The Gamer's Quarter

[ryan]

Yeah, I mixed RTS references, but I don't care! I'm on the edge, man!

Who here has Rise of Legends? Someone? Anyone? I want to play online with someone, but I don't trust the general gaming population at large.

I need to routinely cleanse myself after bouts with Moscow to Berlin. Think of Zeke ... think of Zeke.
_________________
Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[nICO]

At first I thought this was a topic about the prevalence of combat in that Da Vinci Code game. In retrospect, I wonder why I thought that...
_________________
Brauner: Damn you, humans... You selfishly start wars and despoil the earth. Perhaps justice wasn't on my side but I will never admit that it was on yours.

[ryan]

You tease! I got all exciting thinking that someone else had this game.

Rise of Nations sold extremely well, but I'm not meeting/hearing of too many people purchasing Rise of Legends. It's fun, people, I promise!
_________________
Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[Shapermc]

This has to be a PC game right? I don't really know what this game is, but I am kind of terrible at RTS games. I may even be alergic to RTS games!
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[ryan]

Aye, it's a PC game. It's a real-time (combat) and turn-based (from a RISK-style map) strategy game from Big Huge Games, Firaxis alumnus Brian Reynolds' company. I'm hammering out the review now, as a matter of fact.

You don't have to worry about getting sick from this! It's gentle! The main campaign is actually pretty easy, which butters you up for the online play. This is one of the few strategy games that I actually want to play against other people with because the different strategies it allows for makes me all giddy.

Your PC newish? I'm going to have to send you some PC games, aren't I? I just know it. Don't make me!
_________________
Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[Shapermc]

[ryan]

You're making it hard for PC games to love you, you know. I'll scrounge around to try to find something good for your system. I'm pretty sure I still have a Disciples II expansion somewhere around here, and that series is both perfect for your system and awesomely awesome!
_________________
Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[simplicio]

Does Rise of Legends manage to create a compelling single player experience? I found RoN pretty lacking in that department.

[ryan]

Well, I'm not sure if compelling is the right word. It's broken up into three chapters with you playing the same character throughout. They keep introducing new heroes and units to you up until the end. I found the quality of the campaigns decreases with each chapter, but it's never not enjoyable. The story isn't anything noteworthy, but the world it takes place in and the characters involved are interesting.

What I found surprising, aside from getting multiple new heroes in the endgame, is that most of the heroes aren't playable in multiplayer. Instead, you tend to get a mix of old and new, three for each faction, but a lot of their powers were used by other heroes in single player. Still, it's a lot to learn. The main villains are selectable heroes in multiplayer as well.

There are also new techs unlocked in multiplayer, which keeps things kind of fresh. I've been playing a lot of skirmish mode because I dislike gamespy and playing people I don't know in some way, however limited.
_________________
Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.