The best RTS. Better than Age of Empires II, no exaggeration. You can't build walls to defend yourself, but the national border/attrition damage/economic radius mechanics actually make you much MORE invested in properly managing your territory and protecting it from encroachment. Plus, resources are gathered at a consistent rate and do not deplete over the course of the game, which again encourages you to build strategically from the jump rather than chase resources across the mid and endgames like in AOE.

The singleplayer campaign is played through a series of Civilization-style Conquer The World campaigns, which drop you into the RTS when you attack someone or are attacked. It works *okay*, but the turn-based section isn't deep or satisfying enough to be that fun, and given that you reaally should be attacking once per turn it's hard not to think of the global map as just something to get through quickly between battles.

The best RTS. Better than Age of Empires II, no exaggeration. You can't build walls to defend yourself, but the national border/attrition damage/economic radius mechanics actually make you much MORE invested in properly managing your territory and protecting it from encroachment. Plus, resources are gathered at a consistent rate and do not deplete over the course of the game, which again encourages you to build strategically from the jump rather than chase resources across the mid and endgames like in AOE. The singleplayer campaign is played through a series of Civilization-style Conquer The World campaigns, which drop you into the RTS when you attack someone or are attacked. It works *okay*, but the turn-based section isn't deep or satisfying enough to be that fun, and given that you reaally should be attacking once per turn it's hard not to think of the global map as just something to get through quickly between battles.