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> Results: Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends
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The first Big Huge game arrived in 2003 and proved that a design team who had previously only made turn-based games could shift into the realm of real-time strategy and be just as successful. Best of all, they made the switch without sacrificing the depth that made the designers' previous games so entertaining. Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends is a fantasy-based extension of the concepts that drove that first title with a world that's a little harder to get into.
Production values are high, with very pretty and intricate unit designs. There are three sides that all focus on different play styles, but with base concepts that center around the usual resource collection and management. The economic game is more important than attack and conquest. You need to always be expanding and growing your empire by capturing cities. In single-player, each real-time conflict is bookended by the turn-based conquer the world map where you decide where to fight. It's nothing too sophisticated, but provides a nice intermission between battles. Multiplayer is where the game gets its longevity from and though the matchmaking needs work, the gameplay is worth the hassles. More disconcerting are technical issues that center on the need for a powerful machine to run the game wellﾗand even then it's not a great performerﾗand some problems with certain sound/video cards that may or may not affect you. This competent and entertaining game asks you to buy into its mythology and rewards you if you choose to do so.  
There's nothing terribly offensive in Rise of Legends. It's a testosterone charged, action packed real-time strategy game that fits perfectly into the genre's conventions. All the little dudes shoot each other and the big stuff comes along to knock the little dudes out of the way. None of the onscreen violence is overly realistic, especially given the science-fiction and fantasy setting of the game.
Real-time strategy games are pretty good ways for kids to get into the numbers of gaming. Knowing how powerful each unit is along with its available hit points, strengths and weaknesses is key to success and these games can give kids an interest in those details. When they put that together with the building and economic issues they face in order to field an army, it all becomes quite complex and forces critical thinking. Doing it in real-time strategy games is doubly useful because they have to process this info fast and on the fly in order to avoid a quick defeat. Rise of Legends being mostly benign for the ten and up set makes it a pretty good candidate for kids looking for a little more complexity, all while retaining the immediacy of real-time gameplay. Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Browse Amazon.com's selection of "rise of legends" themed games Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends |
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