Empire Earth 2 Gold Edition

The reason i came to gog. I played this back in the days and i loved it. Not so overwhelming like the first one and perfectly balanced between micro and macro management, battles and improvements.

I really like this game's concept and atmosphere. Going through the ages is fun and the maps feel quite atmospheric. Unfortunately it's a bit rough around the edges both mecanically and graphically. Still, I cannot deny the fun I had playing it, so if you are an RTS fan I encourage you to check it out. BE AWARE: The included expansion does not get a shortcut upon installation, you need to launch it with EE2X.exe from the game folder.

Pros: * 4 distinct regions each with their own music/units/buildings/powers. * More options than EE1 by a long shot. * Ambient weather/seasons. * AI is not nearly as horrendous as EE1. Can be fine tuned. * Tech points are not resource based. * No tediously upgrading each unit. * Still graphically pleasing. * Future eras are way more believable than EE1. Cons (kind of): * Steep learning curve even for EE1 vets. With more options/mechanics comes more things to learn. * Territory mechanic forces land grab immediately, but I don't mind. I like that it forces progression and feels realistic in a way. Was annoying at first. * No prophets :( They were fun in EE1, but I can see why they felt them out. * Lots of different resource types. This is good though as it forces players that tech-up to retool their economy and allows time for others to catch up. You'll have to weigh teching up if you don't have a decent standing army already. Again, learning curve. * Feels more cramped on the maps than EE1. This is in part because of the way each building/unit exit is oriented. Once you figure it out, you can cram them together. Plus the borders force people near each-other fast. Again, I don't mind it; it's just different than EE1. All in all, a extremely solid game that is unmatched with the exception of perhaps the original in a few ways. Get it and install the unofficial patch 1.5. Adds resolution support, bug fixes, optional units (ballistic subs), etc. Good ol game if there ever was one.

I had it for many years in its "free" version (if you know what I mean haha), but recently I bought a computer so I decided to buy the game as well to start doing the right thing: this game really deserves it ;) Please note that it is a bit old game (2005) and it works with DirectX 8, that is why it comes pre-packaged by GoG to run in windowed mode: getting it to work in full screen on Windows 10 can be really complicated and It requires some knowledge so don't leave negative reviews on the game just for that! If you want to enjoy the game in full screen and add support for your NVIDIA graphics card without complicating your life, what you should do is download the "unofficial" patch (search for it in Google) or download a DirectX wrapper and make the corrections manually.

I spent allot of time playing Empire earth one and two. Two had a good concept but failed on the epochs. For instance Dark Age is too medival while Middle ages is too renasance. You see this recuring theme allot in Empire earth II. Its pretty clear they had the right idea, but not the time to implement it completely like they did with Empire earth one. Still solid concept, just not finished.