Empires: v2.1 Reviewed [WIP] feature

Empires: a not-entirely-conventional review

Version 2.1 put through its paces by a complete beginner

Introduction

If you've played a real-time strategy game before, you'll know that -for most species of the genre- the AI for the subjects you control is simplistic at best. This works both for and against you: leave a cluster of troops alone for two minutes and you could return to find your ever-present opposite number (just how do they manage to be in all places at once?) has decimated your units in a matter of seconds. On the plus side, tell a platoon of soldiers to trundle into the heart of the enemy base, through Saving Private Ryan-esque adversity, and you know there will be no turncoats, no shellshock, just pure, committed obediance.

But, let's take a step back here: did you ever wonder what it's like to play an RTS from the soldier's point of view? Yeah, sure, your commander thinks he knows best when he sends you trotting across this bridge that seems to stretch as far as the eye can see, but isn't that a tank you see in the distance? Unless your commander orders you to turn back now your goose is well and truly cooked! But isn't there another option? What would Jack Bauer do? Screw these waypoints, you're going rogue! Who is this commander guy, anyway? He thinks he knows best, but he hasn't even researched advanced turrets yet! If the enemy counter and attack the base we don't have a leg to stand on. But you, you can stem the tide; you're a one-man fricken army, man! In Sun Tzu's words: "attack is the best form of defence", so let's have at them - Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarge! *SPLAT*

@#$% sniper!

Overview

- It's an RTS, Jim, but not as we know it.
- No, Bones, it's an FPS. Just how many times am I gonna have to tell you?
- Actually, gentlemen, it's both.
- Shut up, Spock!

Captain's Log, star date: 7453.4

The ship's doctor seems out of sorts lately. He's taken to insisting that Empires, a mod for Half-Life 2 that myself, the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Science Officer have been playing in our downtime, is a real-time strategy game. I'm not sure what's gotten into him, but my experiences of the game have always been on the front lines, seeing eye to eye, fighting ... face to face with my enemy. I choose between 4 classes:

The Scout... is quick and nimble, with a pair of binoculars for spotting enemy targets, lightweight sub-machine guns for runnin' and gunnin', and an optional sniper rifle for keeping enemy infantry at bay.

The Grenadier makes for a potent anti-armour infantry option. His shoulder-mounted RPG and mines do considerable damage to vehicles, and his mortar allows him to lay down heavy supressive fire on enemy installations. Me? I don't really like his style, I prefer to be close-up... aaand personal.

That's why I favour the Rifleman. From machinegun to heavy and medium assault rifles, this class has all I need to spill some blood of the Klingon, er, Brenodi Empire.

Last is the Engineer, but his job is far too fiddly to interest me when there's shootin' to be done!

But Bones; there's just no telling him. He insists that there's an integrated commander mode that plays just like an RTS. Sure, I am aware of some guy who calls himself 'Commander' and tries to give me orders all the time. I just think to myself: "Big deal, Junior, I command a Federation starship!". Besides, I can always form my own squad and invite other players to do my bidding if I get nostalgic for the Captain's chair. Together, my crack team earn points I can spend on squad abilities, like healing or respawning my team en masse, or giving them a damage increase for a short while. It's a win-win situation: we have an excellent squad leader (me!) who can regulate which classes we'll need for a given task, and how we can utilise our interdependancies to our strengths.

Chief Medical Officer's Log, star date: 7453.7

I'm becoming increasingly concerned with the Captain's stubborn attitude towards accepting Empires as an RTS game. This might be because he can't accept that anyone else is capable of commanding in his place, or it might be a medically-related form of dementure. I am resigned to keeping close tabs on his medical health and conduct both in and out of the chair.

I myself have been enjoying the perks of having a small army of men at my disposal while playing Empires during my rest period. It makes a change from being stuck on the ship (why does Jim hardly ever take me on away missions?) and attending to various mundane cases of Scalosian flu and stress-related illnesses. Instead I am commander of the great Brenodi Empire with its shiny and superior weapons and machinery or the rag-tag Northern Faction who combine cheaper, lighter and weaker materials with guerilla tactics.

Either way,

Chief Science Officer's Log, star date: 7454.2

The irrational behaviour of two of the ship's high-ranking crewmen is continuing to spiral out of control, resulting in several very audible confrontations over the past few days; one of which even taking place on the command deck. The Ship's senior officers are beginning to ask questions, although I am unsure as to how I should answer them. An argument over the mechanics of a computer game is highly illogical, and may even seem foolhardy even to human eyes if viewed from the standpoint of a spectator.

Besides which, it is clear that Empires has gone far towards succeeding where so many other mods and games have failed in straddling the RTS and FPS genres. With over 50 research modules to unlock, the Commander role has massive scope for individual strategy. Unlike other examples of the RTS/FPS hybrid, there seem to be no set plays in terms of which branch of the tech tree should be unlocked first. Instead there seem to be genuine trade-offs between upgrades that ensure no two Commanders' strategies are the same. For example, each of the 5 major technology branches offers a different type of upgrade for your vehicles' armour: from plain old, armour-boosting Composite Armour, to does-exactly-what-it-says-on-the-tin Regenerative Armour, to more interesting ideas like Reflective Armour, which dissipates the amount of damage you receive as the angle of impact becomes less severe.