Greetings all, and welcome to the first instalment of RTS Lost in Time. In this series, I’ll take you on a trip back to the overlooked gems lost in the crowd during the golden era of RTS, games that didn’t get the big, passionate fanbase they deserved. Join me as we head back to those simpler days!
The early 2000s were the peak of the RTS genre. Scores of classic games were released year after year, most garnering an immense amount of praise and loyal fans that would evangelize their RTS of choice. Warcraft 3 revolutionized the genre with hero units and the ability to purchase equipment, which would soon pave the way for MOBAs after 2010. Meanwhile, other titles innovated by adding 4X elements into the genre, the most well-known one being the critically acclaimed Rise of Nations. The amount of quality titles was astonishing and that time-period is considered the “golden age” of RTS games. Fans of the genre were spoiled for choice and everything looked peachy, but in standing against these giants many other solid RTS games would be overlooked by the community, and it is understandable that some would lose themselves in a crowded market chock full of quality titles.
One of those quality titles that would come and go without much of a splash was undoubtedly one of the best RTS games of its time and while it was not the most innovative it was executed immensely well. Critics of the day lavished it with glowing reviews, a testimony to its quality. This game is none other than Empires: Dawn of the Modern World.
Released in October 2003 by Stainless Studios and helmed by Rick Goodman (co-founder of Ensemble Studios and Stainless Studios), Empire: Dawn of the Modern world, or EDOTMW for short, was the spiritual successor to Rick’s previous and more well-known game, Empire Earth. Development of the game began in 2002 when the Empire team looked back at all the main flaws of Empire Earth to see what could be reused or improved. Countless hours spent researching the era revealed new events, technologies and other historical elements that could be implemented into the game. The resulting game was a vast improvement, if a bit less innovative, with a depth and uniqueness that could easily rival other historical RTS games of the time.
EDOTMW plays much like an Age of Empires game, in that you collect wood, food, gold and stone to construct buildings and progress to later ages, from the humble medieval era to the blood-soaked battlefields of World War II. Combining this with a much higher unit count made the game addictive, especially when you have over 300 citizens and a booming economy. This translates to hundreds of units fighting literally all over the battlefield. The whole scale of the game is grandiose, and it is done very well, but what really sets it apart are some of its unique mechanics and changes.
The first big change was reducing the number of Epochs. Empire Earth had a whopping 14 epochs, which took humanity through 500,000 years of history. From the prehistoric age, accompanied with grunting cavemen units, to the futuristic Nano-age, where killer robots and mechs dominate the battlefields, it was definitely the most ambitious of any RTS game. However, many remarked that having so many epochs resulted in several of them feeling like filler content.
Thanks to surveys, the studio learned that the most popular epochs from the game were those ranging from the medieval ages to Early Modern, and thus they started to scale back on the number of epochs for their next game. Fourteen Epochs became five, resulting in a better grounded, deeper experience. This would prove to be a success as it made each era feel like a powerful next step without making the player feel like they needed to rush to it, as the upgrades to reach them were quite expensive and moving to the next era could leave you vulnerable to enemy assault while your economic stash was running low.
Another great improvement was faction diversity. EDOTMW had nine nations to choose from, and though that’s much less than Rise of Nation’s 18 or Age of Empire II’s 32 civilizations, they were unique and played very differently from one another. This style was preferable instead of being nothing more than just a different set of bonuses, which would push the player towards a more offensive, economic, or defensive playstyle. EDOTMW made sure that each of its nine nations felt and played differently to one another.
Each nation would have their own unique units and buildings. England had exclusive access to mining camps and food warehouses that automatically generated gold, stone, and food, respectively. This would make them a beginner friendly civilization that needed only to focus on one resource and combat.. China, on the other hand, were the only nation with a mobile barracks and town center, making them nomadic and being able to move all over the map. This diversity is what makes the game really shine and ensures replayability with a different experience to be had from map to map.
Another interesting twist on the formula is at the start of the match, you can only pick four civilizations (England, Franks, China and Korea) but the moment you make it to the Word War I era, you’re given the choice of choosing from two to three different nations to evolve to depending on who you are (United Kingdom, United States, Soviet Union, Germany or France), changing your playstyle for another. While I would have liked an option to remain as your beginning faction, this method really shook up the late game because your strengths and weaknesses could change completely while keeping some of the benefits and bonuses you started with.
Innovations and Projects are two cool features in EDOTMW. Innovations are individual upgrades that apply to every unit of the chosen type, current and future. If you put the reduced cost innovation on a citizen, every future citizen you build will be permanently cheaper. If you put the higher range of attack innovation on an artillery unit, every artillery of that type that you currently possess or will build has that upgrade. I really enjoyed this mechanic, because you had to carefully decide which units got the permanent, powerful upgrades. Make your cavalry or your villages faster? More range for your artillery or your riflemen? These decisions are weighty and can shift how your games develop.
On the other hand, Projects are powerful and unique edicts that each civilization has access. Some of these projects involve turning day to night reducing the enemy line of sight. Others include burning an entire forest down, denying your opponent his wood, or summoning a typhoon which can devastate armadas. It’s a bit silly but at the same time it gives the game an element of unpredictability.
Visually, the game has aged decently. The engine was a definite step up from Empire Earth and while it doesn’t hold a candle to the isometric 2D games from those days, I am still able to enjoy the game without feeling like the graphics are detracting from the experience.
The biggest weakness of the game is the audio and soundtrack. Unit effects are a bit weak and repetitive. This, combined with the constant nagging of the narrator whenever your allies are under attack can be a grating experience. The soundtrack can at times be epic but is, for the most part, forgettable.
Content-wise the game is also a bit lacking: besides three decent length campaigns, you only have access to multiplayer (which is dead) or skirmish against the AI. EDOTMW never got another expansion pack, which would have made it a far better package, but for the price you can get it at now, it is definitely worth it.
The early 2000s were such a great RTS era, and EDOTMW deserves way more attention than it got, for not only combining great features from previous titles but adding a few more interesting twists of its own. It is not one of the most creative games, but nonetheless I had a blast playing it for the first time in 2021 and urge anyone looking for a great obscure RTS to give it a try.
LightJolly enjoys variety in his gaming, but has a real passion for strategy games.
A self-described thinker.