In a review article from last month's USATODAY, Nick Wadham writes that RON lacks originality.

It's been over 12 years since the world was introduced to so-called 'real-time strategy' games. The premise is this: Little men harvest resources such as timber and gold to pay for buildings, which produce more little men, which go and kill other little men.

The formula hasn't changed much, even after the release of dozens of new titles. And just like faithful old Maggie, gamers still come when called, expecting a bone. More often than not, they don't get one.
So it is with Rise of Nations, a $49.99 title published by Microsoft that looks good and plays smoothly, but offers nothing innovative to the tired real-time strategy genre

I'd say this is pretty inaccurate journalism. It's clear he hasn't doesn't his homework - RON has quite a few innovative features for a RTS game. However, it's also clear, he didn't find the game "fun."

Is RON fun? Are RTS games in general fun? Do RTS games have any real future? If so, what will it look like? Hmmmmmm...
posted by Tim at 12:33 PM