Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest
Encyclopedia
Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest, also known as AoC, is the official expansion pack for the real-time strategy
game Empire Earth
. Art of Conquest was developed by Mad Doc Software
, and was released on 17 September 2002 in the United States. The game was released in Europe later in the year, and the following year in Japan. The Gold Edition of Empire Earth, which features both the original and the expansion, was released on 6 May 2003.
Art of Conquest added several new features to the original Empire Earth, including new units, new civilizations (Japan and Korea
), civilization powers, and new hero units. Art of Conquest also features three new campaigns: Ancient Rome
, World War II
, and 24th Century Mars
. The game received mixed reviews, averaging 66% on Game Rankings
.
The gameplay in Art of Conquest is the same as in the original Empire Earth, albeit with some changes. Variable difficulty has been added to those scenarios which had not received it in a patch of the original Empire Earth. Online multiplayer capabilities has been added, allowing players to play online with up to 7 other players either over the internet via a lobby system, or over a local area network
(LAN).
The new Space Age (Epoch XV) allows the building of spaceports and spaceships on maps that allow it. Robot
s replace Citizens in the Nano Age and infantry
in the Space Age (these robots are known as Watchmen). Nano age Farms are run by robots, and by the Space Age farms no longer need citizens to manage them. Each civilization has its own power, or "Civ Power". Often, these powers are only available during certain epochs. A Civ Power gives each nation a specialty: the Chinese, for example, have the "just-in-time manufacturing" ability; while the Japanese have the powerful "cyber ninja" ability.
Empire Earth supports multiplayer games over LAN connections and online. Multiplayer games are identical in form to single player games. Art of Conquest multiplayer play has many exploits, which players can use to give themselves an unfair advantage. The game's publisher, Vivendi Games
, has set up forums where players can report exploits. The multiplayer servers were taken offline on 1 November 2008, players are only able to play through Local area network
.
campaign about Gaius Marius
and Julius Caesar
, a campaign involving the warfare in the Pacific Ocean
during World War II
, and a futuristic Asian campaign involving the colonization of Mars.
. The campaign comprises six distinct scenarios.
The first scenario begins in the late Roman Republic. The player, as Gaius Marius, can conscript citizens and must defeat the combined threat of a Teutonic horde and a Cimbri invasion force into Italy in 102-101 BC.
The second scenario moves the story into an alternate reality where Gaius Marius must flee from Lucius Cornelius Sulla
into Carthage and then defeat Jugurthian bandits in order to gain the support of the Carthaginian Senate (War Elephants and sea transport-ships). Afterwards, the player must achieve victory by killing Sulla's loyal senators and liberating Rome from his Dictatorship.
The third scenario covers Caesar's exile into Greece and Asia Minor where he gets help avoiding capture from Greek bounty hunters by a Pirate King on Crete. In Asia Minor he must help the King of Bythnia against rebels who have taken over Mytilene/Lesbos. The scenario ends with a showdown against Sulla's eastern Legion in Macedonia.
The fourth scenario depicts Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul
and the invasion of Britain. The player starts in the roman province of Hispania (modern Spain). There he must collect and deliver a large amount of resources within a certain time in order to pay Marcus Crassus for his support in Rome while fighting off local barbarians.
The scenario continues with the migrating Helvetii trying to aggressively settle down in Spain by crossing the Pyrenees mountains. After defeating the Helvetti, the player must lead his army into Gaul and subdue the various Gallic tribes, including the Ambrones, Belgians, and Suebi. Then, he must cross the English channel and defeat the Celts in Britain.
The fifth scenario follows Caesar's war with his former ally and friend Pompey
. This scenario starts with the famous crossing of the Rubicon
, his conquest of Italy, and the short Greek campaign which ends at the battle of Pharsalus
.
The final scenario details his conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt
, where he must choose which side to help; Cleopatra VII or Ptolemy XIV. Both have differing objectives and situations:
Helping Cleopatra VII gives Caesar control of the large city of Alexandria, where he starts in. He must then hold off Ptolemy XIV's forces and prevent them from capturing town centers inside the city while trying to destroy Ptolemy's desert camps outside the city.
Helping Ptolemy XIV is dangerous as Caesar and his army must move quickly to escape from Alexandria or risk being overwhelmed by Cleopatra's forces. He must then regroup outside in one of Ptolemy's camps in the desert and then capture the Town Centers inside the city in order to achieve victory.
