Empire Earth III

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This article is about the third game in the Empire Earth series.
Empire Earth III

Empire Earth III Boxart
Developer(s) Rockstar New England (formerly Mad Doc Software)
Publisher(s) Sierra Entertainment
Designer(s) Matthew Nordhaus (Lead Designer)
Series Empire Earth (series)
Engine Gamebryo
Version 1.1
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release date USA November 6, 2007
EUR November 16, 2007
AUS November 9, 2007
Genre(s) Real-time strategy
Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: T
PEGI: 12+
USK: 18+
Media DVD
System requirements 1.7 Ghz CPU
512 MB RAM
128 MB 3D graphics card
5.5 GB hard disk space[1]
Input methods Keyboard and mouse

Empire Earth III, also called EE3, is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Mad Doc Software and published by Sierra Entertainment, released on November 6, 2007.[2][3][4] It is the latest installment of the Empire Earth series but has generally received fewer positive reviews than its predecessors.[5]

EE3 contains five epochs, fewer than other games in the series but covering roughly the same time period. The game features three factions: Middle Eastern, Western, and Far Eastern.[6] Each faction is comprised of unique buildings, units, and technologies.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

Similar to its predecessors, EE3 is real-time strategy game. It introduces several new units and weapons, as well as a new free-form campaign structure that is similar in style to other real time strategy games, such as the Total War series. However, unlike Total War, the player advances through the entire course of history rather than staying in a specific time period.[3]

There are three customizable civilizations to choose from which are Western, Middle-Eastern, and Far Eastern. Each civilization can be customized by the player to their choosing. Furthermore, each civilization features subfactions based on historical nations (eg. the Far Eastern civilization contains China and Japan). Another new feature in EE3 is certain nuclear weapons such as a nuclear cannon.[3][7] In EE3, each region focuses on different styles of game play; for example, the Middle East has mobile buildings, the West has a few powerful units, and the Far East has masses of weak, swarming units combined with powerful mutants in the future.

The game's World Domination mode allows players to battle across a virtual earth. While playing this mode, quests give the player optional tasks to accomplish while conquering the globe.[8] Furthermore, to help simplify the game, Empire Earth 3 has broken earth's history down to five unique sections: Ancient, Medieval, Colonial, Modern, and Future.

[edit] Development and release

Development of the game began in 2005, shortly after Empire Earth II was shipped.[4] The game engine was built on Empire Earth II's engine using Gamebryo 2.0 middleware, but was almost completely rewritten to allow the developers to create improved visual effects, ragdoll physics, more detailed models and higher resolution textures.[9][10]Instead of making the units more realistic, Mad Doc worked to achieve a more "cartoonish" look.

On April 27, 2007 the American television show Numb3rs aired some footage of the game on CBS whilst it was still in development.[11][12][13] The demo of EE3 was released on November 1st . The retail version of the game was released on November 6, 2007 in the US and November 16, 2007 in Europe.[14] It was also released on Direct2Drive.[15]

A patch became available 2 days after the game's release.[16] EE3 is the first game in the series to be a Games for Windows title.[17]

On November 12, 2007, a Gamespy arena portal was added for updates and stats.

[edit] Reception

Review scores
Publication Score
IGN
5.4 of 10
Gamespot
3.5 of 10
Gamespy
2 of 5
GamerNode
4.5 of 10
Game Revolution
D-

The game was received poorly by critics. Gamespot gave it 3.5 of 10 saying "The developer's questionable sense of taste and humor is also on display in the visuals and sound... Empire Earth III has been dumbed down to the point of irrelevance."[18] IGN gave it a 5.4 of 10 saying "the animations aren't very good and the performance leaves a lot to be desired".[19] GameSpy had similar complaints: "bugs, muddled combat, or weak AI aren't things that strategy fans have to live with."[20] GamerNode gave it 4.5 of 10 saying "The game tries to reach out to more gamers but fails completely. ... Stay away from this game."[21] Game Revolution gave the game a D-, stating "Honestly, if the game didn't try to make you hate it, it would be perfectly tolerable, maybe even enjoyable."[22] Mad Doc Software has removed all references to the development of Empire Earth III from their homepage. [23]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Empire Earth 3 Instruction Manual p.40
  2. ^ Sierra's Empire Earth 3 announcement at Sierra.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
  3. ^ a b c EE3 Preview at ComputerandVideoGames.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
  4. ^ a b Empire Earth III for PC. Gamespot.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
  5. ^ Metacritic: Empire Earth III. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
  6. ^ EE III Updated Q&A - The Warring Factions. Gamespot.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  7. ^ Game Information EE3. Sierra Entertainment. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
  8. ^ EE3 Exclusive First Look - Say Hello to a New EE - Page 2. Gamespot.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-05.
  9. ^ 2404 - PC Gaming - EE3 Interview. 2404.org - PC Gaming. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  10. ^ EE3: Interview -- Strategy Informer. StrategyInformer. Retrieved on 2007-03-24.
  11. ^ EE III Featured on Numb3rs. VGGEN.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
  12. ^ EE III To Be Featured On Numb3rs. VGGEN.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
  13. ^ EE III on CBS. HeavenGames LLC. Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
  14. ^ Empire Earth III Demo Released, gameSlave
  15. ^ Direct2Drive: Buy Empire Earth III Download
  16. ^ WorthPlaying - Xbox 360 (X360) , PlayStation 3 (PS3), Nintendo Wii, Xbox, PlayStation 2 (PS2), GameCube (NGC), PSP, Nintendo DS (NDS), GBA, Windows PC - All about games !
  17. ^ Empire Earth 3
  18. ^ Empire Earth III for PC Review - PC Empire Earth III Review
  19. ^ IGN: Empire Earth III Review
  20. ^ GameSpy: Empire Earth III Review
  21. ^ Gamernode: Reviews - Empire Earth III
  22. ^ Empire Earth III review for the PC
  23. ^ Mad Doc Software Homepage Retrieved March 8, 2008.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Empire Earth video games
Main series
Spinoffs
v • d • e
Rockstar New England video games