age, where you have knights and pikeman, to the modern age, where you have fighter bombers and ICBMs.

On top of all that RoN gave you a large selection of civilisations and units to choose from. I never felt like I was missing out on something while playing the game. Rise of Nations isn't the best RTS I've played but it's a damn good one and it'll keep you hooked for a long time.

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