Strategy

Empire of the Ants

Description

Ant-ici-pation
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, where the Amiga still thrived, there was a software house known as Cinemaware. Cinemaware produced, amongst other things, a game called It Came From The Desert. This title was based loosely upon the black and white B movie ‘Them’ and, like the film in question, revolved around a horde of radioactive giant ants which had taken upon themselves to attack the local populace. You had to see the ants off and ensure the world was safe again for good old apple-pie eating Americans. And despite the fact that it was little more than a basic adventure game with a variety of mini shoot-the-ant type games mixed in, it was rather addictive. So it was with some measure of excitement that I greeted Microids’ new release Empire of the Ants. After all, with a title like that it surely had to be set in some future world, perhaps after a nuclear holocaust, where Giant Ants ruled the world and man had to struggle to survive against the antennaed peril. And was it? Er, no. …

Command & Conquer – Red Alert

Description

What if Hitler never existed? Einstein pondered the question and created a time-machine to eliminate Hitler as a young man, thus preventing World War II as history remembers it. However, Einstein stopped one evil only to create another – because Stalin’s Soviet Union is now poised to conquer Europe… and Allies must stop them!

Command & Conquer: Red Alert can be considered a prequel to Command & Conquer. Like its predecessor, it is a real-time strategy with an isometric semi-top-down perspective using 2D sprite graphics engine. The player takes control of either the Allies or the Soviets, as he battles for destiny of the planet. Gameplay features are similar to those of the previous game, including building a base with some defenses, massing units, harvesting resources, etc. The game has a variety of environments in its missions, adding some indoor missions that use only infantry units. …

Command & Conquer

Description

Command & Conquer develops ideas from Westwood’s previous game Dune 2, forming a real-time strategy (RTS) game. The control system involves selecting units with the mouse and then directing them, while the opponents make their moves without waiting for a “turn” to end.

The game focuses on a war between two organizations, The Brotherhood of Nod and the Global Defense Initiative. The player can take control of either side for more than 15 missions. Both have different units and structures, including artillery, tanks and light infantry.

In most missions, a base needs to be built first in order to build new units and structures. Most important are the harvesters, which collect Tiberium and deliver it to a refinery, where it’s converted into money, thus funding the construction of a base and an army. …

Command & Conquer – Red Alert 2

Description

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 takes place approximately two decades since the first Red Alert and, unlike the original, has no relation at all to the Tiberium universe. It is a conventional real-time strategy game which, in terms of gameplay, still faithfully continues the Dune/Command & Conquer lineage.

Although the Western Allies have installed a lackey as the Premier of the Soviet Union, their spies and relevant contacts suddenly go silent with the appearance of a powerful Soviet psychic named Yuri, who turns out to be Premier Romanov’s advisor. Soon afterwards, the Soviet Union launches an overwhelming invasion on North America and Europe on land, air, and sea. As is usual, the player joins the Allied or Soviet side in the singleplayer campaign (with 12 missions for each faction) as of that point in the storyline. Whereas the technology level in the original Red Alert had World War II and Cold War-era weapons mixed with a few technologies inspired by failed real-world experiments, the arsenals of both sides in Red Alert 2 predominantly include technologically advanced units and structures such as teleporting Chrono Legionnaires, chain-connecting Prism towers, cloning vats, weather control devices, etc. However, the storyline’s tone is considerably more light-hearted than that in previous Command & Conquer games, and following in the footsteps of Tiberian Sun, more known actors were brought to act in the full-motion video cutscenes. …

Dragon Throne – Battle of Red Cliffs

Description

Dragon Throne: Battle of Red Cliff is a realtime strategy game set in the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The game covers the 15 year period around the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD, focusing on the key protagonists Cao Cao, Lu Bei and Sun Quan.

Dragon Throne follows the gameplay template set out by realtime strategy standards like the Age of Empires series. Notable features include an experience system for all units and skills-based advancement for hero units, support for diplomacy and trade, a multiple map system and six resources to harvest.

The game features an isometric 2-D perspective with historically authentic graphics and subtitled Mandarin Chinese voice-acting. In addition to the single-player campaign, Dragon Throne supports 2-8 player LAN and 2-4 player internet modes.

Dragon Throne is the sequel to 2001’s Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon. …

SimCity 2000 Special Edition

Description

SimCity 2000 is the successor to the city simulation game Sim City. You are once again the mayor, but this time you can fully customize the terrain before building your city. The graphics are isometric, whereas the original had graphics displayed in a top-down fashion.

This title adds numerous features over the original such as the ability of building “light” zones, subways, hospitals, colleges, zoos, and arcos which are actually cities in cities. You can now give names to places, and your city is surrounded by neighboring towns with which you can make trade. Finally, instead of the poll in the first game you now have the option of reading several newspapers to get an idea of your progress. …

SimCity 3000 Unlimited

Description

SimCity 3000 is a city building simulation video game released in 1999, and the third major installment in the SimCity series. It was published by Electronic Arts (EA) and developed by series creator Maxis. It was released for Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, and, through an arrangement with Loki Games, Linux.

There are many changes between SimCity 3000 and its immediate predecessor SimCity 2000. These changes span both the integral city management aspects of the game, as well as its graphical and landscape aspects. More and newer city services are featured. These changes create a greatly different experience from that of SimCity 2000.

The most notable change is the addition of the concept of waste management. In SimCity 3000, garbage begins to accumulate when the city grows to a medium size, and must be disposed of at the expense of the city. Farms and agricultural structures are also introduced, appearing on large light industrial zones in a city with low land value and little pollution. A new zoning density was also added, totaling three densities, compared to SimCity 2000’s two. …

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