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| PLATFORM: PC |
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| I GOT YOUR RTS RIGHT HERE |
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 arth 2160 is, quite simply, as average as average gets. Its frustrations are mostly balanced out by its triumphs, and as a whole it marches across the finish line in acceptable form. Even on a bad day, though, you can’t deny that fighting sci-fi battles with enormous armies is entertaining.
On paper, Earth 2160 sounds fantastic. Four diverse factions, hours upon hours of single-player, deep tech trees, and a unit creator are all great features. Base-building and economy are done in an easy-to-use, unique way that will hopefully show up in the genre again. However, once you get down to actually taking those armies into battle, the mediocre execution really takes a toll on the game’s enjoyment factor.
Units are a pain to control and the camera requires constant tweaking, which makes any sort of meaningful micromanagement nearly impossible – more often than not, I was reduced to merely sending in the troops and crossing my fingers. Also, the balancing seems too heavily reliant on countering. If you don’t have a whole bunch of siege units, for instance, forget about assaulting any emplaced defenses. It’s not good when the outcome of battle rests solely on how your selection of troops compares to the enemy’s, with little or no consideration given to tactics.
Those of you who enjoy an old-fashioned romp of creating big stompy war machines to crush the opposition, and are willing to overlook some faults, will have a perfectly fine time here. If you’re a genre dabbler, there are a good dozen or so similar games released over the last several years that deserve your attention far more than this entirely average title.
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Sometimes ambition can be a bad thing. Earth 2160 is best played via Skirmish mode or multiplayer, where you can concentrate on the game’s strength – its research possibilities. Otherwise the Campaign mode annoys you with its ticky-tack missions, bad story, and poor voice-acting. This game lacks a polish that makes pathfinding, target acquisition, and base planning problematic. The result is a title that appeals to only those who are enamored with unit building above all else. Although some might like the time and care needed to conjure the brute force necessary to complete your average objective, I was more impatient. This war of attrition is one that I tired of before long. |
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7 |
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| CONCEPT: |
| Get ready for this, it might blow you away: Real-time strategy…in space! |
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| GRAPHICS: |
| If it weren’t for the hideously drab environments, this would be a fine-looking game |
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| SOUND: |
| It’s been a long time since I’ve hated a character solely for his voice. I could’ve waited a bit longer |
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| PLAYABILITY: |
| Brilliant in some ways (economy and base-building), horrid in others (everything else) |
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| ENTERTAINMENT: |
| There are not a few irritations and rough spots, but building armies and blowing up aliens is intrinsically fun |
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| Copyright
1991 -
2008
:: Game Informer Magazine
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