If the player chooses to help Cleopatra, Ptolemy will (after a certain amount of time)
send soldiers towards the Great Pyramid of Cheops and try to make it lose half its hitpoints. If they succeed, the player is defeated and must then load a saved game (although a script bug allows the player to destroy the pyramid by simply selecting it and pressing delete without being defeated, thus permanently preventing Ptolemy from damaging an already destroyed building).
. This scenario concludes with the sinking of Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi
, Sōryū
, Kaga
and Hiryū
. Then the story covers the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1943, and later the island-hopping campaign directed by Douglas MacArthur
which involves killing Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
. The next scenarios include a special mission in Burma, the Battle for Leyte Gulf, and the reconquest of Leyte
. The story concludes with the Battle of Iwo Jima
, which is the shortest scenario in the game. It is completed by sending five marines to the southern tip of the Island. This refers to the famous image of US Marines raising the flag of the United States
at Mount Suribachi
. See Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
This campaign is told from the perspective of the Kwan Do family, an influential family who claim to be descendants of the Qin Dynasty
, and is split into two parts.
Part One details the colonization of Mars
. As soon as it is discovered that it is possible to colonize Mars, the major superpowers of Earth scramble to develop the technologies and resources needed to establish settlements. One of these powers is the newly-formed United Federation of Asian Republics (UFAR), founded and ultimately controlled by the Kwan Do family. The Kwan Do family are the rich owners of Kwan Do Electronics and Communications. The UFAR government struggles to suppress local rebellions and terrorist activities by the Eye of God, an extremist organization who claim that Earth should be the only home to mankind. Meanwhile, the UFAR also struggles to develop a colonial programme competing against rival superpowers. A UFAR colony on Mars is eventually built, with help from Japan, alongside settlements built by the US/Canadian Conglomerate, the European Union of Nations, Novaya Russia, and the Republic of Japan. With these colonies established, Mars is divided into five regions.
Part Two is set 250 years after the first part, during the Space Age Epoch. The Kwan Do dynasty has been overthrown, and harsh conditions on Mars and an increasingly negative perception of the Earth
governments have finally forced the Martian colonists into rebellion. During the revolutions, Khan Sun Do, a descendant of the Kwan Do family, unites the five territories. With the acquisition of Space Battleship Yamato, the Martians fight an inter-planetary war against Earth to secure their independence. The campaign ends with the last battle for Martian independence and the installation of Khan Sun Do as the first leader of Mars.
was announced in May 2002 by Sierra (the game's original publisher, later taken over by Vivendi
). The development of the game was turned over to Mad Doc Software
from Stainless Steel Studios
because Stainless Steel were already working on Empires: Dawn of the Modern World
. According to Steve Beinner, the brand manager of the Empire Earth series, Empire Earths expansion pack was planned even before the original game was released. The developers listened to feedback from the game community and planned the new features and release schedule accordingly. In an interview with IGN.com, Steve Beinner said "People were asking for additional scenarios and extra units. That's based upon surveys we did and distributors on a worldwide basis."
Work on Art of Conquest began in early 2002, with a planned release date later that same year. The developers decided "the game won't be present at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), because of the tight development schedule and the fact that Sierra didn't want the developers to be distracted by creating an E3 demo." Beta testing for Art of Conquest began on 5 August 2002, and consisted of a single multiplayer map that could be played through all 15 of the expansion pack's ages, allowing players to try out all the new features of the game. Art of Conquest was included in the release of the Empire Earth Gold Edition, which was a re-release of both Empire Earth and Art of Conquest.
averaged it at 66%, and Metacritic
averaged it slightly lower, at 63%. IGN, who gave it a 7.8 out of 10, stated "While it's a solid game, there's just not enough here to compel me to reawaken the substantial addiction the first game generated. Whether or not it's worth it for you to pick this one up depends almost entirely on how much you enjoyed the original game. With so few significant changes it plays almost exactly the same. For those who couldn't get enough of Empire Earth, the expansion should be a perfect fit. Just don't expect the breadth and scope of the first game." Armchair Empire gave the game a 6.8 out of 10, and commented "AoC doesn’t exactly bring any shame or disgrace to Empire Earth (EE), but it doesn’t do anything to make itself a must have for EE fans. That being said, most EE fans will like what AoC has to offer." Finally, GameSpot gave it a 5.2 out of 10, and said "Ultimately, The Art of Conquest doesn't add enough to make much of a difference."
A notable criticism from GameSpot was regarding the way Space was implemented in the game. Spaceships were only available on certain maps and the gameplay was very similar to water—a dock-type building is built and spaceships travel much like naval ships.
