When Mad Doc Software developed Empire Earth II, it continued the vision set by the previous company, Stainless Steel Studios. In doing so, the game became extremely complex, with no less than 14 civilizations, 15 epochs to progress through and 10 different resources to collect. It sometimes felt that playing through human history took about as long to live it, but with Empire Earth III, Mad Doc takes a step back and, similar to its own game, goes back to the beginning to rework everything from the ground up.

The next game is unlike any Empire Earth before. About the only thing this newest installment shares with its predecessors is that it encompasses the history of human civilization and catapults players into the future. Things were scaled down considerably, with only two harvestable resources and five epochs. This time around, the game features three factions that cover the Eurasian continent: Western Europe, Middle East and the Asian empires. Developers divided each of the three sides so players can choose between nations like Britain or France when playing the Europeans. Sub factions have different starting technology, but the regional benefits remain the same. Western Europeans specialize in technology and produce expensive but tough units. They will also have powerful walls and guard towers to give them an overall edge in defense, leaving players free to build up their forces and unleash it in one massive attack. Middle Eastern nations rely on stealth and mobility, so their whole base can be transported to keep opponents guessing, and employing hit-and-run tactics will keep them on their toes. Lastly, Asian nations rely on mass producing weak but inexpensive units to overwhelm their foes.

Continue...