Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War

There are plenty of real-time strategy (RTS) games out there, and there are also plenty of 3rd person action games. This is the first one I’ve played that does a good job of combining both. Taking advantage of today’s more powerful PCs, you can now zoom all the way in and control your heroes in a world that is as detailed as any action game. You are able to control one of eight unique heroes including Julius Caesar, Germanicus Caesar, Cleopatra, Ramses the Great, Nebuchadnezzar, Sargon, Achilles and Alexander the Great. They each have their own unique abilities and weapons. The areas include Rome, Greece, Persia and Egypt.

The demo was setup with Cleopatra as the hero. You had to guide her through the enemies town, and steal an archers ship. You then take the archer’s ship back to your base, and load it up with your own archers. You can only spend about 25% of your time in hero mode. This is because while you are in hero mode, your stamina is being used up. Once you’ve used up your stamina, you have to acquire more glory before you can zoom back in.

The tech tree is not as complex as some of the more modern RTS games. You have all the basic units to build an army, and can hire other specialists. They include a watchman, herbalist, midwife and entertainer to name a few. Each of the specialists have abilities to aid you in war. For example, an entertainer will raise the morale and support of the soldiers.

If you like strategy games, but are looking for something new, look no further than Rise & Fall Civilizations at War. It should arrive in June 2006.