Other reviewers found fault with the game's price of 30 USD. The IGN reviewer said "I like Art of Conquest enough but it just falls short of being worth the $30 price tag."
Art of Conquests music was never released as a soundtrack CD, but the music in the game received critical approval, receiving 7 out of 10 from GameSpot. IGN
described the sound as "convincing enough, with realistic battle noises throughout the game's various ages. Each type of attack makes a particular sound and, after a while, you can develop a good sense of the scope of a given battle just by listening to it". IGN gave the sound 7 out of 10 overall, but did have some criticism, remarking that "A few glitches detract from an otherwise sufficient soundtrack. Voices are decent and the music is good.
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
game Empire Earth
Empire Earth
Empire Earth, also known as EE, is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Stainless Steel Studios and released on November 23, 2001. It is the first game in the Empire Earth series...
. Art of Conquest was developed by Mad Doc Software
Mad Doc Software
Rockstar New England, formerly Mad Doc Software, is a computer game development company founded in 1999 by Dr. Ian Lane Davis. The company is based in New England in Andover, Massachusetts, just north of Boston.-Overview:...
, and was released on 17 September 2002 in the United States. The game was released in Europe later in the year, and the following year in Japan. The Gold Edition of Empire Earth, which features both the original and the expansion, was released on 6 May 2003.
Art of Conquest added several new features to the original Empire Earth, including new units, new civilizations (Japan and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
), civilization powers, and new hero units. Art of Conquest also features three new campaigns: Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and 24th Century Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. The game received mixed reviews, averaging 66% on Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
.
Gameplay
- For further information see Empire Earth Gameplay.
The gameplay in Art of Conquest is the same as in the original Empire Earth, albeit with some changes. Variable difficulty has been added to those scenarios which had not received it in a patch of the original Empire Earth. Online multiplayer capabilities has been added, allowing players to play online with up to 7 other players either over the internet via a lobby system, or over a local area network
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
(LAN).
The new Space Age (Epoch XV) allows the building of spaceports and spaceships on maps that allow it. Robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s replace Citizens in the Nano Age and infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
in the Space Age (these robots are known as Watchmen). Nano age Farms are run by robots, and by the Space Age farms no longer need citizens to manage them. Each civilization has its own power, or "Civ Power". Often, these powers are only available during certain epochs. A Civ Power gives each nation a specialty: the Chinese, for example, have the "just-in-time manufacturing" ability; while the Japanese have the powerful "cyber ninja" ability.
Empire Earth supports multiplayer games over LAN connections and online. Multiplayer games are identical in form to single player games. Art of Conquest multiplayer play has many exploits, which players can use to give themselves an unfair advantage. The game's publisher, Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games, formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games, was the holdings company for Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment. Vivendi Games was founded as Vivendi Universal Games after Vivendi bought Universal Studios in the early 2000s...
, has set up forums where players can report exploits. The multiplayer servers were taken offline on 1 November 2008, players are only able to play through Local area network
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
.
Campaigns
Three new campaigns were added in The Art of Conquest: an Ancient RomanAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
campaign about Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the...
and Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, a campaign involving the warfare in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and a futuristic Asian campaign involving the colonization of Mars.
Roman Campaign
The Roman campaign revolves around the struggles of Marius and the conquests of Julius CaesarJulius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. The campaign comprises six distinct scenarios.
The first scenario begins in the late Roman Republic. The player, as Gaius Marius, can conscript citizens and must defeat the combined threat of a Teutonic horde and a Cimbri invasion force into Italy in 102-101 BC.
The second scenario moves the story into an alternate reality where Gaius Marius must flee from Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the rare distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as that of dictator...
into Carthage and then defeat Jugurthian bandits in order to gain the support of the Carthaginian Senate (War Elephants and sea transport-ships). Afterwards, the player must achieve victory by killing Sulla's loyal senators and liberating Rome from his Dictatorship.
The third scenario covers Caesar's exile into Greece and Asia Minor where he gets help avoiding capture from Greek bounty hunters by a Pirate King on Crete. In Asia Minor he must help the King of Bythnia against rebels who have taken over Mytilene/Lesbos. The scenario ends with a showdown against Sulla's eastern Legion in Macedonia.
The fourth scenario depicts Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
and the invasion of Britain. The player starts in the roman province of Hispania (modern Spain). There he must collect and deliver a large amount of resources within a certain time in order to pay Marcus Crassus for his support in Rome while fighting off local barbarians.
