Rise of Legends is gold, expected to ship May 9 in the U.S., who gives a rat’s ass about Europe.
Per Bill Harris’s Dubious Quality Blog.
P.S. Okay, I’m a dick. May 26 in the UK. Here’s the link: Dubious Quality
Props to Bill Harris and all, but I think everyone got the press release at the same time. :)
Oh, and w00t!
-Tom
April 26, 2006
“Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends” Gets Gold-Plating
Highly-anticipated “Rise of Nations” sequel descends upon North America on May 9
The epic battle between technology and magic is about to begin – “Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends” for Windows has gone gold and is in position to ambush North American retail stores on May 9.
“Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends” morphs the real-time strategy (RTS) genre into the fantasy space, allowing gamers to rampage through towering cities, flame-swept deserts and brutal ice plains in battles filled with mystic creatures, fantastic machines and stunning acts of magic.
The RTS gameplay of “Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends” has been improved for a more rewarding experience – gamers have the choice of drawing out battles for multiple hours for the classic RTS feel or focusing on shorter, 20-minute, campaigns.
As the second installment of the “Rise of Nations” franchise, “Rise of Legends” also extends the gaming experience using a 3-D engine with dynamic lighting, deformable terrain, destructible buildings, ground-rattling earthquakes and massive armies locked in enormous strategic battles. “Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends” combines cutting-edge, industry-leading technology with awe-inspiring art design to create environments unlike anything ever seen.
Developed by Big Huge Games, “Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends” continues the innovative gameplay tradition established by the critically acclaimed and best-selling, “Rise of Nations,” the best-selling RTS released in 2003 that garnered numerous Game of the Year awards, including GameSpot’s Best PC Game of 2003 and PC Gamer’s Best RTS of 2003.
In addition to being able to lead vast fantasy armies into strategic battles, “Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends” introduces a host of gameplay innovations that are unique to the RTS genre. Additionally, the popular Conquer the World (CTW) Campaign returns with fresh concepts that make each strategic decision critical to eventual victory over a constantly adapting enemy. The revamped and improved CTW Campaign immerses players in a land of magical armies and never before seen technologies in an epic battle to save the world against an ominous evil force.
About Big Huge Games
Big Huge Games was founded in February 2000 by four veteran game developers: Tim Train, David Inscore, Jason Coleman and Brian Reynolds. These founding partners, who together have brought strategy gamers such classic hits as “Civilization II®,” “Colonization®” and “Alpha Centauri®,” share a common vision that they believe will enable them to surpass even these outstanding achievements.
About Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox® and Xbox 360™ video game systems, the Windows® operating system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games), including such franchises as “Age of Empires®,” “Flight Simulator” and “Zoo Tycoon®;” Xbox and Xbox 360 (http://www.xbox.com), including such games as the upcoming “Gears of War” and franchises such as “Halo®,” “Fable®,” “Project Gotham Racing®” and “Forza Motorsport™”; and MSN® Games (http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as “Bejeweled” and “Hexic®.”
So, when’s the next demo?
Tom, I like IGN’s version better:
Rise of Legends is the sequel to the well-regarded RTS title Rise of Nations. Powered with a 3-D engine and sporting dynamic lighting within destructable environments, Rise of Legends lets gamers lead huge, fantastical armies into strategic outer space battles. Rise of Legends also offers the choice of drawing out their mystical battles into epic length or get a quick strategy battle fix with shorter 20-minute campaigns.
Can’t wait for their review. Hope it doesn’t loose IGN points when the reviewer discovers that the game doesn’t, in fact, take place in outer space.
Slyfrog, according to one of the BGH community guy’s posts on one of the RoL fan boards (Rise of Nations Oracle, I believe. Can’t remember; was simultaneously browsing 15 posts from 3 or 4 different RoL fansites last night), the Euro release date is the 23rd of May.
Not One of Us, this same guy also claimed that the demo might arrive as soon as this Friday.
I prefer to think Bill Harris has mystical omniscience. Do not disabuse me of this.
Agreed re: WOOT!
Already, wasn’t the first demo released early April?
Hey Tom,
How are the semi-random maps working in skirmish? Still pretty random and diverse or are there only very minor aspects being randomized?
