Reviewed: July 20, 2006
Reviewed by: Jeff Gedgaud
Publisher
Midway
Developer
Stainless Steel Studios
Released: June 12, 2006
Genre: RTS
Players: 1-6
ESRB: Teen
8
8
7
8
7.8
System Requirements
Recommended System
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Real time simulation in ancient Rome meets third person shooter, that would sum up Rise & Fall: Civilizations At War nicely except it’s just not enough of a description. Rise & Fall is a new RTS game from Midway developed by Stainless Steel that has some nice but pretty common features with the addition of some third person shooter/fighter action and unique gameplay thrown in the mix.
I’ve been getting a few real time strategy games lately in both the historic World War II and ancient civilization eras like Rome and this game is quite different with its added Hero Command mode. In Hero command you get to control a specific figure from history like Cleopatra or Alexander the Great and fight to turn the tide of specific parts of battles. You only get to do this for certain times when you power up but it does add a whole new dimension to this type of game.
Real-time simulations have been around for a while and Rise & Fall: Civilizations At War starts out no different than many of the others I have been playing lately. Rise & Fall has some easy to use controls and the interface is simple to understand but the game really shines with the addition of the third person ability and some very good gameplay.
While playing you can hit these large wine jars to receive glory and go into third person mode called Hero command to fight against your foes in third person mode. All the heroes you fight as have a sword or other hand weapon and a bow with arrows but you really have to watch what they call glory. If your glory bar goes low then you either go back to the god view or quickly find another jar to prolong the one on one fighting. Your Hero can never really be killed but goes back to your settlement to rest up and regenerate when hurt too badly in combat.
Other than this feature I found the game like many of the other real time sims but made pretty well with some very good objectives and levels. The gameplay is better than many other RTS games as it has some unique features like having to find things to continue your fight or other objectives more in the way of puzzles. One puzzle type objective is you have to find a way to get your men out of harms way and wandering around the area to find something to accomplish this is a fight on the run affair.
In normal game play you have some objectives that are pretty clear and some of the time you will find it helpful to worry about resource gathering and building structures to generate different kinds of fighters. At other times you really don’t need to worry or can’t do a thing about fresh replacements so it also breaks up some of the monotony that RTS games can slip into.
You have the usual variety of fighting types like foot soldiers, mounted warriors and archers with some interesting mounts like camels and elephants. Soldiers are grouped in squads of about twenty-five and controlling them is easy with quick commands. There are also some specialists like healers and ladder men to breech walls as well as slaves to build your settlements and structures.
At times you have to make decisions and the tide of your fighting will change according to what decision you make. You also start out some levels in third person mode and have to complete objectives like kill a certain number of enemies before being allowed to continue. With some puzzle type objectives and starting out in third person as well as the large maps there is quite a wide variety to Rise & Fall.
During gameplay I only had some frame rate loss when there were large amounts of fighters on the map or I created a lot of stuff. You create parts of a town where fighters are generated or ships can be built and these will take up memory while playing. Other than that I had no problems or glitches in the game and this was really no big deal.
I did try the game out at full detail and such on the settings page and that was when I got the problems with lots of things on the map at the same time. When I lowered some details like shadow and texture the game played fine even with all kinds of combatants on the field.
The multiplayer mode works well enough but the game plays in multiplayer quite differently than the campaigns do. In the multiplayer you can choose from several maps with teams or one on one play and with computer opponents. You have several maps to choose from with some other variations but only two ways to play and win a game. There is the usual victory mode where you defeat all the other opponents on the map and then the outpost victory where you have to capture and hold a specified number of outposts or fishing sites on the map.
There is also a skirmish mode that is really the multiplayer just played against the computer instead of others over the Internet. In both multiplayer and skirmish you have to worry about resources and replenishing troops as well as defending your settlement. Speed is the key in both these game modes and getting your settlement ready to repel attackers and gathering your army to attack other settlements is the name of the game.
I found a few games readily playable on the Internet at Gamespy and played some. They played well and I found no problems except for some stuttering or pausing while playing. After checking back several times and playing some this stuttering was still evident but is not that big a problem. There were plenty of people trying out games and playing over the Internet so there was no problem finding multiplayer games to join.
Graphics are graphics in most RTS games and they either work well or take away from the game as a whole. In Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War the game played well and looked pretty good with the usual details added like good textures and lighting. Occasionally in third person mode you could see through parts of your hero or other characters but with this added bonus thrown into an RTS you would expect some minor glitches the first time around.
I’m not sure about the game engine and how they did the transfer from third person to the god view but this is the first time I’ve seen it used well in a game. It transfers in and out pretty seamlessly and the action just pauses for a second while the views change.
One thing I really like and that creates a complete well made game is all the extra stuff you see and hear. Camels trotting in the desert as well chickens running around and peasants in bazaar scenes add to the feel and overall gameplay and graphics for Rise & Fall and contribute to this overall well made game.
Drums beat as you march or sail and the music matches well to the ancient era in Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War. The music adds to the sometimes fever pitch of battle but some of the smaller sounds and noises add even more than the louder more noticeable ones.
When you’re on a ship the seagulls cawing in the distance or the creak of the ship itself add an almost unnoticed ambiance to each scene. In the cities the noises you would associate with a crowded street bazaar or slaves working on a pyramid can be heard and adds to the overall feel and quality of Rise & Fall.
I know it sounds funny but one scene was quite noticeable with its aftermath of fighting and the sounds that add to the general scene of a battle you just missed. The fires crackling from the burned out buildings and the sobs of wounded soldiers and tortured slaves work well as you enter the area after a battle has been fought.
I have now become used to my surround sound and this game adds well to the general sounds and the way surround sound works. In some scenes you can hear the fighting or sounds of people in the distance and use the surround sound to go in the correct direction as it is covered by the fog of war stuff on the screen.
The voice acting in the cut scenes and the voices during gameplay are well done and add to the over all feel of a good RTS game. The game has followed historically the Roman Empire and its drive to conquer Egypt along with the rest of the world and the sounds add to a well-made game.
It took me about twenty hours to finish the individual campaigns, Cleopatra and Alexander so Rise & Fall starts out to be a pretty good value. Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War includes those two campaigns, a skirmish mode and the online multiplayer games that you can create yourself or join over the Gamespy network.
There is also a level and campaign editor so you can create your own campaigns or just levels and try your hand at level design. There are already a few maps and levels made and a couple of campaigns to download from a fan site called Rise & Fall Heaven so there are probably going to be more from other fans of this RTS game. I really do enjoy the fan made levels and campaigns that get creatively made with level editors for games and this game is no exception, it really does add value to a game to include an editor.
I found that Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War was a pretty good Real Time Simulation game. The graphics, sound and gameplay all went well and attention to some details showed in a final polished game. The addition of the third person mode also added to the gameplay for a better than average game with some unique twists.
With the many varied objectives and the third person mode there is a nice change in gameplay that is quite refreshing from the usual kill all the enemies or get to a certain point on the map. Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War is where RTS games are heading in the future, new twists and added features for variety in gameplay.