Introduction
Rise of Nations is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game developed by Big Huge Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios in May 2003. The game was designed as a combination of concepts from turn-based strategy games and the real-time strategy genre. The development of the game was led by Brian Reynolds, who founded Big Huge Games after being involved in the development of turn-based strategy games such as Civilization II and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Unlike previous historical real-time strategy games, Rise of Nations is based on the entire history, starting from ancient times to modern times, and features 18 playable civilizations across eight historical eras of the world. The game introduced several innovations in the real-time strategy genre, such as region and attrition features influenced by the turn-based strategy genre and 4X.
Rise of Nations received positive reception upon its launch, with praise for its innovative features in the genre and broader gameplay scope. Some contemporary and retrospective publications have nominated it in the list of the best strategy games of the year and of all time. An expansion titled Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots was released in 2004, featuring monuments, nations, kingdoms, and additional campaigns. A fantasy-themed spin-off title, Rise of Legends, was released in 2006. Big Huge Games was acquired by 38 Studios in 2009, which sold the rights to Rise of Nations to Microsoft after their closure in 2012. Rise of Nations was re-released digitally as Rise of Nations: Extended Edition by developer SkyBox Labs in 2014 for Steam and in 2017 for the Microsoft Store.
Gameplay
The core of Rise of Nations focuses on the concept of "regions." Areas near the player's settlements are considered their regions, and players can only build structures within their regions or allied regions (except for the Lakota). National borders can be expanded through the creation and expansion of cities and forts, technological advancements, and access to certain rare resources. Other technologies and resources cause enemy units within the national borders to experience attrition over time, which can eventually destroy an unprovided invading force.
Citizens in Rise of Nations gather resources, or build or repair damaged buildings. All six types of resources in Rise of Nations are unlimited. Any country in the game can be played at any era, regardless of the country's fate in real history. Each of the 18 civilizations has 4 to 8 unique units. Some unique units are based on units that the country might have had if they were not destroyed in real life.
There are four win conditions: capture, regional dominance, miracle victory, or score victory. Gameplay emphasizes the balance between attack, defense, and economy. Leadership is also required, including knowledge about the military and their advantages in battle. Terrain plays an important role, and knowing the terrain is an important asset. Generals can also be created from forts to assist the army. Five tactical formations are available, including the ability to compress or expand the battle line.
The single-player campaign, Conquer the World, is included in the game. It is comparable to the board game Risk, except attacks are resolved with real-time battles that can last up to 90 minutes. Players can also buy reinforcements or bonus cards and engage in diplomacy with other countries.
Development and Design
Rise of Nations was developed by a team of 25 full-time staff and several additional contractors. The development process involved the use of prototypes and iterations to introduce new features to the real-time strategy format. Lead developer Brian Reynolds stated that this game was developed with a session of "ten random ideas" about interesting things to do in a real-time game. Features such as attrition, national borders, and city capture are among those borrowed from the turn-based strategy genre. One idea left out during early development, the inclusion of different government models, later became a core component of the expansion Thrones and Patriots.
Rise of Nations was developed with the main design objective of ensuring that gameplay sessions could be played in a short period. Reynolds stated that Microsoft required Big Huge Games to demonstrate the feasibility of game progress, given it was difficult to imagine a historical game spanning the ages could be played within an hour.
Audio
The soundtrack of Rise of Nations was composed by Duane Decker, who previously worked on sound for the MechWarrior game series. Decker described the soundtrack as a "combination of world music with a unique cinematic style," featuring expressive performances on rarely encountered ethnic musical instruments and modern elements. A DVD soundtrack, containing Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 surround sound tracks, was released on June 24, 2003. This soundtrack is unique because it is the first video game soundtrack released in DVD format with surround sound.
Reception
Rise of Nations received universal positive reception from critics, with the Metacritic review aggregator website giving an average score of 89%. Many critics praised the game's innovative design for combining real-time strategy with turn-based strategy features. Rob Fahey from Eurogamer praised the game as "an innovative and highly enjoyable strategy title that combines many of the best elements from two popular genres...and this combination has resulted in one of the most accessible, playable, and deep strategy games of all time." Elliott Chin from GameSpot stated that "two different strategy styles have merged into a truly excellent game form," while adding that "what really distinguishes Rise of Nations is all the new concepts it introduces...making this game more profound and in many ways more enjoyable than any other real-time strategy game so far."
The Conquer the World mod received special attention. William Abner from GameSpy stated that the mod was "very fun...it is a great mini-game with infinite replay value for solo players. It helps make Rise of Nations a complete game." However, some critics noted that the mod is somewhat easy and lacks variety after several rounds.
Critics also had mixed opinions on the usability of combat mechanics. IGN praised the excellent interface, but stated that "things can become quite complex in large-scale battles," describing multiplayer battles as "a clickfest that is almost thoughtless."
Legacy
Rise of Nations has received encouraging retrospective reception. Several publications have called it one of the best strategy games of all time. PC Gamer praised the "wisely introduced elements from turn-based strategy games like Civilization," while Rock Paper Shotgun praised it as a "complex and rewarding game" and "the closest thing to a real-time approach of Civilization we have ever seen." The game was also included in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die in 2010.
Rise of Nations influenced the development of Age of Empires 4. Executive producer Shannon Loftis stated that the game was important as a "spiritual successor" to the Age of Empires franchise, and the lessons learned from its development helped set expectations for the content of Age of Empires 4.
Expansion and Sequel
The expansion Thrones and Patriots was released in April 2004, adding several nations, units, miracles, and campaigns, as well as new features such as government selection that affect gameplay mechanics. The Gold Edition, combining the original game with the expansion, was released in October 2004. The fantasy-themed spin-off Rise of Legends was released in May 2006. The Extended Edition was released by SkyBox Labs in 2014 for Steam and in 2017 for the Windows 10 Store, with updated textures, lighting, and water.
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*Original source: [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_Nations)*