Empires Apart Review

"Minimal RTS"

Campaign

Empires Apart is a minimalistic RTS that brings the basic elements and tweaks the formula only slightly. It doesn't necessarily do anything too different from Age of Empires, yet it does have a soft lovely look to it. There isn't a traditional campaign here so the main focus is on multiplayer or local AI skirmishes. There are some minor challenges, but without any sort of narrative element it does feel light on content. The basic local play is fine, the AI is decent and there are many setups for how you'd like to battle it out. Each match is different with the procedural level generation and there are age-like levels to work through when you collect enough resources. The multiplayer element mirrors the local battles, except it's against other players. Not a whole lot to go over, but the game is to the point.

Gameplay

It plays about the same as any other RTS. You command a series of troops that you produce from buildings and then send them out to do tasks. You'll have to collect resources from the environment such as cutting trees, gathering berries or mining ore. You then use this to construct buildings whether that's for further development or protection. You can gather an army and every faction is slightly different. The world is responsive, there's a day/night cycle and it's always a fresh situation with the procedural generation. I loved the look of the game, the whole minimalistic style really is intriguing and works well. The environments vary in design and all look great whether you're in the desert or in a regular set of fields. It was very neat to see the day change as I'm not sure any other similar titles does that.

The Conclusion

Empires Apart is a fine RTS, it feels similar to Age of Empires and does its own thing. There isn't a ton of content, but if playing against others online or against the local AI suffices for you then it's a fine offering. I would have liked to see some creativity within a campaign, but it's not necessarily needed I suppose. The AI plays fine as you direct them around, there's a balance of difficulties and many civilizations to choose from. The environments are varied, it's always different and there are a wide range of things to create. It felt finely balanced and since I enjoy many RTS titles it was a splendid time.

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Empires Apart Review on PC
Review Code Provided by Slitherine

Rating Overall: 7.0