This one’s looking good. I’m very pleased that each race isn’t a mere graphical difference (cough BFME2 cough).
Quoted for insanity.
(On BfME2…I share his hopes for RoL.)
Troy
Lordy, I have no idea. I don’t think anyone has a press copy yet, which is odd given how Microsoft usually gets golds out to reviewers pretty early.
Hey, Igor, here’s a tip: stop posting. You’re just making yourself look bad. Seriously, you might as well tell us there aren’t any Dwarves in BFME2.
-Tom
I’m looking forward to this one. BHG knows how to make a game.
BFME2 is a great game, I was just over-exaggerating a little bit. Sure the units all have different stats and different races have different elite units, but it boils down to:
pikemen (against cav)
swordsmen (against pike)
cavalry (against archers)
archers (against swordsmen)
rock throwers (agaisnt buildings/walls)
So yeah, at least in Rise of Legends everything isn’t defined as clearly. Alin for example have 3 magic schools, whereas Vinci have just badass machines in general. Sure there’s units that are better at countering other units, but its not as apparent as in BFME2.
Wow thanks for reminding me about this, I have 15 dollars on it way back the milasecond I heard a sequel to rise of nations was being made :)
You do realize that this is also Age of Empires, Rise of Nations, Empire Earth, Rome: Total War…
And the fact that some BfME2 races miss one or two of these counters means that the races are not interchangeable. BfME2 is probably the least generic Rock-Paper-Scissors RTS on the market at the moment.
And you speak as if you have played a lot of Rise of Legends to speak so confidently about its counter system. Shouldn’t we wait until people have played a lot of it to be sure?
Troy
That’s crazy talk. Most people know whether or not a game has been designed correctly simply by hearing the name. In extreme cases, the addition of the subject matter may be required to render a final verdict.
Cool. I was kind of upset to hear the rumor it was going to be the 26th because that would be even longer. Now the 9th… much sooner. I guess Ill go be best buy (EB can go to hell, I have totally written them off for PC games) and pick it up on the 10th.
Regardless of what RoL is like, BFME2 makes the counter system very apparent and thus gives the presentation that it is more generic in its units.
Also, Rise of Nations was like that, but as you may have noticed, Rise of Legends has different unit classes for different races, so it won’t be as evident. Rome: Total War had multiple progressions of the same unit class (from what I’ve noticed BFME2 has a “regular” and an “elite” unit at most), like 5? 7? different types of infantry for the Romans which were good all-around, not just against pikemen.
If you want, forget everything I said, the only thing that matters to me is that in Rise of Legends, as far as the demo shows, races are much more diverse than in BFME2.
Cool, looking forward to this… QT3 MP night?
So, when’s the next demo?
Not One of Us, this same guy also claimed that the demo might arrive as soon as this Friday.
I sure did. Friday (April 28th) is when the latest release of the demo for Rise of Legends is slated to come out. This one is much more refined than the early-build sneak preview demo released awhile back, and includes an additional map called “Battle for the Core”.
Regardless of what RoL is like, BFME2 makes the counter system very apparent and thus gives the presentation that it is more generic in its units. Also, Rise of Nations was like that, but as you may have noticed, Rise of Legends has different unit classes for different races, so it won’t be as evident.
There are a myriad number of different unit classes and types in Rise of Legends, though in theory they -could- be broken down into basic purpose-oriented groups. You have your ground forces, which can range from the basic Alin Desert Walker on up to a Cuotl Death Sphere, then you have your air superiority units like Storm Disks and Rukhs, and lastly the siege and crowd-pleasers like the Steam Cannon and Land Leviathan.
There are quite a few more variables to consider than your typical counter system, such as trampling, forest-cover, poison and the old BHG favorite - attrition. Each race, though possessed of unique buildings, units and heroes, is meticulously balanced to afford the greatest lattitude in the big three RTS strats, rush/boom/turtle. Go ahead and check out the demo tomorrow, you’ll see what I mean. :)
Warm Regards,
Joe “GreyPawn” Pishgar
Community Relations Manager
Big Huge Games
Question, I just got my pcgamer in the mail yesterday with the ROL demo on it, is that the demo that was released about a month ago?