Empires: Dawn of the Modern World

This is by and far my favorite "Old style" RTS and also one of my all time favorite games. Huge randomized maps, unique units per nation across the ages, 80k population cap, variety of game modes, etc. It still has a fairly active multiplayer community as well, accessible with a quick search and installing an easy gaming network program. Widescreen support requires a small tweak through regedit in windows - I've found the game runs fine at 1080p however crashes on launch at 1440p, not a huge issue. So glad to have found this again, thank you GOG for adding it!

Okay so no joke... I had been looking for this game forever. Lots of good memories with this one. Played it A LOT when I was a senior in high school back in 2004. Somewhere along the way I lost the CDs/DVDs. I was never able to find another copy because the company went under. I am SO happy that GOG managed to get the rights to distribute this. Each game faction is different while being well balanced, which was a novel thing for the time. The only other "Triple A" title that did this was Warcraft 3, less than 6 months beforehand. There is no faction I don't enjoy playing. I'd almost compare it to Rise of Nations, however that game is a little more detailed while this ends up being a bit more streamlined. Graphics and campaign stories may be a little dated, but it still handles well after all these years. 80,000 population cap was a huge thing when this first came out, and still is. I absolutely hate population caps. Honestly one of the best RTS's I've ever played. From a nostalgia perspective, it's second only to Warcraft 2. If you're an older RTS fan I do not believe you will be disappointed.

I cannot speak for matches with other people in Multiplayer, but the campaigns were really disappointing. It's like they doubled down on what EE1 did relatively well (characters, cutscenes) and just didn't even bother to try anymore in aspects like AI and traditional RTS gameplay. The missions feature very long cutscenes with a heavy focus on characters and they even created indoor(!) environments so they could better flesh out the cinematic aspect of the game. If this is what you're craving for in an RTS game, you're definitely covered. Graphics are pretty good as well. But if we come to the actual gameplay, it kinda falls apart. Units stats can no longer be upgraded individually, but instead you purchase a certain bonus (attack, defense etc.) and can then apply it only to ONE unit type, which in turn can also only hold one of these upgrades. That's some weird streamlining.. One of the biggest problems is the AI or lack thereof. There is basically no enemy AI in the campaigns to speak of. The missions rely entirely on scripting to spawn enemy units and make them attack you. The enemy will never really build anything or gather resources. EE1 had pretty poor AI as well, but they at least TRIED and the game was so much better for it, even if it had to rely on cheating to get there. Probably the biggest dealbreaker is the mission design though; in most missions they lock you out of EVERYTHING. You are a beggar in this game and you will have to live with the bones they throw you. "Here is an airfield. NO YOU WILL ONLY BUILD PARATROOPER PLANES". Sometimes they feel generous and even let you build farms. Those are good times. So no, this game does not play like EE1, because they simply didn't allow it. Don't be fooled by the screenshots on the store page (custom maps?). That doesn't mean the missions are BAD. They work well enough within those ludicrous constraints, but if it's some nice traditional base and army building you're looking for, you won't find it here.

@Gog : sidebar says only solo while description says multiplayer.

... as EE1 Fan I'm really digging this. It feels and looks just like Empire Earth but improves on a lot of things. On the other hand, it comes with less content at its surface but delivers on depth.