The Box and Beyond
Games, hardware, and other tech toys
By Brian Blouch, Fri., Dec. 7, 2001
PC Games: Tried and True
Long ago, Sid Meier created Civilization, the greatest computer game ever made. Then he left the Civ fold. The skies darkened during a generation or two of boring sequels. Mothers everywhere wept and prayed for the gaming gods to restore Meier's name above the title. Bless their hearts, it worked. Meier returned for Civilization III, and he brought the magic with him. Much remains unchanged from the original: Start with a settler, build a city, trade with or wage war against your neighbors, and watch your civilization grow. The addition of such elements as resource management and cultural influence adds a layer of complexity guaranteed to delight any hardened Civ veteran. Whether you are new to the empire-building racket or an old hand, Civilization III is a must-have. Be forewarned, however: You might feel the need to quit your job in order to devote more hours to the pursuit of Civ excellence, and it might just be a price worth paying.
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds manages to exceed expectations and justify the stalactites of drool clinging to the chin of real-time strategy gamers. This is no small feat when you consider the considerable buzz surrounding the game's release. Galactic Battlegrounds works on every level. The variety of units available for the game's civilizations (the Galactic Empire, the Rebel Alliance, the Trade Federation, the Wookies and, unfortunately, the Gungans) would border on obscene if they were not so beautifully detailed. From a lowly droid to a lumbering AT-AT, these units look and sound and act as we have come to expect from the movies. Best of all are the campaigns, usually the weakest elements of any RTS game. As each succeeding scenario builds on the challenge of the last, the game weaves a dazzling story of interstellar conquest. While it might not reinvent the RTS wheel, Galactic Battlegrounds offers a wonderful opportunity to lose yourself in a galaxy far, far away.
Given the hype surrounding the release of Civilization III and Star Wars: Galactic Battleground, you might have failed to notice Empire Earth. More than a true gem of a real-time strategy game, Empire Earth represents a fundamental shift in a genre close to running cold. RTS games all seem to be cut from the same cloth these days: Mine a resource or two, build an army, and blow the other guy to smithereens. That's it. Empire Earth is certainly no exception to the rule; you won't find a better war game on the market. But what makes Empire so entirely satisfying is its blend of basic RTS elements with an epic scope similar to the one presented by Civ III: The game starts with the Dark Ages and ends with a reasonable vision of the future. So go ahead, replay the whole of human history one chapter at time and experience an RTS game as interested in seducing your mind as it is in quenching your thirst for world domination.
Other PC Games Worth Mentioning: Let the hunt for Nazi zombies begin in the much anticipated Return to Castle Wolfenstein (Activision, $54.99, due out in January). For an RTS game with a martial arts twist, try Battle Realms (Ubi Soft/Crave, $49.99). Dark Age of Camelot (Vivendi Universal, $39.99) creates a vast new world of swordplay and sorcery for online play. Make love and not war in The Sims: Hot Date (Electronic Arts, $29.99), another must-have expansion pack for a must-have game.