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How Metascores Are Calculated
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4 Elements
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games. |
Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War is the latest creation from award-winning developer Stainless Steel Studios and renowned game designer Rick Goodman. Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War is a detailed real-time strategy game that lets players completely command one of the four mightiest empires of the ancient world: Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Persia. Rise & Fall allows players to fight alongside their troops as one of history's eight greatest heroes, and bring victory to their nation on the battlefield. [Midway]
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more... 91
PC Gamer UK
There's a reason I haven't said much yet about the RTS that sits serenely at the core of Rise & Fall. That reason is there really isn't much to say beyond it's good solid stuff with a strong whiff of Ensemble's best work. [July 2006, p.85]
90
PC Gamer
As of press time, several negative Rise and Fall reviews have cropped up online. Mine is the dissenting opinion; in my mind, this RTS' fun and innovative gameplay far outweighs its minor faults. [Sep 2006, p.57]
80
80
Total Video Games
A good enough looking title (if your PC can cope with all the gloss turned on), an intuitive HUD, and epic music all helps with the immersion. There are a couple of niggling glitches that could be improved over time through patches, Civilizations at War nonetheless remains a solid title, and one that non-RTS action heavy gamers should check out.
80
79
Pelit (Finland)
A game that had it all, great design, excellent graphics. All it lacked was time. [Aug 2006, p.36]
78
75
74
PC Format
Ignore the lumpen campaign and you have an RTS with some big ideas. [July 2006, p.91]
73
70
70
games(TM)
It soon becomes clear that not only is this a deep, well-crafted and carefully balanced RTS, brimming with features, but also that the developer is desperately trying to encourage a wider audience than the core strategy crowd. [July 2006, p.114]
70
70
69
68
Games Master UK
For all its strengths, in the campaign mode it's hardly making history. [Aug 2006, p.75]
66
GameSpot
In the end, Rise & Fall attempts a few innovative things with the real-time strategy genre, though it's hurt by the fact that it wants to be both a hardcore real-time strategy game and a fast-paced action game. Unfortunately, it's hard to have it both ways in this genre, as the action mode is bound to frustrate and disappoint strategy fans.
62
Jolt Online Gaming UK
As an RTS it’s as entertainingly humdrum as any of the sixteen billion others, but the Hero Command innovation is so wretchedly underdeveloped it mostly serves to annoy and all but ruins the game’s single player campaigns. It’s fun in multiplayer and skirmish modes for a while, but Rise & Fall is far from the classic game that it could have been.
60
Edge Magazine
It isn’t perfectly realised, but the subtleties of tactical planning and the bloodiness of frontline slashing combine to suggest a new way forward for realtime strategy. [Aug 2006, p.90]
60
Armchair Empire
If the Action / Real-Time Strategy hybrid seems like an interesting one you might like to try "Sacrifice" (which is about six years old), because while Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War tries hard to bring something new to the crowded RTS genre with it's Hero mode and naval battles, there are just too many downsides to the game to make it worth playing.
60
60
60
60
PALGN
We can’t put our finger on it, but Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War just isn’t that fun. Despite having some fantastic features, it’s confusing to see so many games repeat the same mistake over and over again. Poor AI is a curse for RTS games, and Rise & Fall doesn’t do much to avoid this. It’s disappointing that such a fantastic concept falls flat on its stomach due to some minor, but unforgiving, mistakes.
57
57
55
50
Game Informer
Controlling your hero directly, action game style, is a neat gimmick even though it's in poor execution. [Aug 2006, p.88]
50
Computer Games Magazine
Rise & Fall means well. Considering the competition out there and the ever-rising stakes, good intentions and mere competence are no longer enough. [Sept. 2006, p.67]
50
50
50
EuroGamer
It doesn't have the sheer polish or design coherence of something like this month's other Rise-TS, Rise of Legends, but there's lots to like. Until you remember the campaign mode again at which point you just find yourself wishing the developers to go bust, until you remember they have and you start feeling bad again.
50
50
40
Filip O. gave it a9: Jedi M. gave it a10: Jed K. gave it a10: MIck J. gave it a5: Jack P. gave it a5: Paul C. gave it a1: |
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