Any gamer that has played Age of Empires or Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings and has enjoyed them will want to look into Rise of Nations. RON (Rise of Nations) is just AoE (Age of Empires), only bigger. A lot bigger.You have to do the same basic thing in RON as AoE; gather food, mine rocks for gold and silver, etc. But as you progress throught the ages, you have to gather oil for your machinary (tanks, half-tracks etc.).
When you gather food, for example, you must build a field, as in AoE. The citizen that planted the field will work on that field for the entire game unless told overwise. The rate of fodd gathering at the time is told in the top right screen, where a small window gives you all of the details. It tells you the commerce cap (the maximun rate you can gather your resources), how much of what resource you have gathered so far, and the rate you are gathering the certain resource. Other windows in the game also show the total population along with the maximum number of cities allowed.
The commerce cap tells you at what speed you can gather resources. For example, let's say the commerce cap is 100. Every citizen you have gathering the resource makes the gathering speed faster. So, if you have nine to ten people gathering one resource, that resource will be gathered fast. The speed of gathering in this case might be around 100. In order to gather more resources faster, you must upgrade the commerce cap to level two at the library. After you have upgraded, you may add more people to gather that resource. Next to the amount of each resource, is the cap limit, telling you the maximum speed for gathering that resource.
The entire game is really based on upgrading. Whoever's army has the stronger weapons (thanks to upgrading) wins. But there are other ways to win besides conquering all of your opponents(which is the best and most fun way). Before you start the game, you can select the victory conditions. You can choose that if you conquer 70% ofthe map you win, or you could get 10 wonder points and win. To win by wonder points, you must create wonders (the Eifel Tower, The Great Pyramids, etc.). Every wonder is worth a certain amount of pions- from one point to eight. The default setting is eight wonder points, which is way too easy- all you have to do is build one of the wonders worth eight points and you have won. All of the wonders give you special abilities. For example, the Space Program lets you see the entire map, instead of just shadows where you have not yet explored. There is a wonder called the Terra Cotta army. I myself have not heard of this real-life marvel, but this is my favorite wonder. Every thirty seconds, it creates a soldier, free. Now that is just awesome. It has come in real handy in battle.
Speaking of battle, the warriors are a little different from AoE. You must build a barracks, and then you create your soldiers. But every time a soldier is created, instead of just one single unit coming out, three soldiers come out, and they are counted as one unit. So, for every soldier unit you have, there are three individual soldiers, which is very different. I think it's a great idea, and also comes in handy during battles. More soldiers are created much faster.
RON also has a conquer the world campainge.Anyone who has played Medieval: Total War will quickly recognize the interface. It is exactly the same. It is on a large map, and you can select your army and move it one country at a time. You must conquer each seperate country, one by one, eventually conquering the world. Fro every country you conquer, you are rewarded cards, which give you tribute and other special abilities.
Overall, this game is highly recommended for anyone who liked Age of Empires 2 and Medieval: Total War. It has great graphics, good music, and stellar gameplay. One of the best in its class.
-Billy Mazza