The scenario continues with the migrating Helvetii trying to aggressively settle down in Spain by crossing the Pyrenees mountains. After defeating the Helvetti, the player must lead his army into Gaul and subdue the various Gallic tribes, including the Ambrones, Belgians, and Suebi. Then, he must cross the English channel and defeat the Celts in Britain.
The fifth scenario follows Caesar's war with his former ally and friend Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
. This scenario starts with the famous crossing of the Rubicon
Rubicon
The Rubicon is a shallow river in northeastern Italy, about 80 kilometres long, running from the Apennine Mountains to the Adriatic Sea through the southern Emilia-Romagna region, between the towns of Rimini and Cesena. The Latin word rubico comes from the adjective "rubeus", meaning "red"...
, his conquest of Italy, and the short Greek campaign which ends at the battle of Pharsalus
Battle of Pharsalus
The Battle of Pharsalus was a decisive battle of Caesar's Civil War. On 9 August 48 BC at Pharsalus in central Greece, Gaius Julius Caesar and his allies formed up opposite the army of the republic under the command of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus...
.
The final scenario details his conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, where he must choose which side to help; Cleopatra VII or Ptolemy XIV. Both have differing objectives and situations:
Helping Cleopatra VII gives Caesar control of the large city of Alexandria, where he starts in. He must then hold off Ptolemy XIV's forces and prevent them from capturing town centers inside the city while trying to destroy Ptolemy's desert camps outside the city.
Helping Ptolemy XIV is dangerous as Caesar and his army must move quickly to escape from Alexandria or risk being overwhelmed by Cleopatra's forces. He must then regroup outside in one of Ptolemy's camps in the desert and then capture the Town Centers inside the city in order to achieve victory.
If the player chooses to help Cleopatra, Ptolemy will (after a certain amount of time)
send soldiers towards the Great Pyramid of Cheops and try to make it lose half its hitpoints. If they succeed, the player is defeated and must then load a saved game (although a script bug allows the player to destroy the pyramid by simply selecting it and pressing delete without being defeated, thus permanently preventing Ptolemy from damaging an already destroyed building).
Pacific Campaign
The Pacific campaign comprises six distinct scenarios. The opening scenario lets the player control the Battle of MidwayBattle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
. This scenario concludes with the sinking of Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi
Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi
Akagi was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , originally begun as an . She was converted while still under construction to an aircraft carrier under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty...
, Sōryū
Japanese aircraft carrier Soryu
was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. During the Second World War, she took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, Port Darwin and raids in the Indian Ocean before being sunk at the Battle of Midway.-Design:...
, Kaga
Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga
Kaga was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , named after the former Kaga Province in present-day Ishikawa Prefecture...
and Hiryū
Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryu
was a modified Sōryū-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was one of the carriers that began the Pacific War with the attack on Pearl Harbor...
. Then the story covers the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1943, and later the island-hopping campaign directed by Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
which involves killing Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
Isoroku Yamamoto
was a Japanese Naval Marshal General and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II, a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy and a student of Harvard University ....
. The next scenarios include a special mission in Burma, the Battle for Leyte Gulf, and the reconquest of Leyte
Leyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
. The story concludes with the Battle of Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...
, which is the shortest scenario in the game. It is completed by sending five marines to the southern tip of the Island. This refers to the famous image of US Marines raising the flag of the United States
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
at Mount Suribachi
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
. See Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is a historic photograph taken on February 23, 1945, by Joe Rosenthal. It depicts five United States Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising the flag of the United States atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.The photograph was extremely...
Asian Campaign
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
, and is split into two parts.
Part One details the colonization of Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. As soon as it is discovered that it is possible to colonize Mars, the major superpowers of Earth scramble to develop the technologies and resources needed to establish settlements. One of these powers is the newly-formed United Federation of Asian Republics (UFAR), founded and ultimately controlled by the Kwan Do family. The Kwan Do family are the rich owners of Kwan Do Electronics and Communications. The UFAR government struggles to suppress local rebellions and terrorist activities by the Eye of God, an extremist organization who claim that Earth should be the only home to mankind. Meanwhile, the UFAR also struggles to develop a colonial programme competing against rival superpowers. A UFAR colony on Mars is eventually built, with help from Japan, alongside settlements built by the US/Canadian Conglomerate, the European Union of Nations, Novaya Russia, and the Republic of Japan. With these colonies established, Mars is divided into five regions.
