Customer Reviews

Rise Of Nations

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I agree with the other two reviewers that this is a fascinating game with excellent replay value. I tend to prefer turn-based strategy games. However, simple keystrokes can speed the game up, slow it down, or pause. Believe me, if you're caught in a three-front war on various small continents with lots of naval action as well, you'll appreciate the ability to pause frequently, even with the slowest speed selected.

Game programs have always "pushed the envelope" of whatever computer power and technology existed at the time of their release, mostly for the sake of graphics and other relatively frivolous reasons. They are therefore often ill-behaved, unreliable, plagued with bugs, and liable to become totally unusable when a later operating system comes along with little tolerance for older software that doesn't play by the rules. In this context, it is a relief to find a game that runs so smoothly as Rise of Nations, and never crashes. Perhaps its Microsoft imprimatur means that the authors have an unusually thorough understanding of Windows.

My only criticism is that, when saving games, it writes a large number of files in various directories all over the C: drive and provides no way to delete them. If your disk space is not infinite, be cautious.

For $10 this deal is a pretty nice buy. I bought it and had a couple of friends pick it up to play over Lan/IP. I currently run a Windows XP Pro, and Vista PC's. WinXPPro had no issues at all with installing or updating this game, and plays very well. Windows Vista however does NOT like the Updater for this game, and as such, will not let you update to the latest version which fixes some online Multiplayer issues. HOWEVER, Copying the game files from an updated Windows XP PC will fix this problem. If you Try to update using vista, the entire game gets corrupted and has to be reinstalled(Vicious cycle anyone?), I have tried troubleshooting this by running in XP mode on vista, and running as administrator, even reading the Troubleshooting guide on the forums, but nothing seems to work, only copying the files from XP did the trick. Also, the game included on this disc(if the same as mine) is v1.3, which fixed issues from the initial release of this title, however the last update was v1.4., to which there is no manual patch, you must patch the game through the Updater in game(LAME yes I know.). However if you dont care to play online then there is nothing wrong with v1.3, as it runs flawlessly on any highend PC. However to play online your game must be updated to v1.4. All in all this title sports decent graphics, and has a pretty good AI, some of the Maps are HUGE, and the different civilizations you can choose from is a pretty long list each with a different set of cool bonuses. Hope my review helps you like it might have helped me.

I got this game along with some friends, and then played online multiplayer. I'm not normally an RTS fan, but I found this game fun, at least with friends. It's old, and friendly on the hardware, but is still entertaining. The basic premise of each match is to progress from the Stone Age to modern times and beyond. The progression keeps things interesting in multiplayer, and in singleplayer, the game introduces enough variations on this formula to keep things from getting too repetitive.
IF you are looking for a fun distraction, pick this up. It's only $10.

Released date was in 2006 and I was expecting a little more. For a $10 game it is ok. Gameplay is a little awkward. It's like playing a classic board game with some modern affects and modern stategy. I think they could have been a little more creative. There's 2 main modes. The first mode is like risk where you are in map mode. The second mode is where you control the battle front. If the maps were larger and the gameplay a little better the game would have potential.

I got this game for myself years ago and my kids have been playing it ever since and they love it. In fact I purchased it for my son to take with him to college. It's easy to learn and easy to play. We even play against each other over the net.

I love this game so much. I had my hopes up on 2-day shipping from amazon, but it didn't arrive on time. But the game is really fun and I dont think it will ever die down completly. It's a combination of stragety and acton. It can be different everytime you play. Hope you enjoy the game as much as me!

This game is OK. It's not as much fun as I thought it would be. Maybe that is why it only cost $10. The rule book is short so it doesn't take that long to get started. The Victory Conditions are confusing and either seem to make the game really short or really long. You also seem to progress from era to era too quickly. It also seems too difficult to defeat the other nations in combat. The game is worth the price but it's not that great.