Westwood

[Guest]

Anyone have the game Emperor: Battle for Dune?????
I was thinking about getting and just want to here some first hand experience to see wheather it is worth to buy.

 

[Guest]

I bought the first week it was out, played it for two hours, and have not touched it since. I love RTS but it seemed too basic to me. Don't get me wrong, the game looks good, it just didn't do it for me. So if your looking for something more immersive, starcraft is still a better pick.

 

[Guest]

I have the game as well, and though it is true that all things considered Starcraft was and probably will remain one of the best Futuristic RTS's for a long time to come, Emperor is by no means bad. All I've played is single player, and as far as that campaign goes it is the longest of any RTS I've seen to date; probably over ninety missions spread across 3 different races, each one completely unique. So as for replay value, this one's a winner.

The strategy itself can, at times, get repetitive, though I find it always remains quite frantic. The graphics are gorgeous, and if you do not like the 3d perspective, you can zoom out all the way and view the map from above in 2D, à la Starcraft. In this sense, this is the first and ONLY "3D" RTS that I have actually enjoyed, since it is the only 3D RTS that is NOT painful to control and view. Other 3D games of this genre may be nice to look at, but it is impossible to get the same feel of control over the battlefiled that you get in the 2D equivalents, like in the Classic, genre defining Starcraft. One of Emperor's strongest points is that it does not suffer from this problem.

Finally, if you're the kinda guy who doesnt skip cutscenes and actually enjoys experiencing the storyline, you will be quite satisfied as the game is rife with cinematics, all professionally done in true Westwood Style (cheesy? its what we've come to expect from Westwood. Gotta love it though )

All this being said, the true hardcore RTS enthusiast will still of course prefer such games as Age of empires and maybe even Red Alert 2. I find that if you've generally enjoyed Westwood's other titles, you will probably enjoy this one as well. And because it is so long, the money will go a long way.

Hope that helps.

 

[HighCv2]

That game is um... seems like a complete Total Annihilation clone, maybe with a better graphics engine, but nothing else. Even the interface is still "westwood style", not exactly intuitive I may add. I am yet to see a game which if would at least tie Total Annihilation in it's originality, as well as the way it revolutionised the RTS genre. No offence to Starcrap fans, but SC is worse then TA by quite a margin.

"He who laughs last doesn't get the joke"

 

[mkn100]

Is there a new starcraft coming out?

 

[kal326]

It might not exactly be a clone, it is possible that the original TA designers went to westwood. I know Cavedog the company that made TA broke up quite some time ago. Most likely some of the design team or programers went with another company. Hence, the striking simularities to the two games. It it is almost like TA then it might be worth buying, I thought all the Command and Conquer games were crap.

Screw overclocking my comps got <font color=red>NOS</font color=red>! Point and click interface by Smith and Wesson

 

[HighCv2]

It is really unfortunate that Cavedog was sold to Infogrames(?) and the closed up. Well, Chris Taylor went to GPS (Gas Powered Games). I am not sure about the rest of the crew. The only game I thought was worth buying and came close to TA was Earth 2150.

I agree that C&C were horrible, yet established quite a fan base.

"He who laughs last doesn't get the joke"

 

[kal326]

Ya, I got Earth 2150. Have yet to get Moon Project, its actually suppost to make the LC worth playing. Infact, just got done playing against my roommate, weak air attack does not do well against lots of plasma-rocket jaguars!

Screw overclocking my comps got <font color=red>NOS</font color=red>! Point and click interface by Smith and Wesson

 

[D33]

i have the moon project, and it's really awsome.excellent 3d graphics and a good gameplay, by the way , i just loved the LC, they rock!
but i still think that total annihilation is still one of the best strategies ever......no other game has it's huge units and impressive fire power, with it's various units it's still one of my favorite.

 

[D33]

i just bought emperor battle for dune, and well i kind of like it's graphics and game play, especially that for each race you have like tons of videos and animations.....but you see it is not as intense and fun, and i guess the units aren't really what i have excpected, take for exemple the harkonnen tank, looks like a box!!!, and all of the atreides units look like birds lost in a battle......
but it's still interesting to buy, with 4 cd's.

 

[Guest]

I played through all of the campaigns for Red Alert 2, and I have to say that I was sorely disappointed. It got to be so repetitive! Step 1: Build up base. Step 2: Build a lot of tanks. Step 3: Blow up enemy base. Step 4: Repeat. The cheesy acting for the cutscenes was pretty nifty though I've yet to find time to try the multiplayer yet though, I'm sure there are some hardcore guys out there that would wipe my butt, but oh well.

--All this being said, the true hardcore RTS enthusiast will still of course prefer such games as Age of empires and maybe even Red Alert 2. I find that if you've generally enjoyed Westwood's other titles, you will probably enjoy this one as well. And because it is so long, the money will go a long way.--

 

[tlaughrey]

I got Emperor recently and am working through the Atreides campaign. So far, it's not too bad. I'm not an RTS fanatic, but I have played Starcraft, Age of Empires, and Ground Control. The graphics in Emperor are excellent. It mostly stays close to the RTS formula of collect raw materials, build buildings, build units. The main difference I've noted is the strategic interface. Instead of a linear campaign of battles, you get to choose where to attack on a strategic map. The other houses also get to do this and you can decide whether to defend a territory or withdraw from it. Also, besides the three major houses, there are several minor houses that you can try to ally yourself with. Those are two nice touches that add a little variety to the typical RTS formula.

<i>Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.</i>