Part Two is set 250 years after the first part, during the Space Age Epoch. The Kwan Do dynasty has been overthrown, and harsh conditions on Mars and an increasingly negative perception of the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
governments have finally forced the Martian colonists into rebellion. During the revolutions, Khan Sun Do, a descendant of the Kwan Do family, unites the five territories. With the acquisition of Space Battleship Yamato, the Martians fight an inter-planetary war against Earth to secure their independence. The campaign ends with the last battle for Martian independence and the installation of Khan Sun Do as the first leader of Mars.
Development and release
The Art of Conquest expansion pack for Empire EarthEmpire Earth
Empire Earth, also known as EE, is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Stainless Steel Studios and released on November 23, 2001. It is the first game in the Empire Earth series...
was announced in May 2002 by Sierra (the game's original publisher, later taken over by Vivendi
Vivendi
Vivendi SA is a French international media conglomerate with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications, the Internet, and video games. It is headquartered in Paris.- History :...
). The development of the game was turned over to Mad Doc Software
Mad Doc Software
Rockstar New England, formerly Mad Doc Software, is a computer game development company founded in 1999 by Dr. Ian Lane Davis. The company is based in New England in Andover, Massachusetts, just north of Boston.-Overview:...
from Stainless Steel Studios
Stainless Steel Studios
Stainless Steel Studios was a computer game development company, started in 1997 by Rick Goodman and Dara-Lynn Pelechatz. The company was based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and focused on the development of real-time strategy software titles.-History:...
because Stainless Steel were already working on Empires: Dawn of the Modern World
Empires: Dawn of the Modern World
Empires: Dawn of the Modern World is a history-based real-time strategy computer game developed by Stainless Steel Studios and released on October 21, 2003...
. According to Steve Beinner, the brand manager of the Empire Earth series, Empire Earths expansion pack was planned even before the original game was released. The developers listened to feedback from the game community and planned the new features and release schedule accordingly. In an interview with IGN.com, Steve Beinner said "People were asking for additional scenarios and extra units. That's based upon surveys we did and distributors on a worldwide basis."
Work on Art of Conquest began in early 2002, with a planned release date later that same year. The developers decided "the game won't be present at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), because of the tight development schedule and the fact that Sierra didn't want the developers to be distracted by creating an E3 demo." Beta testing for Art of Conquest began on 5 August 2002, and consisted of a single multiplayer map that could be played through all 15 of the expansion pack's ages, allowing players to try out all the new features of the game. Art of Conquest was included in the release of the Empire Earth Gold Edition, which was a re-release of both Empire Earth and Art of Conquest.
Critical Reception
The overall reception of Art of Conquest was lukewarm. Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
averaged it at 66%, and Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
averaged it slightly lower, at 63%. IGN, who gave it a 7.8 out of 10, stated "While it's a solid game, there's just not enough here to compel me to reawaken the substantial addiction the first game generated. Whether or not it's worth it for you to pick this one up depends almost entirely on how much you enjoyed the original game. With so few significant changes it plays almost exactly the same. For those who couldn't get enough of Empire Earth, the expansion should be a perfect fit. Just don't expect the breadth and scope of the first game." Armchair Empire gave the game a 6.8 out of 10, and commented "AoC doesn’t exactly bring any shame or disgrace to Empire Earth (EE), but it doesn’t do anything to make itself a must have for EE fans. That being said, most EE fans will like what AoC has to offer." Finally, GameSpot gave it a 5.2 out of 10, and said "Ultimately, The Art of Conquest doesn't add enough to make much of a difference."
A notable criticism from GameSpot was regarding the way Space was implemented in the game. Spaceships were only available on certain maps and the gameplay was very similar to water—a dock-type building is built and spaceships travel much like naval ships.
Other reviewers found fault with the game's price of 30 USD. The IGN reviewer said "I like Art of Conquest enough but it just falls short of being worth the $30 price tag."
Art of Conquests music was never released as a soundtrack CD, but the music in the game received critical approval, receiving 7 out of 10 from GameSpot. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
described the sound as "convincing enough, with realistic battle noises throughout the game's various ages. Each type of attack makes a particular sound and, after a while, you can develop a good sense of the scope of a given battle just by listening to it". IGN gave the sound 7 out of 10 overall, but did have some criticism, remarking that "A few glitches detract from an otherwise sufficient soundtrack. Voices are decent and the music is good.
External links
- Official website at Mad Doc SoftwareMad Doc SoftwareRockstar New England, formerly Mad Doc Software, is a computer game development company founded in 1999 by Dr. Ian Lane Davis. The company is based in New England in Andover, Massachusetts, just north of Boston.-Overview:...