Earth 2160

So the past few days I’ve been playing this game called Earth 2160.

First off, I got the game from a website called gog.com (GOG = good old games). The website is designed to sell high quality, but older, PC titles (games you can’t find in the stores very often now) for low prices (6 or 10 dollars). Furthermore, they do so completely 100% DRM free. I think the main reason they have been sticking to Older games is that I know a lot of companies probably would never release their games DRM free on the internet if they were new. Even so they have yet to score a big contract with Activision-Blizzard or EA, so they catalogue is still pretty limited. That being said they have some great games.

Earth 2160 is a RTS game and the 3rd addition to the Earth series. The original two were set on Earth while the United Civilized States (USC) and Eurasian Dynasty (ED) fought a bloody war that ended with lots of nukes and an asteroid setting Earth off its normal orbit with its new orbit setting on a collision course with the Sun.

So… anyways the USC and the ED (along with the Lunar Corporation (LC), a faction based on the Moon) fought for resources, grabbed what they needed and flew off into space. Now they fight each other in Space on planets like Mars and Titan (which, is technically a moon, but whatever). All in all, it’s an awesome game.

The coolest thing about the game is the variety and various tactics you can try. Each race has its own weaknesses and strengths. ED seems to be the most balanced race, with a slight reliance on Lasers, while the LC has high technology and lots of lasers. The USC uses mechs and lots of standard weapons, while the secretive Aliens (did I mention them? No? Well anyways this game has aliens) I believe use lots of chemical weapons. When you research a new technology you can use that technology to upgrade existing units. So if you research RPGs then you can upgrade all your jeeps and buggies to have RPG launchers. Or if you research Chemical Weapons you will now have access to Chemical Cannons and various Missiles.

One of the coolest moments I think I’ve had with the game was in a skirimish against the ED (while I played… USC?) I was doing fine until they research Chemical Weapons. Now my reflective Armor (anti-laser armor) was useless and my units were eaten up. By the time I researched and applied Chemical Armor to my units I had already lost.

As a side note: the campaign is boring. I’m playing it, but the voice acting is TERRIBLE and the plot is horridly predictable. I didn’t realize how good some of the more average story-lines I’ve dealt with are until I’m faced with a truly horrible story.

So, if you’re interested in the game (and paying for it *cough*) then check out gog.com. They accept paypal. ;)