Heroes of Annihilated Empires is the latest RTS title from CDV Software Entertainment USA and GSC World Publishing. Heroes of Annihilated Empires was developed by GSC GameWorld, the creators of the Cossacks series of strategy games. The first title in a proposed trilogy, HoAE puts players in a fantasy world rife with magic and sorcery. While the game does a fine job of presenting its setting and creates a robust world, the gameplay is a little too standard. The game doesn’t do much to be a unique experience. HoAE falls prey to the standard gamut of fantasy RTS conventions, and feels like every other RTS that you’ve ever played.
The main campaign of Heroes of Annihilated Empires follows Elhant, a somewhat cynical choice for a fantasy RTS hero. He’s a very disagreeable chap, and will actually argue (read: bitch and moan) with supporting characters very often through the story, which is composed of all the trappings of a fantasy RTS, from Elven allies to evil undead foes.
Aside from your command units, you’ll have access to hero units. Like in other fantasy RTS games, you’ll be able to level up your heroes by killing enemies, giving them more abilities and special magic powers. You can also gain items such as weapons to give your hero units better stats, and magic cards throughout the campaign that will add to your abilities.
Outside of the campaign mode, you can play the standard skirmish matches where you have control of four races, (humans, dwarves, ice people, and the undead) each with their own distinct styles. The ice people are obviously in a more frozen setting, whereas the dwarven race has a more steam-powered mechanical feel to it.
Basically, the game doesn’t feel that much differently from any other RTS game out on the market. Hero units have been around for years now, so it’s not entirely a new concept. Fortunately, the game’s interface is easy to learn and the missions are fairly straightforward. However, if you’ve been jaded on fantasy RTS games as of late, HoAE’s gameplay won’t likely win you over in terms of originality.
Graphically, the game looks pretty good. The cutscenes do a fine job of conveying the story, and look great. The character models are well animated and the environments look good.
Soundwise, the game fares about the same. The music is pretty standard for a swords-and-sorcery theme, and the voice acting is pretty well done.
Heroes of Annihilated Empires is a pretty standard RTS game. While not a bad game, it’s still nothing that you haven’t played before.
Gameplay: 7.0
Hero units, magic abilities, different races to play as, Heroes of Annihilated Empires does all of the familiar trappings of a modern fantasy RTS. Other than that, the game does little to be a unique experience.
Graphics: 7.5
The game has some impressive looking character models and environments, and the cutscenes are very well conceived.
Sound: 7.5
The music is what you’d expect from a fantasy game, and the voice acting is pretty solid.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 6.0
Heroes of Annihilated Empires is pretty standard fare for a fantasy RTS.
Multiplayer: 7.0
The online component is what you’d expect from an RTS game of this sort, meaning multiplayer skirmish modes.
Overall: 7.0
Heroes of Annihilated Empires does the standard fantasy RTS elements just fine, but unfortunately doesn’t stand out in any particular way.
While HoAE is a decent enough RTS, it does little to separate itself from the current crop of strategy games.
INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CONTENT:
Originally posted: gamezone.com (LINK) (ARCHIVED)
Date of publish: 06.12.2006
Author: Steven Hopper
Language of publish: english