"Rise of Nations" is a worthy successor to the long line of real time strategy games. Its game play is fast and the tech tree (more than 50 technologies to research) reasonably rich giving long time RTS gamers plenty of replay value.
RON's campaigns take on a fresh form with a Risk™ style world map where you're given the opportunity to choose your nation and attack or partner with whomever you choose. This added turn-based game element is an engaging way of combining to the two classic strategy game modes. I've never been a big fan of linear campaigns and I love turn-based games so I found the open-ended campaigning a real nicety.
RON is rich with units - more than 220 - that are tweaked for each of the 18 nations represented resulting in more than 500 individual units (based upon gender, ethnicity and time period). Rise of Nations covers more than 6000 years of evolution from the Ancient Age to the Information Age. RON is one of the few games to live up to the billing on its box. I highly recommend this game if you love RTS play that only requires an all night commitment if you so choose. Rise of Nations is a MUST BUY.
From the box:
Master 6000 years of history, from the Ancient Age to the Information Age. What forces will you wield to lead your nation to global prominence? Trade, espionage, diplomacy . . . war? Whichever path you choose, you'll discover the pulse-pounding thrill and speed of real-time gaming combined with the epic scope and depth of turn-based strategy games - brought together for the first time ever in Rise of Nations.
